Movies, Plays and Books

This past week, during which I have been as awful as ever at updating this blog, I have read Alice in Wonderland, seen Captain America (twice) and Hunger Games (for the second time) as well as seen the play The Greedy (L'Avare) by Molière and in the writing moment I am watching Wuthering Heights. So, as you see, there's quite a lot to comment/review.

For a review on Hunger Games, see my previous post on the matter; Hunger Games - The Movie, but if you want to know more about the others, please keep reading.

Captain America

Upon the request of one of my dear friends I rented Captain America for our "movie afternoon" last Thursday, and that was the best suggestion I've had in a long time. It was a fantastic movie with action, comedy and a wee bit of love and tragedy. And lots of hot guys! At least three of them (Dominic Cooper, Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan). ;) I also loved the character of Agent Peggy Carter. I mean she's a kick-ass, beautiful British woman, what's not to love?

A definite 4 out of 5, maybe even a 4,5. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm not too into super heroes, and some things were just a little bit.. I don't know.. off? I would totally give it a five. I really recommend it to pretty much anyone who likes a good movie. :)

The Greedy
A great play by Molière, that I saw with my father Saturday night at The Royal Dramatic Theater (Dramaten) in Stockholm. There's something special about going to a play instead of a movie. The talent of the actors is so much more captivating, somehow. And if you're under the age of 26 like myself, a ticket will only cost you 100 SEK (less than a 3D movie at the cinema!), no matter where you sit. For anyone in Stockholm, I really recommend that you go see the play!

Alice in Wonderland

I read Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
this week, and have just started reading Through The Looking Glass. It's not a very long novel, in fact it might be short enough to qualify as a short story with just about 100 pages (in the edition I have). However, it is quite an interesting read, and it is quite a lot like a dream (which is what it is I guess). Also, there are quite a few things that are present in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (duh!).

If you have nothing to read and have this book available, you should definitely give it a read!

Wuthering Heights
Well, just finished it, and boy was that I waste of time. Hundreds of shots at nature and dying animals, and the interesting part of the story started more than halfway (an hour) into the movie. I was hoping that it would motivate me to start reading the book that it's based on (which I got for Christmas last year, or maybe the year before..), but it didn't.

It would be generous to give the movie 2 out of 5... So, settling for a tiny 1, and NOT recommending that you see it. If you don't love the book that is, then you might like the movie too, I don't know..

xoxo
Frida

Just One Look

Just finished Harlan Coben's Just One Look, which I started reading Saturday afternoon (after finishing Dalton). If that time frame (which includes lost time due to spending the weekend with my Twiin - and during the time I spent with her I didn't read anything, and taking a break in reading the book yesterday to read more fanfics, as well as normal sleeping yesterday) is not a hint to how nail-biting the book was, then I don't know what is. Like always with Harlan Coben (who is one of my favourite authors - did I mentioned he tweeted me?! Some time ago I wrote something about the opening line in The Innocent, "You didn't mean to kill him", which possibly is the beat opening sentence I've ever read, and he responded with something like "enjoy the rest of the book"! Ok, enough rambling..) the language pulls you forward and the plot unfolds in such a way that it's difficult to stop reading. If you've ever read a stand-alone novel of Coben, you know what I mean. There's also the way he has several characters in focus and you won't know how they're all connected until the last couple of pages (and it's often a very surprising connection at that). I love it.

The difference between the previous novels of his that I've read and Just One Look, is that the main character (if you can say that there is one, which I think you can) is a woman. Ok, scratch that, I just thought of two other novels where you could argue that the lead character is a woman. Anyways. Grace Lawson is this suburban mother and painter with a nice life and then her husband goes missing after seeing a photograph from his past, and she's determined to find him. Grace's wit, if you could call it that, is a great contributing factor to the book, and it gives a fun edge to even serious situations. Also, her annoyance with perfect housewives and suburban mothers is hilarious.

It is not my favourite book by Harlan Coben (that is and will probably always be Hold Tight), but it was very good. I really recommend that you read it, even though I don't quite know how to grade it (I've found that grading stuff really isn't my strong suit). Maybe a 3,5 or 4 out of 5.

xoxo
Frida

My Tardiness, and Dalton

I must apologize for how bad I have been at updating lately (well, in the last week), and I blame it solely on the existence of a certain fanfic. You see, while I have been working out and then spent time just being lazy, most of my time was consumed by Dalton by CP Coulter. It is an absolutely fantastic fanfiction, which sadly isn't complete yet (but it's getting there I hope), and I have been reading it this past week (finished it yesterday morning, and then went to Twiin's house).

If you're in to fanfics, or at least good ones, I really recommend you read it (if you have the time). It can be found here, and the author CP Coulter has a blog (where the last published chapter can be found, among other Dalton-related stuff) on cpcoulter.com. The fic is about Klaine, and Kurt's life in Dalton after he transfers (in Furt).

The review I sent to CP Coulter (slightly revised to remove big spoilers and to make sense):


This last week I started and finished Dalton (incl. the latest update which I only found through cpcoulter.com), and it's kind of been an emotional rollercoaster. Let me start by saying that it is one of my favourite fanfics and probably the best written one (with no offense to other authors of course) with an intricate plot and interesting and developed characters. It is, to say the least, amazing, and I am in awe of your talent. It is literally awesome.

I am surprised that I hadn't read Dalton before (though I've certainly seen a lot of references to it throughout the Klaine fandom, which is the one I mainly belong to at FanFiction.net) and I just marvel at how it has expanded so much that it now has its own little fandom. Which it deserves of course. The plot, how the different relationships are built up, and different parts of vital information is given at the right time to build the tension even further, making it difficult to stop reading (I got cramps in my hand from scrolling since I was reading it on my iPod touch). How the relationships developed and the introductions of new characters is what I liked the most, I think. Oh, the characters. Well, that calls for a new paragraph.

I think it is a great interpretation of Kurt and Blaine as characters based off of Glee, and they're amazing and all that, but what's really great about Dalton is all the OCs. The Tweedles (I love the Alice in Wonderland-theme, just as a sidenote), Reed, Dwight, Chaz, Logan, Julian, Derek, creepy Adam (great character study, even though he creeps the living daylights out of me and I therefore hate him), all the parents/families, and all the other students (like the Hanovers - oh, and I also love the houses). Oh, and Shane and Micah (and the rest of the Fab 5). And the teachers! There are just so many great characters that you created yourself and I just love (almost) all of them. It's so hard to choose a favourite! (The Tweedles and Reed are definitely up there, but I don't know, so is Shane and Chaz and Dwight and Han and... oh what the h*ll, they're all growing on me in their own ways). Their own stories are moving and inspirational and even though I might not be very able to relate to any of it (at least not yet), I think you're so fantastic for writing their stories, because some people actually reflect themselves in that. I also adore your version of Wes and David (and Katherine, love her), and the "brief" participations of New Directions. I am just so moved by all your characters and this story in its entirety.

I did say that it has been somewhat of an emotional roller coaster. The plethora of feelings that the reader goes through while reading (because I doubt this is just me) are so versatile, that sometimes it is difficult to figure out what you really feel (sort of like Reed at times I guess). The twins and all the shenanigans and randomness in the Windsor house (well, not just the twins, but all Windsor boys really) just makes me smile and often laugh out loud in astonishment of their stupidity (and the casualty it is met with). They keep me amused (and often chocked), while deeper feelings and past storylines of many characters have me cry, feel compassion, anger and annoyance, they have me sit on needles and even makes me scared at times. I think I've felt every possible emotion to some extent when reading this fic, and that is absolutely astonishing. I must admit that during parts of the story I cried like a baby. And upon hearing songs "featured" in the story the waterworks can start up again (which happened yesterday morning).

I did say that I can't quite relate to anything in the story, but I found that now, towards the end, that I can. To some extent at least. I recently graduated from the swedish equivalence of High School and now me and my friends are scattering. Most will remain here in Stockholm but it will never be the same again. Me and two of my best friends were probably a bit like the Windsors in school, we were definitely the kind of crazy girls. And through reading Dalton, I think it has helped me somewhat to realise that we won't be the same again, and it has definitely helped me cry about it (I often find it difficult to process and cry about things in my own life, but can project the feelings and cry to a good but sad book or movie - or in this case a fanfic). So, thank you (CP Coulter), for giving me that.

xoxo
Frida

The Fry Chronicles

I finally finished The Fry Chronicles! It's Stephen Fry's autobiography of his twenties (late 70s and the 80s in Britain), and I don't know how long I've been reading it (two or three weeks maybe?). Why did it take so long, you may wonder? Well, I cannot say that Fry is a bad author, he certainly has a way with words, but I'm 18, and I think the is equivalent of being too young to really understand what the hell he is on about. I have virtually no knowledge of the humor scene in Britain during this time (well, I have a much better understanding now than before I started reading the book), and I think that is a very contributing factor to why I struggled to finish the book.

Fry writes "... but the business of autobiography is at least to strive for some element of self-revelation and candour" (pg. 224), and let me tell you, this book is filled with self-revelation., and in some cases revealing things about other people (such as Hugh Laurie, which, I must admit, interested me). So, in the case of it being "gossipy" as proclaimed by The Times, there is much truth.

If you have any interest in the subject of British college life and Fry's career in his twenties (and all that comes with it) or you're just interested in broadening your vocabulary, I do recommend that you read The Fry Chronicles. I don't know how to rate it though, because I haven't made up my mind of whether or not I like it.

Now, on to the next book!

xoxo
Frida

Great Expectations (and pictures)

Right now I am HAPPY!!! :) I'll talk to one of my best friends soon on Skype (she's in China, and I miss her terribly), and there's a new episode of Pretty Little Liars, which I'm going to watch later. Good things to look forward to indeed! :)

Also, I just have to add a quick note that all the pictures that I've "published" on here that are "official" (such as book covers, pictures from TV-series etc.) and don't look anything like being mine, well, they're not. I don't own the rights to any of those pictures, just using them for entertaining purposes to the few people who might come across this blog! All rights belong to whomever (that's not me)!

xoxo
Frida

Madagascar 3

Today me and my brother went to the movies to see the relatively new Madagascar 3. In this one they try to get back "home" to NYC again, leaving Africa and catching a train with circus animals in France. The train is heading to London (with a stop in Rome) where the circus is auditioning for a contract to tour the states. All the while they're hunted by some crazy ass woman with a desire to kill and behead Alex (the lion). It is a fairly interesting story with some great twists and turns, and I must admit that I was a bit worried about how it was going to end, which means the end was a bitg unexpected and I love that.

Madagascar 3 definitely passed in the category of a good children's movie. I think I give it a 3 out of 5, because of nice jokes for adults, keeping the kids entertained and some really cool 3D effects (which I haven't seen in a while, so I almost recommend that you see it in the cinema if you want to see it). It absolutely made for a nice afternoon with my brother! :)

xoxo
Frida

Ryan Murphy

Ryan Murphy is one of my favourite men right now! He recently published two more never-before-seen-scenes from Glee! :) One from the episode Hell-O in Season 1 (Hello Twelve, Hello Thriteen) and the other from the latest season's Michael episode (I Want You Back). I just gotta say that I love sassy Blaine in the end of the latter, and the former made me hate Jesse a teensy bit less (I do like JGroff though, so no hating!).

If you've missed this awesomeness of newly-released-scenes, here you go:

The "Hello 12 Scene"
The "Warblers I Want You Back Scene"

Also, I recomend that you follow Mr. Murphy on Twitter: MrRPMurphy

xoxo
Frida

TV-series Addict

Hi, I'm Frida, and I'm addicted to TV-series.

(This is where you all reply: Hi Frida, and I sit back on my chair in this imaginary circle of addicts)

No, but seriously, the amount of TV-series I've seen or am following cannot be healthy! I decided to make a few lists just to see how crazy I am.. (also including reality shows)

TV-series I've seen all (existing) episodes of:
America's Next Top Model
Bones
Glee
Grey's Anatomy
Once Upon A Time
Pretty Little Liars
Revenge
The Big Bang Theory
Ugly Betty

TV-series I've seen the majority of the epsiodes of:
Desperate Housewives
Friends

TV-series I've seen several episodes (but not sure how many, often a few seasons) of:
House
How I Met Your Mother
Project Runway

TV-series I've seen at least one full episode of:
Everybody Loves Raymond
Jim
Midsummer Murders
Navy CIS
NCIS Los Angeles
Scrubs
The Mentalist
The Nanny
The Simpsons
What I Like About You

I was like this when I was younger too, but then it was all about the Disney Channel Original series (without actually minding the compltely suckish acting), such as Phil from the Future, That's So Raven and also Hannah Montana (like the first season) and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (those two kids grew up good, saw a picture of 'em a while back).

Ok, so these are the ones I could think of right now.. I think I've forgotten a few, but you get the point. Might add to it later..

xoxo
Frida

The Klaine "Box Scene"

The Klaine scene that didn't air in the last Christmans episode (season 3) of Glee has now been released by Mr. Ryan Murphy!! I saw it this morning and it is SOOO awesome! I love it, and I might have died and gone to Klaine heaven ;) It is absolutely gorgeous! So, here it is:

The Klaine "Box Scene"

Why is it that all the best guys are gay, taken or fictional? Or in this case, all three? Gaah! Give me a decent  straight guy please!

Anyways, here's another deleted scene from season 3 of Glee, the "Bridesmaids  Scene", also courtesy of our beloved Mr. R. Murphy (who right now happens to be one of my favourite people in the world), where Rachel and the girls are looking at wedding and bridesmaids dresses.

"Bridesmaids Scene"

Not nearly as good as the Klaine scene (which I am still freaking out over), but there you go. All the love to Ryan Murphy right now!

xoxo
Frida

Injuries and Pain

Well, it would be typical that today's post follows what I wrote yesterday.. I totally need some of those feelings right now. You see, I just came home after having removed a birth mark/mole on my chest, and by removed I mean; they cut it off and stitched me up and said off you go, see you in five days. It was kind of a shocking experience since I went in to have it checked out (it hurt a bit yesterday and the day before) and the doctor was all like; well, we can remove it and send it for testing. I was not really sure what he meant (whether he meant to do it today or book a new time or whatever) so I weakly responded with an OK, and he just said that he had some time over, and we went into this other room. A nurse came along, they put some spray on the birth mark (to numb it I guess, which didn't work very well), cut it off and stitched me up. It all happened very fast so I didn't really process it until I was on my way home. This was the first (and hopefully last) time I got stitches.

Considering how prone I am to hurt myself (not in a self-destructive way, I'm just very clumsy), this was a surprising realisation for me. I've broken my arm, had splintered bones in my feet and one tiny fracture in my little finger. I've also fallen and severely hurt my caudal vertebra (tail bone for muggles), and also hurt it on other occasions. Additionally I've cut myself while shaving or doing something else with a knife/razor blade on so many occasions I cannot count them, not to mention the amount of blisters I've had (for whatever reason). Also, I've fallen and hurt my knees on several occasions (once I had seven pebble stones in my knee, and another time I fell over a nail that stuck up from a boat and there I now have a five cm scar (two inches)). When I was a toddler I even fell with my head into the corner of a piano, so I have a scar on my forhead (they didn't use stitches then, since it was in my face and I would've looked ugly). To top it all off I have had glass or other things stuck in my feet and hands a lot. Oh, and my hair caught fire once. So, you see why I'm surprised I haven't had the need for stitches before?

I hope you've had less accidents in your life (and to think, I managed all of the above, as well as severely burning my foot on oil from a frying pan, in eighteen years)!

xoxo
Frida