Movie Tip #4 - Atonement

Director: Joe Wright

Starring: James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Romola Garai, Saoirse Ronan, Brenda Blethyn, Vanessa Redgrave,Benedict Cumberbatch, Juno Temple

Description: The young Briony Tallis has a wild imagination. Because of a lie she breaks up her sister Cecelia (Keira Knightley) and her lover Robbie (James McAvoy). A lie that will change all of their lives....

Review: I read the book a while ago and I immediately loved the story. The characters are perfectly played by the actors and the story is extremely close to the original. The three chapters in the book (young Briony, 18 year old Briony and older Briony) were pictured the way it was supposed to. Not complicated, perfectly directed by Joe Wright. People who like a lot of action won't like this film, because it's not a blockbuster movie. But if you like the book, you will love the film. They're equally good.

Take it Easy!!!

Today something great happened. My dad is a big fan of "The Eagles". He has been to a concert, a long time ago and his wish was to see them once more. Like you know, I live in The Netherlands. "The Eagles" don't often perform here, but today we bought tickets to see them, in Arnhem. So I'm going to their concert with my dad. It's on july 18th, so we'll have to wait, but it gives us something to look forward to.

X Joyce

Best Wishes...

Santa CLaus has left allready, but I had a great Christmas. Not a white one, but it were wonderfull days with my family. Dinner was perfect, we had a delicious ice cake and I always love the time we can spend together. I was also spoiled by my parents and my brother. Here's my list of presents:
- DVD "The Other Boleyn Girl"
- DVD "Atonement"
- DVD "Road to Perdition"
- DVD "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark"
- DVD "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"
- Ribbons for scrapbooking
- French blue inkpad for scrapbooking
- Brads for scrapbooking
- Boardgame "30 Seconds"
I know.... a lot of DVD's, but that always makes me happy. Especially the Indiana Jones movies that my brother gave me. Together with John McClain from "Die Hard", he's my movie hero!

X Joyce

Movie Tip #3 - Love Actually

Director: Richard Curtis

Starring: Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Rowan Atkinson, Martine McCutcheon, Andrew Lincoln, Martin Freeman

Description: We follow the lives of eight different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely and interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London.

Review: This movie stands for the perfect Christmas feeling and each story gives you different emotions. I especially like the story about the Prime minister (Hugh Grant) and the one with widower Daniel (Liam Neeson) and his stepson. This movie will probably be on TV during Christmas, so go watch it, because it's funny, sad, heartwarming and very romantic.

True Colours

I'm a game freak and I discovered a new game: True Colours. You can play it with your friends, because now you have to show them how well you now them. You get a question (for example: who is always late?) and then you have to give out two votes. You can vote on two different people or twice on the same person. You can not vote for yourself. If everyone voted, you have to predict how many votes you got. The last step is to count all the votes and see who wins this round. This game is a lot of fun. It's confronting sometimes, but mostly it's responsible for a lot of laughs. I played it with my friends Chris, Irene and Evelien and they loved is just as much as I did. So during the holidays, we will play this game more often...

X Joyce

Movie Tip #2 - The Jane Austen Book Club

Director: Robert Swicord

Starring: Maria Bello, Amy Brenneman, Hugh Dancy, Maggie Grace, Emily Blunt, Jimmy Smits, Kathy Baker, Mark Blucas, Kevin Zeegers

Description: Five women and a man decide to start a book club. Each one of them is responsible for one Jane Austen book. After reading the book they come together and talk about it. In the meanwhile they all have to deal with their own relationship problems and they will all ask the same question: What would Jane do?

Review: If you like Jane Austen, you like this movie. Every member of the club can identify himself/ herself with Austens books and so will you. You will find a character to identify yourself with. Especially Jocelyn (Maria Bello) and Grigg (Hugh Dancy) are great and they have perfect chemistry.
The reason why I like this romantic comedy is because it's not one of those soppy chick-flicks. This movie isn't as predictable as most films in this genre. Just give this movie a shot... maybe you'll like it.

Sanra Claus is coming....

It's almost Christmas. This is always a very busy period. We already decorated our tree, so that's done. But now we have to buy gifts (which isn't easy, especially when one never makes a Christmas list). We don't have to buy gifts, but I always like to buy something nice for my family and friends. And they do the same for me. This week I'm going Christmas shopping. I already got some good ideas for my brother, he's the easy one.
Tuesday I have a Christmas breakfast at the school that I work on. Very early in the mornig!!! But it's nice to share this with my collegues.
I'm in the Christmas mood and I'm really looking forward to it. And I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, because I never had one. Here in The Netherlands it doesn't snow very often. We did have a white eastern though (that was weird) and two weeks ago we also had snow, but never snow on Christmas day. I just keep hoping that it will happen this year.

X Joyce

PS.Oh... don't forget.... tommorow I will post another movie tip for you!!

Movie Tip #1 - Hotel Rwanda

Director: Terry George

Starring: Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix

Description: Tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi lead to a civil war, in a country where corruption and bribes are routine. Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle), the manager of Sabena Hôtel des Mille Collines, is Hutu but his wife is Tutsi. Paul and his family observe neighbors being dragged from their homes and openly beaten in the streets. He decides to help de Tutsi people and offers them chelter in his hotel, but the Rwandan Army General is not happy about it.

Review: This movie made me think and I was deeply moved by it. Paul is a man who is willing to do the right thing, when everything around him is going wrong. He stands strong and Don Cheadle did a great job portraying this man. Go see this movie and let it inspire you, like it inspired me.

Sinterklaas

Every year, on december 5th, we celebrate Sinterklaas (a dutch holiday). With my parents and my brother Frank we exchange gifts. It's a lot like "Secret Santa". This year I had to buy gifts for my dad. Not easy. We could all spend 15 Euro's. I bought him a nice blouse and face-shaped-candy. He was happy with it!!! My brother had my list. I got a giftcard, a new calender and a DVD. It was "Jurassic Park". One of the best movies ever made and now I can add it to my collection. I didn't expect that last gift, at all. But I'm very happy with it. After the gifts, we had dinner. It was a lovely evening. I always love these days, that I can spend with my family. That's why I'm always looking forward to Christmas. That's also something that is gonna happen this weekend. The tree is coming....

X Joyce