Tuesday 16 February 2010

Why does everyone assume...

...that if you're a teenager and your family has left you alone in the house for three nights, that you're going to have loads of parties? Heck, I didn't even have a single person over. I was a nerd and stayed in watching Lord of the Rings (extended editions) because I hadn't watched them in around three years and they needed watching again, especially after I had re-read the books last year. I forgot how good they were and also how pretty. The landscapes are gorgeous - even Mordor is pretty in it's own way. Do not get me started on Minas Tirith (I was watching one of the documentaries that came with the DVD and the Minas Tirith set was built on top of the Helm's Deep set, seeing as they weren't using it anymore). I also finished off the stitching part of my artwork. It's pretty nice to have the whole house to oneself just because it is so QUIET.

Oh, I've also done a drawing of a mechanical dragon:














It was probably subconciously inspired by the Nazgûl's armour (specifically their gauntlets. I want those gauntlets).

Monday 8 February 2010

100th post!

Tomorrow I have to give a short talk about a piece of artwork I saw at the V & A museum that I really liked from the Medieval and Renaissance section. Except I didn't like anything, I'm much more of a fan of modern art. So I'm going to do my speech on "Persistence of Memory" (which I have actually seen in real life at the MOMA in New York. It's a lot smaller than I thought it was), seeing as Dalí is one of my favourite artists. I've also just decided that I love M. C. Escher as much as I love Dalí, so I don't really have one favourite artist any more. I think it's probably due to the fact that in the movie "Labyrinth" there is a room inspired by Escher's "Relativity" with stairs everywhere and it is one of my favourite scenes in the movie. I just love the set design.

One of my favourite pieces by Escher is "Reptiles"


I love the weird tall elephants Dalí paints. When I went to his wife's castle back in 2005 he had lots of these statues, unfortunately I did not know who Dalí was at the time and so did not appreciate it as much as I could have.

I also thought that this was just awesome

Saturday 6 February 2010

Movie time!

In the past week I have watched a few movies (only four, but that is quite a lot for me).

- Die Hard (oh yes I have finally seen it. Life just feels weird now that I no longer have a movie at the very top of my "to see" list). It is awesome, I watched it last Saturday and then continued to think about it for Sunday and most of Monday, except I'm beginning to forget it now (hmm, time for a rewatch methinks? Nah, I can wait). I'll get round to seeing the other Die Hards some day.
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit? - Yes, I have seen this movie before. I absolutely hate the scene where Judge Doom dips that shoe into The Dip. It's just that it's so cute looking and friendly before getting Dipped.
- Neco z Alenky (Alice) - Remember that surrealist Czech version of Alice in Wonderland I was talking about on my blog a couple of months ago (with the sock puppet catepillar)? I finally got around to watching it. It's a very different take on the story, and it is set in a dilapidated old house (adding to the creepiness). Lots of stop-motion (which is a good think, I adore stop-motion). Yes it is mildly disturbing, especially the White Rabbit. There he is chopping the head off of one of the card people, by order of the Queen of Hearts.



















Everyone should see it though. It's just so wildly different.

- Nikita - Seeing as I like some of the other films Luc Besson has done, I figured I'd like this (the DVD has been lying around in our house unopened for ages). It was good, but I think I still prefer Léon (which is due a rewatch, I can't remember it that well). Oh, and Fifth Element is on next Friday. I'll probably be watching it (it's just such an insane movie, it shouldn't work at all, but it does).