Film Review

The film, Much Ado about Nothing, directed by Kenneth Branagh and based off the classic Shakespearean novel, was released in the year 1993 and given a mix of reviews. Hal Hinson, from the Washington Post, described the movie as “insubstantial and uninspired”, yet “easy on the eyes”. I wholeheartedly agree with Hinson’s remarks about the film. I thought the setting was gorgeous, the jokes funny, and the celebrities enjoyable. However, after viewing the film, I felt just as Hinson—uninspired. I was unmoved by the actors’ performances. For example, when Hero cried in agony over being falsely accused of unfaithfulness on her wedding day, her facial features appeared almost comical. Moreover, the bright, joyful sun shinning down upon the scene did little to aid the grave mood. Overall, this film gave little justice to Shakespeare’s great work.

Aurevoir les Vacances d'Hiver

If you haven't noticed, my posts are becoming shorter. Despite my previous mention for want of shorter posts, I miss the old length mine used to carry. It made them seem.... more important and worthwhile I guess. Well, I guess not too much can be expected since over the course of winter break, I have been having difficulty finding things to blog about. As you can tell by the date above, I am cutting it close- tonight I cherish the few hours of break I have left. Over break I didn't actually do much reading. I finished Speak, as I blogged about earlier, and also the Royal Diary book, Princess of Versailles. The latter was not very good, but it did help me a bit in my understanding about the French Revolution and the Austria's role in it. My outside reading project is going so-so. I've started it, but barely. Thus far I have a rough outline. I'm very glad it is not due until Friday, for I must as they say "get back in the swing of things". Sure, I had plenty of time to work on it over break, but I've had better things to do. Such as playing Trauma Center: New Blood on my new Wii, or watching the movie Aquamarine countless times, and then forcing my friends to watch it with me. I got the movie over break as a gift from my best friend, and as have not stopped thinking about it since. For some reason this movie has stuck to my heart. It is light, romantic, and funny. But I think the real reason is that the two best friends' relationship in the film is similar to the one I share with mine, and that is something speacial that I will never get sick of watching.

so close, and yet so far

I would like to start this post by complementing a friend of mine on her blog. We will call her Mirman. Unfortunatly I am not highly skilled in the use of technical devices, and can't figure out how to create links to my friends' blogs from mine. Anyway, last night, while I lay in bed staring at my ceiling and contemplating the meaning of life (as I so often do), I figured that everything we do comes back to love. It is why we live, survive, everything we do comes out of love. Wheather it is a hard decision to make, or something else, all we really want is to be loved. If I could chose, the world would only contain love, and no hate. But when difficulties arise in our lives, it is sometimes hard to find love, even though it's what we want the most. This is when hate (sadly) develops. Why is love such a big deal though? It's the closest thing we have to magic. When I read a post from Mirman's blog about Life and Death, it made me think about how close to us they really are. Death could occur chaque jour, in countless ways. But we stay alive searching for something. We know it is too early to die when we haven't found love, and know there is much more of it to discover and share.

Go for It

I've always wanted to act. Really, its true. I've wanted to have to courage to jump on stage in front of a big crowd and give a flawless performance like it was nothing. It's been a long time that I have been musing over this. It's just that theatre seems very intimidating, but I realize that if I want to do something, I should go for it. I don't want to regret not trying an activity I might love. So, I'm signing up for classes at the Guthrie, a great theatre company where the little brother of my good friend preforms. I'm starting small, one class session at a time, but I hope I'm good at it, and if not, that I can improve and hone my skills so that maybe one day, I will be able to take center stage! It's a miracle that regardless, I will continue to play tennis. Who says I can't become a thespian and still participate in athletics?

Time Flies

Winter break is simply flying by! This past week, I finished reading Speak, a book I loaned to my friend to read, and upon her returning it, reread it myself. I emensely enjoyed it the second time, perhaps more than the first. It has been added to my list of favorite books (kept mentally in the back corner of my mind). The book is very moving and deep, yet at the same time simple. Even though I have never experience such a traumatic event like Melinda, I feel that I can relate to her. I would love to be her friend, unlike Heather, a new girl who abondonded her for personal gain. I actually would like to befriend many fictional characters.... anyway, my friend and I rented the movie over break, and I fell in love with it. Kristen Stewart, who acted as Melinda Sardino, has officially become my favorite actress. I absolutely cannot wait for her preformance in Twilight. (I could not figure out how to actually post the trailer on my blog, so here's just a link to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSCzahFXMrs)

Much Ado About Nothing

Eight hours later.... I am back from a day of skiing at Highlands which consisted of me and my good friends Sasha and Lauren mono-skiing and eating a total of eleven donuts. Mono-skiing is difficult at first, but lots of fun! By experiencing it, I was able to sense a little how paraplegics might feel, which was interesting, educational, but also strange. Anyway, Much Ado About Nothing is the Shakespeare play I blogged about early and that my class has begun reading. I really like the play's title; it's fun to say and fits the plot perfectly. However, the story is hard to understand- it is almost as if it is written in another vernacular. (I like that word too.) The jokes are hard to comprehend, as well as the characters' emotions! Therefore, I was pleased to find that the Barnes & Noble sponsored website, Sparknotes, has a line by line translation of the text!!! I plan to find sections of the play I don't understand and then look them up on the site. Since the play is all confusing at the moment, I can't really say if I like it or not, but I am very excited to see what happens when Benedick and Beatrice (two stubborn and haughty people) are set up together. I'm also excited to watch the next scene of the movie!

Let Me Eat Cake

These Weekend posts will defintely be shorter since I am terribly busy. Yesterday I skiied for about eight hours, on six hours of sleep. This morning, I thankfully have more sleep, but am in for the same eight hours of training. Actually, I have to go soon.... so- this week, started reading the book Princess of Versailles. It is the story of Marie Antoinette and part of the Royal Daries series. My sister read these books avidly when she was younger. Though they could be a bit young for my age, I chose to read this one because I am currently studying the French Revolution in history and thought it could be beneficial to my understanding. Thus far it is. Since the books are aimed toward young teens and children, Marie Antoinette's journal entries are easy to understand and relate to what I've learned in history. Of course, there must be some fictional aspects to it as well, but it makes the story more interesting. Right now, I am only about eighty pages into the book. Antonia's mother (this is Marie Antoinette's real name) is the great empress Marie Therese and loves to form alliances. She weds off her many children in order to do so, and Antonia is to be wed to the Dauphin of France, Louis XVI. She will soon then become the queen of France. I am excited for her to move to the French royal court and be wed, because I think that is where I will begin to hear more about the French Revolution.