So Zooey

I made a new wallpaper, starring the lovely Zooey Deschanel. I loved her in "(500) Days of Summer", especially in combination with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Here's the wallpaper I made.

As always, feelfree to use it on your own desktop.

Best of... Steve Carell

Everyone knows how great he was as Michael Scott in "The Office" and the show is not going to be the same without him. But he's not just that funny guy from that TV-show. He's starred in some great films and I'm really looking forward to seeing him in "Crazy, Stupid, Love". Here are my favorite Steve Carell movies.

"Bruce Almighty"
Jim Carrey is the star of this film, but there's that one scene that made me laugh so hard and Steve is in it. Where Evan is trying to do the show and Bruce is doing all sorts of things so Evan screws it all up. Hilarious.

"Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"
Will Ferrell is one of the funniest men ever, but so is Steve. Especially here as dumbass Brick. His line 'I Love Lamp' is almost legendary. Brick is the stupidest man ever to have set foot on this planet, but I love this guy. Seriously, this man deserves his own movie.

"The 40 Year Old Virgin"
This was his big break. This movie is so loved because of its likeable leading character, Andy Stitzer. How you feel for this guy, after his buddies find out about his big secret. It's such a good comedy with some memorable scenes. Like the waxing scene or his date with Leslie Mann's character, that's just epic!

"Little Miss Sunshine"
What a sad sad man Frank is. He doesn't succeed at anything and again you sympathize with him because of his sucky situation. I raved about this movie many times before, but it's just so good.

"Over the Hedge"
I remember my brother going to the press conference for this movie, and meeting Bruce Willis, who provided the voice of racoon R.J. Steve lend his voice to squirrel Hammie, who has ADD. My favorite scene is when they discover the hedge and Hammie decides to call it Steve.... Really, even when you're in your late twenties you're aloud to laugh out loud.

"Dan in Real Life"
A different kind of comedy for Steve, but I remember enjoying it very much.

"Get Smart"
I thought it wouldn't be that funny, because we've seen so many movies about screw up secret agents or cops. But Steve Carell did it again. It was so entertaining. That scene with 'the element of surprise' or the curtain with all the beads.

"Horton Hears a Who"
How adorable is this!! Horton is so cute and Whoville is such a sweet town. I love childrenstories with a deeper meaning and I love stories by Dr. Seuss.

"Despicable Me"
I saw this movie with my class and I didn't think much of it at first. But it turned out to be really funny and enjoyable. Especially the little yellow guys.

Steve Carell is so likeable as an actor because you sympathize his characters so much (besides Michael Scott off course) and mostly because of all the bad things that happen to him. I haven't seen "Dinner for Schmucks" yet, but I probably will some day. Steve is a great funny man and I'm looking forward to his next film.

50 Books Challenge 2011- # 34: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Author: J.K. Rowling
Story: Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the Quidditch World Cup with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys. He wants to dream about Cho Chang, his crush (and maybe do more than dream). He wants to find out about the mysterious event that's supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn't happened for a hundred years. He wants to be a normal, fourteen-year-old wizard. Unfortunately for Harry Potter, he's not normal—even by wizarding standards. And in his case, different can be deadly.
Start: june 17th 2011
End: june 26th 2011
Comment: How great this is. Another Harry Potter I finished for my challenge and perhaps this is the most original one of the series. I think the plot is most appealing, because of the secret tournament. It really spoke to me anyway. Harry has to join the tournament because someone put his name in the goblet of fire, when he actually wasn't allowed to content. Together with three other participants he has to defeat dragons, strange water creatures and he has to find his way trough a mysterious and scary maze. This book really captivated me from beginning 'till end. And it got even more exciting when Lord Voldemort entered the story. J.K. Rowling described him so well and made him so creepy, that he gave me the chills every single time he spoke. This is just storytelling of a high order. Bravo!
Rating: 5/ 5

Pic Spam: Emma Stone

A couple of years ago, I never heard from her, but after seeing "Zombieland" I absolutely adore Emma Stone. I haven't seen many of her films yet, such as "Easy A" which looks awesome. She's coming with two new films, being "Crazy, Stupid, Love" and "The Help". Especially the first really appealed to me and I'm really looking forward to seeing it. Here are some beautiful pictures of Emma Stone

My current playlist (3)

After visiting Pinkpop, I discovered some new awesome bands so my playlist changed again. Great songs on it, like every time because I choose all the songs (duh). And also some returning performers, because they made some great new songs. Here is the list of songs I'm listening to at the moment.

Brandon Flowers - Magdalena
Alter Bridge - Watch Over you
The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
Band of Horses - The Funeral
Foo Fighters - Walk
Lifehouse - Falling In
Brandon Flowers - Only the Young
Alter Bridge - Ghost of Days Gone By
Simple Plan ft. Natasha Bedingfield - Jetlag
The Gaslight Anthem - The 59 Sound
White Lies - Death
Radical Face - Welcome Home
Maroon 5 - Never Gonna Leave This Bed
Lady Antebellum - Need You Now
Foo Fighters - Everlong
Brandon Flowers - Crossfire
Curtis Stigers & The Forrest - This Life
Alter Bridge - Metalingus
Alter Bridge - Isolation
The Gaslight Anthem - Stay Lucky
Lifehouse - Blind
The Naked & Famous - Young Blood

In the Picture: The Characters from "10 Things I Hate About You"

I'm not a fan of teen comedies, but "10 Things I Hate About You" is one of the few in that genre that is actually good and fun to watch. And I can watch it over and over again. Here are the most important characters of the film.

Kat Stratford
Played by: Julia Stiles
She is a kick ass girl with her own ambitions and will. Kat doesn't like boys in general because she was hurt by one very badly. She's very strong and she doesn't give a damn about what other people think of her. Kat likes rock music, is a feminist, and is very smart.

Patrick Verona
Played by: Heath Ledger
Most people are affraid of Patrick, but there's really no reason to. He has a bad boy look and image, but he's not bad at all. He's actually very kindhearted, but wants people to think he's a badass so he doesn't have to interact with them. Patrick has to take Kat out, but eventually falls in love with her.

Bianca Stratford
Played by: Larisa Oleynik
She's Kat's younger sister and the complete opposite of her. Bianca is interested in fashion, make-up and boys and that makes her a bit shallow. After meeting Cameron we find out she's a bit more then just another pretty face. Bianca is a very social and sweet girl, with more potential.

Cameron James
Played by: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Cameron falls for Bianca on the first day at his new school. He knows what he wants, Bianca, and he does everything in his power to get her. Although Cameron is a very shy guy by nature, he's not affraid to be honest to the people around him. Cameron is probably the best guy any high-school girl could end up with.

Joey Donner
Played by: Andrew Keegan
The pretty boy. Every girl wants to date Joey Donner, but with him the looks is pretty much all you get. He's a major jerk and not the sharpest tool in the shed either. All the girls love him, all the guys don't.

Michael Eckman
Played by: David Krumholtz
Michael tries to make Cameron feel at home at the school. He does everything with the best intentions, but not a lot of people appreciate it. Michael is considered a loser and other students pick on him all the time. He just lets it happen and knows he will never be the most popular kid in the school.

Mandella
Played by: Susan May Pratt
She's Kat's best friend. Mandella loves Shakespeare and she pictures herself in a romantic world as William S. describes it in his poems. She's very spiritual and is a little more open then her friend Kat.

Chastity
Played by: Gabrielle Union
Chastity is Bianca's best friend and even more superficial then B. She's one of those girls that wants Joey Donner and she doesn't care about anything but his looks. Chastity isn't actually a very true friend to Bianca and therefore perfect for an ass such as Joey.

Mrs. Perky
Played by: Allison Janney'
Mrs. Perky is a pretty strange teacher. She swears in front of her students and she's busy writing a novel with some pretty obscene wordchoices.

Walter Stratford
Played by: Larry Miller
He's Bianca and Kat's dad and trying to deal with his teenage daughters who are so different from each other. He is very traditional and doesn't like the fact that Bianca is so interested in boys. He only wants her to date when Kat does, but he knows she probably wouldn't. When Kat also goes on a date, he has to let Bianca go and he has to face the fact: his daughters are growing up.

Favorite Character: Kat Stratford

Best of... Leslie Mann

I hear you think... WHO??? Well, Leslie Mann is always one of the supporting actresses in a film and she (almost everytime) steals the show with her hilarious appearance. She's mostly famous for her husband, director Judd Apotow, but she has a nice resume of her own. Here are my favorite films.

"The Cable Guy"
Great comedy! Basically we've got to thank Jim Carrey, because Leslie hadn't gotten her fame yet. This movie is so funny and has some great, memorable scenes in it.

"She's the One"
This one was also on the Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz lists. I think not a lot of people remember it very well, but it's a very good and not so standerd romantic movie. Very underrated.

"George of the Jungle"
Not one to take very seriousley, but definitely worth putting on this list. I liked the way this story was told, with a voice-over. It was all a bit over-the-top, but that's why this movie is so enjoyable. It's a parody on Tarzan and fun for young and old audience. One of the first movies I saw Leslie in.

"Big Daddy"
Adam Sandler is the big star here, but I like the interaction between Leslie and Adam very much. Their characters can't stand each other and they delivers us some great jokes and moments.

"Orange County"
Leslie Mann is hilarious is her miniature role as Krista. She playes the new wife of John Lithgow's character and they have a son that doesn't ever listen. That's typical for Mann, no matter how small her role is you never seem the overlook her.

"40 Year Old Virgin"
I think this is my favorite movie and my favorite Leslie role on this list. She's one of Steve Carell's hook-ups and she is crazy as hell. She tries to drunk drive and she curses a lot. I was roling on the ground of laughter.

"Knocked Up"
Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen are the leading stars, but Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd play this uber-funny married couple trying to give the other couple advise. Especially Leslie rocks when she's taking the pregnancy test with her sister.

"Funny People"
She teams up with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen again. This is a bit different. It's not hilarious humor, a bit more introvert. But I loved this movie very much. Especially when Leslie's character Laura tried to immitate her husbands Australian accent.

"Drillbit Taylor"
Owen Wilson steals the show and so do the kids. Leslie plays the love interest and this is actually a pretty standard movie. But it was fun and I liked Leslie.

I didn't see "I Love You Phillip Morris" and "17 Again" and she's starring in "The Change Up" now with Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman. After making this list I realized how many fun and entertaining films she's made.

50 Books Challenge 2011 - # 33: I Am number Four by Pittacus Lore

Title: I Am Number Four
Author: Pittacus Lore
Story: In the beginning they were a group of nine. Nine aliens who left their home planet of Lorien when it fell under attack by the evil Mogadorian. Nine aliens who scattered on Earth. Nine aliens who look like ordinary teenagers living ordinary lives, but who have extraordinary, paranormal skills. Nine aliens who might be sitting next to you now. The Nine had to separate and go into hiding. The Mogadorian caught Number One in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. All of them were killed. John Smith, of Paradise, Ohio, is Number Four. He knows that he is next.
Start: june 7th 2011
End: june 16th 2011
Comment: I'm into Sci-Fi lately and I was really excited to read this book. It's written with a lot of energy and it has some great action sequences that are described very well. While the story itself is very original, the result isn't always as original. Sometimes it felt like it was made up in a short period of time. I expected a little more from that. But it is a very entertaining thriller, with some very likeable characters. Off course John is very sympathetic and so is Sarah, although she sounds a little too good to be true. I liked Sam the most. A loyal friend. I always like those characters in books. Overall I enjoyed it very much and I will probably continue reading the series.
Rating: 3,5/ 5

Pic Spam: Dave Grohl

If you read my early blog messages, you could see I saw The foo Fighters recently. Well, off course they were awesome. And Dave Grohl rocks!!! That's why I decided to dedicate a pic spam to him. Here are some great pictures.

Pinkpop Day 3

For us it was the second day, but overall it was the third day of the festival. Everything went very smoothly this time. The first band we saw monday was Scouting for Girls. Didn't really expect much, but they were actually really good. Especially when they played "This Ain't a Lovesong". We saw a little bit of The Plain White T's. They are okay, but they didn't really impress me much. Beatsteaks did a better job. Never heard of them before, but a real good band from Germany. And a very entertaining lead singer. Next stop was The Gaslight Anthem. My brother told me they were very good and I can now agree. Amazing band, great songs. Really good! We saw Volbeat, but after hearing one song, we heard it all. Not very surprising. We left this act earlier to see Band of Horses. I was really looking forward to see them. And I got what I wanted. Great atmosphere and they gave me the chills a couple of times. Especially when they did "Funeral", such a beautiful song. Then we saw 30 Seconds to Mars. I really wanted to see them, but it wasn't what I expected. They started out very well and I love their music, but then it went downhill. Jared Leto is entertaining, but he abused his fame. He let the audience sing big parts of the songs (I payed to hear you sing, not the audience), he asked the people to jump every freaking song or to take three more steps forward (really dangerous, we all got squashed). And the fans.... it was like a Justin Bieber concert, all those screaming girls, come on it's a rock band! We left earlier then we planned. We got a pretty nice spot to watch the Foo Fighters and damn were they awesome. Best perfomance of the festival. And I'm seriously in love with Dave Grohl (okay, not for real but he's awesome). They played for two hours (a half hour longer then planned) and the played non-stop. Songs like "My Hero", "Times Like These", "The Pretender", "Best of You", "Learn to Fly", "Break Out", "Walk" and "Rope". They closed with "Everlong", my favorite song. And drummer Taylor Hawkins sang two songs, one of them being Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down". Those guys really showed us how it should be. AWESOME, thanks guys. Here are some photo's.

Scouting for Girls, a surprisingly fun band to watch.

Beatsteaks with the very energetic lead singer Arnim Teutoburg-Weiß.

The Gaslight Anthem. I'm glad I discovered this band!

Band of Horses

30 Seconds to Mars, a bit of a disappointment.

Last but not least The Foo Fighters. It was hard to make pictures, but like with the Colplay photos you get the idea.

My top five performances of the festival:
# 5. Manic Street Preachers/ Band of Horses (couldn't choose, sorry)
# 4. The Gaslight Anthem
# 3. Alter Bridge
# 2. Lifehouse
# 1. Foo Fighters

Pinkpop Day 1

Yesterday it was the first day of Pinkpop, the biggest music festival in The Netherlands. It's spread out over three days. Getting in was kind of a problem, so nothing ran smoothly. We needed a wrist band and we didn't get one. Ever person send us in a different direction, so it took a while for us to eventually get those wrist bands. The first band we saw were The Manic Street Preachers. Never saw them live before but we (my brother and I) always wanted to. They were awesome. They played 'Motorcycle Emptyness','If You Tolerate This', 'Design for Life' and many more. Next stop was Lifehouse, probably the main reason I wanted to go the first day. Because we had to go from one stage to the other, we mist part of the first song. But still I got to enjoy 'Halfway Gone', 'Broken', 'You and Me', 'Spin', 'First Time', 'Hanging By A Moment' and some other great songs. And I'm really glad they played 'Take Me Away', which is one of my favorite songs and they didn't play that when I saw them in Tilburg. After that, Lifehouse was going to sign. And yes! Jason, Rick, Ben and Bryce all signed my copy of "Smoke & Mirrors". I was super happy and nothing could ruin my day anymore. Not even the stupid wrist bands I didn't get at first. While we were waiting in line for the autographs, we saw Elbow and after that we saw Alter Bridge. The big surprise of the day. Damn they were good. Singer Miles Kennedy never missed a note and they had some great songs. We actually planned on leaving their show earlier, so we had a good view for Coldplay, but we wanted to see the rest of Alter Bridge. Coldplay was the headliner of the first day. They were good, nice show with fireworks and laserbeams. I got the chills when they played 'Fix You', but I kinda missed 'Lovers in Japan' and 'Life in Technicolor II'. All in all we had a great day, even though it didn't start all that well. On sunday we're going to stay home, to re-load. Monday, the last day of Pinkpop, we will go again. Here are some photos.

The Manic Street Preachers

Couldn't get closer, but I did see Lifehouse again.

My happy Lifehouse moment, after getting their autographs. The guys were super nice, Jason actually shook my hand and ask me how I was doing. Thank God my idols are nice people!

Alter Bridge, very cool band. Singer Miles Kennedy looked like Kevin Dillon.

And Coldplay, couldn't really make any good pictures. But you get the idea.

Fantastic Franco

James Franco is such a handsome man and certainly a very talented actor. I still haven't seen "127 Hours" and I'm really dying to see it. I think I just have to wait for the DVD and go buy that when it comes out. And there are so many movies starring him, that will come out this year or next. Here's a James Franco wallpaper I created today.

Feel free to use it on your own computer!

In the Picture: The Characters from "Little Miss Sunshine"

"Little Miss Sunshine" is, just like the last movie in this item, one of my favorite movies off all time. Basically because of the great though quirky characters.

Richard Hoover
Played by: Greg Kinnear
He's the dad of the family and a motivational speaker. He doesn't like losers and failures, but his own life isn't going that well either. He is trying to get a book deal but that's not working out. His relationship with Olive is pretty good, but he does have some strange views on how to raise her and which values to teach her.

Cheryl Hoover
Played by: Toni Colette
The loving mother. Her family drives her crazy sometimes, but she loves 'em all to death. Although she starts to question her love for husband Richard. She's struggling to deal with both her children, especially Dwayne who she can't make contact with. At least not the way she wants to.

Olive Hoover
Played by: Abigail Breslin
Olive is the sweetest little girl you can imagine. She's always happy, enthusiastic and kind. She wants nothing more then to attend the Little Miss Sunshine competition. And she really doesn't care about what other people think of her. All the other children in the contest are supposed to look perfect, but Olive is the only true beauty in the pageant.

Dwayne
Played by: Paul Dano
Dwayne hates everything and everyone. He has one goal and that's to become a fighter pilot. He tends not to speak until he finally reached his goal. Dwayne is a very ambitious young man and deep inside he does care much for his family. Especially Olive. She was the only one to get through to him after he found out he couldn't reach his goal.

Frank Ginsberg
Played by: Steve Carell
Frank is a suicidal homosexual, so nothing is working in his favor. The man he loved decided to start a relationship with Frank's rival. He's trying to deal with it and he moves in with his sister Cheryl. Due this competition he's attending with the Hoover family, he finds the joy back in his life and he has a good bond with Dwayne.

Grandpa Edwin Hoover
Played by: Alan Arkin
Grandpa Hoover is a cursing drug addict and Richard's father. He's a great grandfather to Olive, telling her she's the most beautiful girl in the world and helping her with the pageant. He doesn't think much of his son and his ideas about winners and losers. He's a very cynical man and he is a real faul mouth.

Favorite Character: Olive Hoover