Movies with Friends!

So, the movie reviews, as I promised!

Pride & Prejudice

 This one of my very favorites too. I just love Jane Austen.
 It's funny that most of the people prefer a thousand times the BBC series than this movie... I see that the series is more faithfull. But it seems so raw to me. Like a copy of the words, not the spirit of the book. And I can't swallow Colin Firth as Darcy, I'm sorry.
 When I watch it it feels like the feelings she wanted to portray in the book come alive uniquely. And the actors play their parts with such grace and charm! The photography of the movie is quite exquisite too.  There's always something new to be noticed at every scene, specially at the ball parts. I also love the soundtrack. One day, I'll learn to play the theme on the piano. One day.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

This movie always makes me want to walk out the door and chase adventure. Who cares about real life and responsabilities? "Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free! You are a pirate!"
Okay. This was a funny movie to watch because my friend is just nuts about Johnny Depp and wants to marry him and all those stuff. So I was expecting constant regards about how wonderful he is, but she always finds a new and completely hilarious way to do it.
Who doesn't love pirates? First time I saw this movie I went running to the library to buy a book about them. I ended up with a very acurate description of the main pirates at their golden age by no one less than Daniel Defoe - that guy who wrote Robinson Crusoe, you know who he is. Fact is he wanted to provide good information so the english authorities could catch the pirates. He was very meticulous in his research, so it is very interesting.
But well, the movie. I can't see how someone could dislike it. It's epic awesome! The story is very nice, the acting was marvelous, the costumes make you sigh and all you have to say in the end is "Yo-ho yo-ho a pirate's life for me!", no matter how cliché that is.

We watched The Mummy too, but I've already talked about it. By the way, my hair went really well with the cut. I loved it!

Kisses,

(all pictures found on weheartit)

Romance, Fantasy and Adventures...

... unfortunately, not in my life. Only in the books and movies I read and watch. Maybe that's why I do it so much. To put a bit of those in it.
 Not that I'm unhappy. But sometimes I just wish unimaginable things started happening out of the blue so I can amaze from life again, in a good way.
 Maybe everybody worth talking to feels like that at times.
 To the books and movies, then!

Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine

 This one surprised me. My sister bought it so it's for younger people.
 It's the story of Ella. When she was born a fairy gave her the "gift" of obedience. Until she turned 15, it wasn't a big problem. Her mother and har cook, Mandy, were the only people who knew of her gift and avoided giving her orders. But as her mother died she was left alone with her father, a selfish man who was away most of the time. As consolation she had at least her new friendship with Char (the prince of Frell). Until the day her father decides to send her to finishing school with the dreadfull daughters of the woman he's about to marry. One of them realizes Ella can't help but obey a direct order and uses that to poison her life. One day, she forbids Ella of seeing the only friend she had made there, and so she runs away. She decides to seek the fairy to ask her to take away her gift. In the way, Char saves her from an ogre attack. He helps her find the fairy, but she doesn't help her. She goes back to her father and the relationship she has with Char makes Hattie, the awful step-sister, very jealous.  She forbids Ella to see him and uses her as a maid since her father is never there. Char goes away to learn the ways of another court, and they start to exchange letters. Those letters are going to change her destiny.

 The book is almost a version of Cinderella. A very believable one. The author is very good, she writes in a simple manner, which makes all the things in her magical land easy to follow. The characters are captivating, which is very important in a book like this. Think it became a favorite!

 Me and my friends lately have been watching a movie togheter every weekend. So far we've seen The Mummy, Pirates of the Caribbean and Pride & Prejudice. I'll post reviews in my next post - we are having so much fun!

 See you later,

Feeling like things are going too fast

I just feel so young - I'm only 15 - but in a year and a half I'll be going to college (I hope)! These thoughts always make me kind of scared.But I'm trying to take it easy and be happy that I found sometime to post here at least, so let's talk about more fun and immediate stuff.

First - historical fact! - I'm going to cut my hair! It is long, dark and curly, and it has been so since I was four. Never did anything much different on it when it comes to haircuts. But these past weeks, I realized I got tired of looking at my face always the same. So I was watching The Mummy, and I love Rachel Weisz's look in it, and I though: Well, she's got curly hair in it, this might work!
I know this is kind of unusual, but The Mummy is one of my very favorite movies ever! Everyone thinks is just not a big deal of a movie. After all, it'snot complex, reflexive, or epic. It is just a nice fun movie. But that's why I think I like it so much - it is not pretentious. The characters are charming, spontaneous, funny and quite believable in the context. The story is well done, very well explained, intriguing and imaginative. It hasn't got marvelous effects nor wants to be Indiana Jones. They just want you to enjoy yourself while watching.
I'm quite a silly for movies - I can watch and enjoy those deep cult classics, but the ones that touch my heart are those which the end is happy and the characters are so nice you wish they were your friends. I can't help myself laughing at the jokes everytime I watch them or sighing at the beutiful love stories. Yes, I confess.
For those who don't know the movie (which is quite rare), here's a summary:
At first we are introduced to the forbidden romance between priest Imhotep and pharao's favorite Anck'sunamun, in Ancient Egypt. When they are discovered, Anck'sunamun sacrifices herself so Imhotep could escape, because she knew he could resurrect her. He does not go far, though, as the guards manage to find him. As punishment, he must suffer the hom-dai, that is, be mumified alive with flesh-eater scarabs as company. He is buried in Hamunaptra, the city of the dead, and is guarded for millennia by the Magi.
In 1923, Rick O'Connell is an american serving the French Legion fighting the arabs in (guess where!) Hamunaptra. While trying to live, he is trapped at the feet of the statue of Anubis. The arab horses seem frightened for no reason and run away. Strange wind, sinister song in the background, and the face of Imhotep appears on the sand. Rick runs away.
1926. Evelyn Carnahan it's a clumsy librarian who dreams to be an egyptologist. After putting down the library of the Cairo Museum, she finds her brother, Jonathan, who gives her a box hoping it's a real artifact.
Inside ther's a map to Hamunaptra. They present it to the curator, but he "accidentaly" sets fire to the city part. Jonathan confesses he stole the box from a drunk man in the local bar.
The man is (guess who!) Rick, and Evey manages to take him out of prison and take him as a guide.
There are more people heading to Hamunaptra and soon the city is filled with people digging it's treasures. Soon Evey discovers the mummy of Imhotep and, reading from the book of the dead, awakes him. And he decides she makes a fine body for the soul of Anck'sunamun. Yes, he still plans to resurrect her.
You can imagine what happens later. Some people die, they try to send Imhotep back to his grave, there's romance, there's adventure, there's punishment for those that deserve... there's everything I like in a movie!

So, watching it I thought since I have curly hair, that might work. Might. Might. Oh gods, I'm quite scared. Really really hope that, if it doesn't work perfectly, at least it turns allright and not awful. But well, hair grows, I need a change, better fix it than not know, so... let's do it!

By the way, it does break my heart to remind myself I do not look like Rachel Weisz. But then again, who does? I'm a mere mortal after all.

So, another thing, I finished Persuasion! I adored it. The protagonist, Jane Elliot, is more reserved than Elizabeth Bennet, but as sensible as she. The story is very delicate, very true on the nature of true love, on patience, on trusting yourself. It feels more mature on the writing too. I really loved it.

More later,

Movies - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Since I don't like carnival I always take the holidays to read, sleep, catch up with the blogs I like and watch movies. I watched a lot of movies these days, and obviously didn't like all.

The good:

Amadeus

The movie tells the story of Mozart through the eyes of his rival, Antonio Salieri. Feeling the approach of his death, Salieri tells a priest  he lead Mozart to his death - as he believes he did. Mozart's success, allied to no dedication, led Salieri to a blind hate and his very destruction.
This movie won 8 very deserved Oscars. Everything is just perfect. Really.

The Apartment

C. C. Baxter is a bachelor who works for an insurance company. To climb the corporate ladder, he borrows his apartment to his bosses so they can comfortably cheat on their wives. He's just fine with that until one of them takes the girl he is in love with and tells her he is not divorcing his wife to be with her.
After he leaves she attempts suicide and Baxter has to take care of her. I won't ruin the end for you, but I can say it is a lovely romantic comedy. And it won the Oscar for best movie that year. It has the charm of the beginning of this genre so much explored today.

East of Eden

 Based on the last part of an extense book by John Steinbeck, East of Eden is one of the three movies James Dean got to do before he died. It is the story of a religious father, Adam, and his two sons, Aron and Cal. To him, Aron is all of good and pure, and Cal is a stubborn and revolted son. Unfortunately, the father's approval is all Cal wants. Even after he finds out he lied about their mother being dead. This movie has a good story, and some good acting too.

Stand by Me

Didn't expect much of this one - though it was going to be cheesy and shallow. It was based on a tale by Stephen King (not in a scary way). Four friends with complicated families decide to follow the train rails until the place it is believed that lies the body of a kid who was ranover by the train. During their trip they realize how important their friendship is and how hard it will be to keep it in the future. Despite hat, the movie is quite funny and really nice.

When Harry Met Sally

This is one of my mother's favorite movies. Usually, I don't like Meg Ryan, but she was quite likeable in this movie. Harry drives Sally to NY as a favour to a girlfriend. They start a few conversations, all end in complete disagreement.
A few years later, they meet again, then again, then again, so they start meeting and become good friends. But how long can a man and a woman remain 'just good friends'?

All About Eve

Anne Baxter plays Eve, a naive girl who wishes to be a theater actress. With the help of a scripwriter's wife, she gets to Margo (Bette Davis, wonderful as always) and becomes a helpful companion.
But, as a friend of Margo warns her, a person who dedicates everything to another and asks nothing in return is certainly suspect, and Eve seems to be studying, analyzing her. Said and done: Eve uses Margo and her friends to climb to stardom without their notice, and the only one who got what she was up to was an admired theater critic.

Now, to the bad:

My Life In Ruins

I really like Nia Vardalos, but ARRRGH! This movie really sucked. It is a bad romantic comedy about a turistic guide in Greece, Georgia, that in vain tries to persuade turists to pay more attention to the history of Greece.
About to quit the job, she must make one last trip, with the hairy bus driver with a supposedly hilarious name of Procopi 'Poupi' Kakas and Irv, an old man that thinks himself very funny (he's Richard Dreyfuss, I couldn't believe it). It happens that when Poupi cuts his hair, he is not so repulsive and Irv just acts that way because his wife died before he could take her to Greece (Up, anyone?). You know how it's gonna end. So cliché.

And the ugly:

Doctor Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

This movie is considered one of the best and a classic and all, but I don't know if it was my headache, or the poor dubbing (TCM is all dubbed here. It's awful), or the fact that I'm not meant to, but I couldn't like this movie. I didn't even understand it well enough to. Maybe I need sometime to get it, like I needed to love The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

To Catch a Thief

What happened to Hitchcock, Cary Grant and Grace Kelly here? It was all very badly put togheter, dull and monotonous. Grant lives a retired jewel thief, but all of a sudden roberies like his start again.
To prove his innocence, he decides to catch the responsible himself. Meanwhile, he meets Frances, who kind of desperatly tries to seduce him. Girly observation: Despite all, figurine is stunning.

Yep, that was it. Not bad for four days, I think. More later,

Sherlock Holmes and Inkheart

I know people have been talking a lot about the new Sherlock Holmes, but I couldn't resist giving my opinion too. I must say I loved the movie, for a thousand reasons, and watched it three times already! I read a lot that this adaptation didn't have anything to do with the book, but they are very wrong.
The problem is people got used to think the 'original' Sherlock Holmes is as portrayed in those old Basil Rathbone movies. Actually, those movies twisted the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tales! And I was expecting another disappointment from this movie...

Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey Jr surprised me completely. I didn't think they were worthy of their roles. But they rocked it! Ritchie was very meticulous and Robert studied his part very well. He understood Holmes, the agitation of the mind, the limitless curiosity, the lack of responsability... Jude Law was great, as usual, and I don't say that just because he's charming.
An Kelly Reilly! She was great. She should be given more parts. Rachel McAdams too. By the way, she was so gorgeous. I wish I had her clothes in this movie, and in The Notebook too.
I wanted to point out something not everyone notices about the movie: the soundtrack. Hans Zimmer, I think he is brilliant - he made it for Pirates of the Caribbean too. It sounds chaotic, but resembles Irish folk in some way... really liked it.

About Inkheart... I always wanted to watch because of Brendan Fraser (I just simply adore with all my heart The Mummy). I heard a lot of people saying it's quite bad, but I decided to see it for myself.
I thought it was quite okay. The idea is really good, I guess that they just didn't explore that well. And the visual is very pretty, beautiful landscapes. Probably the book is better, I want to read it very much.

The movie is about Mo and his daughter Meggie. When Mo reads aloud, he brings fiction to life. The last time he did it, from a book called Inkheart, he set free some villains who took his wife Resa away. In his desperate search for the book to fix it all up, he, his daughter and an aunt are captured by the same villains. They want him to read out a creature that is the essence of evil in the bok, but they will do anything to escape, save Resa and put everyone on place.
Wish I read the book. I loved the idea.

Buenos Aires, Percy Jackson Day Kit and The Warrior Heir - Cinda Williams Chima

I have so many to say and there's been such little time! Sorry about the length of this post, really.

Wednesdat I returned from a trip to Buenos Aires, in Argentina. Me and my family stayed for only four days, but it was enough to get to know the city. Which is, by the way, really beautiful - the old buildings tried to copy Paris' style, so they are really majestic. The trip was good also for me to remember my spanish that hasn't been used for a while.

I even have a trip adventure to tell. When you go to Buenos Aires, you have to see a tango presentation. The best tango house would be open just the day we arrived, so we went even though we were tired. The place was really beautiful, with a certain The Godfather atmosphere, all made of wood and velvet. We ordered our dinner and waited. And waited. The lights began to fail, they went on and off. We were starving, but the food didn't come. After two hours of food-waiting, light-blinking boredom, our meals did come. And they looked soooo yummy. And as we grabbed our forks, the lights went out and everybody there stood up. We looked around to see if the show was about to begin or something, as I tried to cut my meat in the dark. Then someone screamed, FIRE! It was a pandemonium. Everyone ran. I grabbed my sister by the arm and went down the staircase, trying to be calm. My sister was very scared because we couldn't see our parents, who were helping my grandparents. When we reached the streets, we could see the fire. It was very high, taking over the whole side of the building. My parents found us soon, and fortunately everyone got out safely. Well, since no one got hurt, I must say it was the best of my day.

Otherwise, the trip went really well. I bought a really nice leather jacket, something I always wanted, and a red trench coat I really loved! In Argentina stuff like that is not very expensive. I also could buy some MAC makeup because of the Duty Free shop. (Here in Brazil, you just can't have MAC. It costs, considering 1 real - our currency = 1,7 dollars, the equivalent to 100 dollars a lipstick. Yeah, it's revolting).
In the airport, while waiting, I had plenty of time to read The Warrior Heir. I did like the book, though I have a few buts. Follows the plot:
Jack Swift (by the way, really like the sound of this name, so very well put togheter) is a teenager who lives in Trinity. When a newborn, he had to do a complex heart surgery, and that's why he has to take a medicine everyday. One day, late for school, he forgets it - and everything changes. He throws this guy he doesn't like to the other side of the football field during training - without laying a finger on him.
So his aunt Linda comes to town and takes Jack and his friens Will and Fitch in a search for an object burried in their great-great-great-grandmother's grave. It is a sword. They are followed, and Jack shows again uncommon powers, specially when using the sword, but their followers are very powerful too. From this point on, Linda finds herself with no option but being honest to him about his family's strange history.

It happens the world is divided between Weirs and Anaweirs - that is, magicians and non-magicians. The Weirs are divided in five classes: Enchanters, Sorcerers, Warriors, Soothsayers and Wizards (who control all the rest). When Jack was born, he should be a wizard, but he didn't have a heartstone. The surgery was made to give him one, but he was given a warrior's heartstone, to serve the interest of the surgeon, the wizard Dr. Longbranch. The warriors are very rare, because they die at early age, and very valuable, because of the Game. The Game is a tournament between the two wizard's houses: White Rose and Red Rose, to determinate which has greater power. As wizards don't want to be involved in the fight, they use the warriors, in this sanguinary, medieval system. Leander Hastings becomes Jack's master and gets him to the Game, all to fulfill an ancient vendetta.
The characters that pleased me the most were the secondary ones - Will and Fitch, aunt Linda, Hastings, Becka (Jack's mom) and Leesha. I found the very human and complete. On the other hand, I didn't like much the main ones. Jack is the best, but sometimes he shows no personality at all. The worse is his beloved one (that later in the book has a surprising role), Ellen Stephenson. I found her dull and boring. In the end she gets just a little tiny bit better. Doens't make up for before that, though.
So, I would read the sequence, but I'm not dying for it. All in all, it is a good adventure-fantasy book, but is not extraordinary.
Now I'm reading Jane Austen's Persuasion... already on chapter 4. Post about it when I'm done.

Finally I got my Percy Jackson Day kit. The Percy Jackson series of books are a very nice modern adaptation to the greek mythology stories that is being transformed into a movie (let's see how that goes). Basically focuses on the demi-god Percy (the od part coming from Poseidon) who goes to Half-Blood Camp to train to be a hero. He's set out on a quest with friends Grover (a satyr) and Annabeth (daughter of Athena) to get back Zeus' master lightening - and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods. Rick Riordan, the author, has a great writing style, agile and quite sarcastic.

The brazilian publisher made an event that was a whole day when fan-clubs competed through tasks for prizes and people could also win those kits answering correctly questions about the book on twitter. Me and my sister competed both ways and won a kit for each! It comes with a T-shirt, a page marker, five bottons, a pen (or maybe a sword?), a raincoat and two tickets! Whee!

Very happy for my things. Soon the movi comes out, and I hope not to be too disappointed.
Well, classes start tomorrow. So happy for it! - no.

The Sword in The Stone (The Once and Future King) - T. H. White

Just finished this book and I loved it! It's the first of a collection of five. It was published in 1938 and inspired the Disney movie.
What I really liked about it was the author's style. He writes in a sensitive, loose way that makes you sympathize with the characters very easily.
The books tell the story of King Arthur from the moment his education with Merlin starts to his death. This one goes as far as he becomes the king. Sometimes, the story gets kind of slow in those parts where he describes Wart's (that was Arthur's nickname) experiences as animals (Merlin transforms him to teach him lessons), but that's my only "complaint".
This is not the vision, however, we are used to have on Arthurian stories. Morgana has a minor role, being just a witch Wart and his foster brother Kay combat by Robin Hood's side. But the book has interesting lessons, since Merlin wants Arthur to learn the best values possible for a sovereign.
Besides, there are dazzling descriptions of the wild landscapes of England on these remote times. You form this image in your head, of the woods surrounding the castle, the tower were Merlin lives, the big tree in which Robin Hood and his mates camp.
I recommend it for anyone who want some simple magic.

“But there was a time when each of us stood naked before the world, confronting life as a serious problem with which we were intimately and passionately concerned... There was a time when Free Love versus Catholic Morality was a question of as much importance to our hot bodies as if a pistol had been clapped to our heads. 

Further back, there were times when we wondered with all our souls, what the world was, what love was, what we were ourselves.” 

Now that I finished this one, I'll start The Warrior Heir, by Cinda Williams Chima. I read good reviews on this book and hope it doens't disappoint me. I have many books to read yet... so many books, so little time. Well, at least I won't get bored. I'll publish reviews as I finish them!

Hello!

What should I say in the first post? Well, I had blogs before, but that was a long, long time ago. A time when I didn't have anything much interesting to say. I hope this time is different.
I always had the will to blog again, but I wasn't sure if I should. But then I was looking around the internet and I found this blog (put The Wood Bet... link here). It's such a charming blog. You can notice the girl isn't writing for popularity or something like that, but just because she likes it. Her blog really inspired me. I decided, that's the kind of thing I want.
About the name, it's a piece from a larger quotation from Jane Austen, one of my favorite writers. " A lady's imagination is very rapid - it goes from admiration to love, from love to marriage, in a moment. " I'm definetly not thinking about getting married yet (I am 15 and had never had any relationship), but I think this quote translates my dreamy nature.

A little bit about myself: My name is Camila, already said I'm 15, and I live in Brazil. I really don't like living in Brazil, because the government doesn't take people seriously here (and that implies in stealing most of our money). I wish I could live somewhere in Europe, like Ireland, or England, places that look infinetly more interesting. I live in a small house in a town that is nor big, nor small - well, that is, in size; people's mind here can be very narrow. I love reading, and I do it all the time. I don't have much whom to talk to about books or movies or music I like here, one of the reason's why I created this blog. I also like to study languages, and so far I speak Portuguese, of course (that's what we speak in Brazil), and also English, my favorite, Spanish and French. I still want to learn some Latin, Russian, Italian, German, Romanian, Japanese and Finnish.
I'm about to start the second year of high school (here we have only three years), and I'm not very optimistic about it. However, my plans to cover my notebook and journal with movie pics that I've been searching the internet exhaustingly might cheer me up a bit. I'll try to post pictures when they're ready.

Think this is pretty long already. I'll stop now, but I'll try to be posting interesting stuff. Hope you'll like it!