Snowed in

Today felt a little bit in the movies: waking up, looking through the window and seeing everything covered in snow. As you may know, this was Britain's biggest snowfall in 20 years, so there was a lot of snow!

How is this so special to warrant a post here? You see, in Porto, where I'm from it never snows (although it snowed just a little bit earlier this year it seems). I check my work email and most people already sent emails saying how they're snowed in and won't be able to make it to work. Could this really be like in movies, where kids have a day off from school? Not for me, the ever dedicated worker (oh, and I'll be having my yearly review soon...).

So I decide to venture outside, where it's snowing a lot - to me it looked like a blizzard! My first question was "Do I take an umbrella or not?". Relating to the movies again, I don't remember anyone ever wearing an umbrella in the snow, but it makes sense to wear one right? And so I did. Boy, was it cold outside, and as expected, I was pretty much the only one with an umbrella. I might not be used to this snow business but I'm glad I took the umbrella - soon enough all my clothes were covered with but not my face and head!! Who's the dumb one huh? I mean just because it's fluffy and white, it's still water (albeit frozen) falling from the sky!

But I digress... Buses weren't running so came back home and only went to the office in the afternoon, after it stopped snowing so much. Even though all this was slightly annoying, everything looked so lovely in white! And other thing I noticed is how everything seemed so peaceful. Broad daylight, people on the streets, but maybe because there were so few cars on the roads, there was almost complete silence. And still you see all the snow falling but unlike rain, it doesn't make one sound. Ah... maybe the next time it snows like today, I won't notice any of this, but it's good to be a "snow virgin" and be able to appreciate all this :)

Here's a couple of photos from today, where I live - you've all seen the Big Ben covered in snow, too ordinary... but where else are you going to see photos of the snow in Basingstoke? :)

"Yay, we finally have hair!!"

Slightly worried about tomorrow though with the hardened snow and slippery floors... The most balanced person I am not!

***UPDATE***: Just a couple of (impressive) numbers regarding yesterday: According to the British government, roughly six million people stayed at home today, forcing 3,000 firms to close at a cost of approximately £1.2 billion!!! Glad I only stayed home in the morning otherwise it could have been £1.3 billion!

And then a hero comes along...

My first memory of seeing Barack Obama is from when I was in Nairobi, almost 2 years ago, in March 2007. I was there for work and remember being in my hotel room and CNN was on and something caught my attention: there was this guy talking about gay rights in general and how gays and lesbians should be allowed to join the US army and not be discriminated. Obviously I was interested and when Obama finished talking, the CNN lady said something about him running for presidency.

To be perfectly honest I thought there was no way that guy would ever ever make it to President Of the United states of America. Let's see, he looked way too young, was black, was defending gays in the US army and actually seemed like a decent, intelligent man - the complete opposite of the current (at the time) President ! "Nah never going to happen" though the pessimistic old me. But alas, it did! And 2 days ago history was made!

I'm not the biggest fan of politics nor I know that much about it so I really have to just follow my lets call it instincts when it comes to candidates, voting and all that. With Obama, I truly believe he will do whatever he can to improve things (although not expecting any miracles) and that his heart and his head are in the right place.

Yesterday night a ceremony took place in Washington DC - The Neighborhood Ball: An Inauguration Celebration. It was a star-studded event and "my" Mariah was there :) She is a long time Obama supporter and was there to honor the new President. She did a beautiful rendition of her classic "Hero" and dedicated it to Obama, which only seems fitting considering how many obstacles he surely fought to get to where he was yesterday. And it's true, a whole lot of people do look at him as some sort of hero. Enjoy!

Now this is a bit more fun - Mariah, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Shakira, Alicia Keys among others singing "Sign, Sealed, Delivered." a song that was played at nearly every one of Obama's rallies throughout the campaign. How cool it is to watch Obama and his wife Michelle just getting into to the groove and having fun on the dancefloor? They look so cute! Here's the video for you:

Veronica will be back (probably)

One of my favourite TV shows, the prematurely canceled Veronica Mars might be back in a big way!

My #4 Kick-Ass Girl might return not as a TV show but as a movie. The show's creator, Rob Thomas, recently stated in interview of his plans to bring back Veronica and her gang, picking up where the third and last season ended.

He says: "I’ve been struggling with this one plot point and I’m hopeful to figure that out. I watched the final episode of the series a few weeks ago and there were a lot of gaps and the plotting for the original came to me. I mean for the movie, I’m feeling like I’m on the right track now. But I don’t want to give that away yet. The one thing that I will say is where it will pick up. I know we did that F.B.I. ‘what if’ thing, but we would not go to that place. I think it would open just days before the Hearst College Graduation. So Veronica would be sort of at the end of her college career."

Actually, I have no idea of what he is talking about - due to my habit of taking a looong time to watch any TV show I'm still halfway on season 2 of Veronica. But I'll get there, maybe just in time for the movie!

Veronica is already praying for this to come true!

This is great news, but you know what I'd really like? All-together now: an Alias movie. I've given up hoping for that but how awesome would that be? Any Alias episode already had the look and feel of movie but it would be amazing to see Sydney, Jack, Sloane and co. on the big screen. And a giant sized Sark and Vaughn? Hmm……

A bit of history for you regarding this: While Alias was still airing, there rumours of a movie being planned. Unfortunately, Tom Cruise, after watching Alia's first season, decided he wanted J.J. Abrams (the show's creator) to write and direct Mission Impossible 3. After that, J.J. decided that was close enough to having an Alias movie, as both shared the same kind of spy-themed action. MI3 did have a few bits that were pure Alias and fun to watch, but an Alias, with all the great characters (and no Tom Cruise) would have been a gazillion times better! Yet another reason not to like our old Tom….

American Idol returns

American Idol. I mentioned it here a couple of times already and I'll admit it - I love it! Yeah, I know, but it's the only reality show I watch and at least it's looking for really talented singers, not just spying on a bunch of people 24hrs a day...
Season 8 started last week (with a new judge Kara Lioguardi or whatever her name is) and we already have some special "Idol" moments.

First up Katrina Darrell aka Bikini Girl. Yep, this lovely young lady went for the American Idol audition wearing nothing but a teeny-weeny bikini and a whole lot of attitude - no joke! As if that wasn't enough she absolutely butchered Mariah's classic Vision of Love and got in a catfight with the new judge and Paula Abdul (and still got through surely thanks to her hot... timbre). This all conspired for a great moment in television- here's the video:

On the complete opposite of the human spectrum we have Scott Macintyre an inspiring young man who fortunately also made it through. Despite being born almost blind, Scott never let his condition stop him doing what he wanted. Among other incredible feats, he learned how to play the piano based on the distance of the keys! You can watch his segment below - I dare you all to watch it without smiling! Oh and you'll probably also feel embarrassed for Ryan Seacrest, the host, when he tries to high-five the blind contestant...

Wall-E

Can 2 animated robots, who speak no more than a handful of words make you cry? In Wall-E they can.

Wall-E is the latest Pixar movie, which oddly enough had never appealed to me, event though I'm a big fan of Pixar's movies. Having watched over the weekend, I realised I wrong I was - this movie is a masterpiece, pure genius. Wall-E is beautiful, moving, hilarious and sad all at the same time.

A rusty, binocular-faced, wide-eyed, little robot named Wall-E lives potentially one of the loneliest lives imaginable. He is the only remaining inhabitant of earth, machine or organism (that is save a cockroach he adopts early on). Everyday he continues the dutiful task he was beset by his creators: compact garbage in an attempt to clean up the now deserted earth, which has become an endless desert of waste. Eventually his several hundred year routine is interrupted by the landing of a spaceship that sends out a sleek, white chrome (think Apple), advanced robot that's mission is to search Wall-E's wasteland home for signs of life. That probe's name is Eve...and instantly Wall E is in love. So begins a touching story of romance.

That's the basic premise in Wall-E. The real genius here is the way the movie is so visual - it communicates visually, and spectacularly so. The first 30 minutes hardly contain any dialogue and still you get more attached with these characters than you do in most "spoken" movies. Wall-E's innocence and childlike wonder (reminds me of E.T.), as exemplified by how he introduces himself to everyone he meets, will undoubtedly touch you, and that's what makes him such a lovable character. When he shuts down each night to sleep, he rocks himself as a child would. He is clumsy around Eve, and when he takes her to his makeshift home of robot parts and paraphernalia, he is like a little kid.

Obviously, there are other plot elements that I won't mention here, but ultimately Wall-E is the tale of a classic and touching love story. I wouldn't call this a child's film at all. Not because it has adult-only material, because it doesn't. I say this because the film is perfect for everyone. Literally, everyone. There are things in it every person can enjoy, no matter who they are. And for a film with little dialog, it carries more of an emotional punch and has a richer story than most live-action movies I've seen. So do yourself a favour and go buy/rent/download of the 2008's best movies. And then tell me if 2 robots can make you cry too...

Baby Sydney Bristow

Aww, good news! Jeniffer Garner aka Sidney Bristow gave birth to a healthy baby girl a couple of days ago. Congrats Jennifer :)

This is Jennifer and Ben Affleck's second daughter and they've chosen a rather, well, peculiar name for her: Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck. Seraphina?! Hmm.... cute! Anyway, wishing the best for the happy couple!

In world exclusive (and thanks to me being so close to the Garner-Affleck family) I've got a video of the Jennifer Garner giving birth - such a special moment to share with the world!

Haha, only on ALIAS you would the main character giving birth in the middle of a gunfight, holding a gun to her own mother! Sounds silly, but actually it was such a great moment for fans of the show, so touching (I cried....).

Scream again

Looks like my 2nd favourite Sydney (#1 here!) might be back soon(ish)! I had no idea there were plans for another Scream, until I saw rather exciting news today. I love the Scream films, with the first two being 2 of my favourites films.

The original Scream was a clever, exciting and scary movie that certainly deconstructed the slasher genre for laughs, but also managed at the same time to deliver the jump-outta-your-seat spooks and guess-the-killer fun that the audience expects.

Scream 2 was about the best sequel you could make. It was impossible to make a sequel that was going to be fresh and original. Nevertheless, it's still one of my favourites and has some great scary/tense scenes in it.

Scream 3... well, Scream 3 was about the best second sequel you could make given that the whole thing had already been done... twice. And let's leave it at that :)

Here's what we know (source: Major update on Scream 4! )

"While SCREAM 4 is still very much in the early stages of development, we have a few exclusive facts to kick start the hype.

Fact #1: Kevin Williamson (writer of two of the SCREAM films (character credit on third)) is going to start writing a draft, although it may or may not become the shooting script (which is typical).

Fact #2: Wes Craven may or may not direct, but there is a very good possibility that he will return.

Fact #3: They are making financial offers to David Arquette, Courtney Cox Arquette and Neve Campbell to play cameos.

Fact #4: This will be a younger version of the SCREAM movies.Watch for more soon as we'll been staying close to this highly anticipated project."

I also found a comment from someone who suggested Scream 4 should be like Craven's New Nightmare, where the film stars all the original cast playing themselves. Some Scream-fan, dressed in the costume would be hunting down all the original cast from the first Scream, including Drew Barrymore. That actually sound like a great idea, and another way to play with all the scary movie cliches. The one thing I ask is that they don't go all "porn-gore" a la Hostel/Saw, otherwise I won't be able to watch it (at least without fainting...)

Blood at the Golden Globes!

The movie awards season is here in full force, with seemingly every little association and group handing out awards. Yesterday one of the biggies of the movie industry took place in LA, the Golden Globes. You've probably seen all the headlines: The big awards for Slumdog Millionaire, the 2 (!!) GGs for Kate Winslet (good, I really like her even though she appears to be naked on every movie) and obviously, the well deserved recognition of Heath Ledger's brilliant performance in the Dark Knight (click here for the full list of /nominees/winners).

Hidden under all the eye-catching headlines are a few awards that made me really happy: the Golden Globes for 30 Rock and it's star and writer Tina Fey - my favourite comedy show of the moment and one that I discussed here - and the best actress in a TV Drama award for Anna Paquin, for her performance in True Blood (also nominated for Best TV Drama Series).

You might remember Anna Paquin for the same roles I do: The little girl in The Piano (for which she won an Oscar) and she also had the honour of playing one of my favourites comic book characters, Rogue, in the X-Men films. Now she's playing Sookie Stackhouse in the new TV Drama True Blood, which coincidentally I started watching yesterday.

Left to right: The Piano, X-Men and True Blood

I couldn't help to do something I never do: watch 2 episodes in a row. But something in True Blood had drawn me in although I cannot point my finger at what exactly.

At first sight the show has everything to work: Vampires, sex and it's written by the creator of one of my favourite tv shows that I never followed - Six Feet Under. And fortunately it does. First of all, this is not a typical vampire show by any stretch of the imagination. The pilot introduces us to a host of characters living on the outskirts of Louisiana, US. At some point, vampires were discovered to be real, and a synthetic blood developed by the Japanese and marketed as "True Blood," provides vampires with all the nutrients they need so as not to need to drink from living humans. Now, vampires are trying to be integrated into human society. Sure, it's a metaphor for prejudice and discrimination (vampires are the new gays!) – but it's handled well. Vampires and humans living together, but also not living together. There's still fear and insecurity on both sides and that's what makes True Blood really interesting for me.

The main character is Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a waitress at a diner in a small Louisiana town. She's a good Christian southern lady who also happens to be psychic. Are you getting an idea of how this isn't like other shows? Paquin is terrific (hence the Golden Globe she just won) as Sookie, a girl who is almost too positive and sunny, despite the burden of hearing everyone else's thoughts all the time. This particular bit reminded me of Phoenix/Jean Grey, from the X-Men and the way she hears the voices in her head. We’re also introduced to a variety of characters including Sookie’s best friend, boss and (really cute) brother. All of the characters in the pilot were interesting to varying degrees, and I didn’t dislike any of them (other than the ones I was supposed to.)

The show finally starts moving when a vampire named Bill (yeah, it's a funny name for a vampire and Sookie laughs too) shows up at the diner. Sookie is the only person there who isn’t afraid to talk to him, and does so with all of the southern hospitality she can muster. The rest I won't spoil for you.

The rest of the episode sets up a murder mystery involving a local “fangbanger”, a sort of groupie for vampires who allows them to drink their blood during a sexual encounter. When one in found dead, the evidence points to Sookie’s brother, but the town is convinced that Bill had something to do with it. Nothing is resolved, so I’m assuming that it will be a multi-episode arc, possibly spanning the whole first season, but I’m not certain.

Overall, I think the pilot does a great job of introducing the world of True Blood. Having watched this, and enjoying it so much, I had to ask myself what was different about this series? What makes it better than any of the other recent shows and compelled me to watch 2 episodes in a row? To be honest, I don't have an answer for that, but I'm really looking forward for my next time with "Sookie and the Vampires". Was it the best pilot I’ve ever seen? No, not remotely. But it was strong regardless, and I urge you all to give the series a shot.

Wolverine looking good (and the movie too)

A while ago I did a bit of a feature of all that was known about the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie that is coming out next May. Well since then, not a lot more is known about the movie, except for a new trailer thas was released last month.

It's a relatively short trailer, doesn't give too much away in terms of plot, but it's looking rather good in my opinion. To be honest, me being a big fan of the X-Men, it would have to be pretty terrible for me not to like it. However, even stepping out of my fanboyism, still seems like a solid trailer, showing just about enough of the new characters to keep us waiting for more.

My complain goes to some of the character choices (The Blob??) although the one I had the biggest expectations - Gambit - is looking pretty faithful to the comics. Still don't how what he has to do with Wolverine's story, but to be honest I don't really care, I'm just glad he is in the movie. His action scenes from the trailer look awesome.

Anyway, I'd better shut up now and let you watch it:

There are already several shot-by-shot analysis and breakdown of the Wolverine trailer on the web so I'm not gonna do one here. But here are a few bits from the trailer that surprised or excited me:

Deadpool is featured in this trailer, although we can only assume that the shot above is from before he becomes Deadpool and gets his face disfigured. That or the studio decided it would be a shame to have the very visually appealing Ryan Reynolds behind a mask :)

And who might this be? Hint: Look at the ET fingertips...

Can you hear all the fanboys screaming of joy (and complaining he doesn't have the red eyes)? It's the Cajun himself, Gambit! Still a bit disappointed it's not Sawyer from Lost, but judging from the trailer, he's looking pretty good.

And we get a glimpse of Gambit in action - notice his staff and the purple lights!

Even though I had no idea she'd be in the movie, this is without a doubt Emma Frost aka. The White Queen in her diamond form. I've always wanted to see Emma adapted to the big screen, so I guess this is pretty cool, although not as much as it could have been - early rumors for X-Men 3 indicate that Bryan Singer (director of X1 and X2) wanted the White Queen to be played by Sigourney Weaver. Now that would have been awesome! Unfortunately we all know that Brian went on to direct Superman Returns and Brett Rattner ended up doing X3 (which was a bit of a mess... at least compared to the previous 2 films).

This is intriguing, seems like a young Storm, but how will this fit into the main plot - a flashback perhaps? There was a storyline years ago in the comics where Storm was made a child again by a villain called The Nanny and the when she met Gambit. I think this kind of stuff is a bit to out-of-this-world for the film, though.

OK, so this is not in the trailer... but I don't need any reasons for posting a pic of Hugh Jackman shirtless :P

From the ashes...

I'm back... again... I think... Well, the truth is that I think I want to return to the blogging world, but I might think differently in a couple of weeks (days??). Just saying this so you'll be prepared, one day you might read about one of the Golden Girls dying and then don't hear from me for a few months.

So, good to be back, I've missed you, bla bla bla...

Oh, and where are my manners? HAPPY NEW YEAR! :)