Over 2000 accounts deleted from Buffyworld? Including mine, including Jo's, including 1998+ other people who I don't know but I feel bad for. I guess it doesn't really matter much, as today was the first time I've attempted to sign on for a few weeks, but yeesh. How ridiculous.

So I've seen some movies recently in the cinema. I'll just say what I think without getting too spoilery...

300
I certainly had to see this because of its "teen boy appeal" and in this, at least, it delivered. History-wise, it was the most retarded piece of garbage ever to grace the screen (what did they do to the Ephors? huh??), although one inaccurate line cracked the hell out of me... when King Leonidas mentioned "those Athenian boy-lovers" I cracked up so hard that I nearly got booted from the cinema. I'm sorry Frank Miller/Zack Snyder, but Spartan culture pretty much revolved around raping 6-year-old boys to toughen them up and creating sexual bonds with your fellow warriors.

Gerard Butler was annoyingly wise-cracking, cocky and intensely Americanised, but he could have done a lot worse. His character's wife was pretty much boring, except for her little climax which at least inspires a "haha... word." Most of the movie was quite silly, but I do think the ending picked up slightly and you got a bit of emotion.

The fight scenes were very nice but incredibly impractical, and while the cinematography and effects (the film's main critical appeal) were very good, there were times (like one of the earlier fight scenes in which we saw slow-mo's of Gerard Butler every 2 seconds) when I couldn't stand it. I feel that I saw most of the really nice effects shots in the trailer. Some of the gore was inspired, some was plain silly.

All in all it was a very entertaining but utterly empty movie, but hardly one with more then teen boy or fanboy man appeal.
3 stars out of 5.

Disturbia
Ughhhhh. Another film with teen appeal, that I was dragged to see by teenagers. Shia LaBeouf annoyed me greatly through the first half of the movie, being some rebellious teenager and doing 'cool/funny' things. His Asian sidekick proved even more annoying, in fact possibly taking out my personal award for biggest git in cinema since Jar Jar Binks. The movie also included a natty little hottie next door, Shia LaBeouf's love interest, who was quite amusingly given some of the films most ridiculous dialogue. The Matrix's Carrie-Ann Moss co-starred as Shia LaBeouf's mother, who I really can't complain about due to her utter lack of things to do.

The serial killer next door looked like Hannibal Lecter, and certainly made the effort to sound like Hannibal Lecter, but - all things considered - was no Hannibal Lecter. In only one scene did I really feel a tension between him and one of our "heroes", and I feel I should be grateful for at least that scene. In terms of scares... well, I'm not a horror movie buff, so I will say that at times there were some tense moments and a little nerve-wracking, but nothing was really taken advantage of and nothing was truly scary.

2 stars out of 5.

Sunshine
This movie is scary and brilliant.

Everybody has been raving about 300's beautiful visuals, but damn if they aren't topped by Sunshine. The amazing use of light and darkness, of camera effects and of beautiful fire... it is amazing. The visuals make the movie worthy enough, but thankfully it is not the film's only glory.

The film was tense tense tense. Followed by scary scary scary! The whole of Sunshine should be a lesson to Disturbia, in that long before anything scary happened, I was scared! The situation, and the mood created by every aspect of the film meant that you were tense and nervous before you had undeniable reason (and they WILL give you undeniable reason). The second half was stunning, shockingly scary, one twist causing countless mutters of "oh no..."

The acting was very good, and blended into the film very nicely because the only actor I recognised was Cillian Murphy (until the credits rolled and I went "hey I do know them!"). The downside to this is that it took me longer than the introduction to separate everybody.

Some downsides were the slight difficulty in getting into the film in the beginning (which will soon be dispelled) and the slightly jarring climax and ending... it is amazing, but it threw me off for a second.

An spectacular and intense sci-fi thriller by Danny Boyle.
4 and a half stars out of 5.

So I saw the BSG season 3 finale today... amazing! It was very zany, things got wrapped up and answered, but more got opened for next season! I can't wait...

But now that I've seen the first 3 seasons, here are some of my favourite episodes...

1.07 Six Degrees of Separation
1.13 Kobol's Last Gleaming, part 2
2.10 Pegasus
2.12 Resurrection Ship, part 2
2.16 Sacrifice
2.18 Downloaded
2.20 Lay Down Your Burdens, part 2
3.01 Occupation
3.02 Precipice
3.03 Exodus, part 1
3.04 Exodus, part 2
3.05 Collaborators
3.10 The Passage
3.12 Rapture
3.17 Maelstrom
3.20 Crossroads, part 2

What are some of your favourite fights in your tv fandoms? Or movies, for that matter? Please reply with some of your favourites. I'm tagging all of you to reply! (and as much as I love battles of wit and competitions etc., I mean FIGHT fights).

A few that I really love...
( Yarr... )
Comment? :)

Stolen from Skitty!

The Challenge: Assemble a superteam from your various fandoms.
Your team must consist of the following:
(1) Team Leader
(1) Warrior
(1) Smartypants
(1) Hottie
(1) Comic Relief

All your superteam members must be from DIFFERENT fandoms.

( My Super Team )

The Oscars have past and I can't say I was upset with the results. It was a good year, and under the cut I'll mention how many of my predictions were correct and how many of my hopes came true. And a little extra commentary. :D

( Predictions and Hopes Results... )

Has anyone seen much of Boston Legal? Parker Posey plays a character called Marlene Stanger, nicknamed the Squid, and appears in the last few episodes of season 2 and the first episode of season 3. She's hilarious and villainous, and as it turns out, a bit of a sexual deviant with Alan Shore as well. :D

But I find her COMPLETELY kinky-hot. Especially in the first episode of season 3, she's hot as hell. In some of her season 2 episodes, she was made to look a little uglier, a little more villainous, a bit more squid-like, and she was plainly hilarious. Now she's kinky-hot and funny. Really... good on Alan Shore.

Before I start, let's wish a very happy birthday to Jo! :D *HUG*

Okay so here are the main categories...

Best Motion Picture
Babel
The Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

My prediction is Babel, my hope is The Departed.

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole - Venus
Will Smith - The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland

My prediction and hope is Forest Whitaker.

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Penelope Cruz - Volver
Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet - Little Children

I love them all and would love for any of them to win... but my prediction and hope is Helen Mirren.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley - Little Children
Djimon Honsou - Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg - The Departed

My prediction is Eddie Murphy, my hope is for either Eddie Murphy or Mark Wahlberg.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Adriana Barraza - Babel
Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin - Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi - Babel

My prediction and hope is Jennifer Hudson, but I'd also be happy if Cate Blanchett or Abigail Breslin won.

Best Achievement in Directing
Clint Eastwood - Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears - The Queen
Paul Greengrass - United 93
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - Babel
Martin Scorsese - The Departed

My prediction and hope is Martin Scorsese, but I'd also love for Paul Greengrass to win, considering that United 93 wasn't nominated for Best Picture.

I won't do the writing awards because I hate trying to do that, especially when discerning between great films.

I thought this would be a fun little idea... for some reason I felt inspired to post about unusual screen couples of note. Here's one.

Ralph Fiennes could probably get on one of these any day, with his quirks as an actor. He and Rachel Weisz had sweet counterpoint in The Constant Gardener, and I certainly didn't see the idea of him and J-Lo in Maid in Manhattan. Not to mention the extremely unusual, I-hope-not-romantic couple of him and the wildly eccentric Helena Bonham Carter, as Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange, in the next Harry Potter film.

But Ralph Fiennes is on this list for another oddity, for being one half of a couple that was unusual and scary and yet so right, even if it ended wrong.

In Red Dragon, Ralph Fiennes plays the titular villain, Francis Dolarhyde, the self-dubbed Red Dragon and the tabloid-dubbed Tooth Fairy, a formerly-abused body-building serial killer destroying families to 'evolve' himself, and Emily Watson plays Reba McClane, his blind co-worker and possible salvation who he fails to protect from his darker nature.

...'cos unusual can be cool.