50 Books Challenge 2011 Update - November

I did better this month,I read 4 books. Again there were two very big ones, but I managed to read more then the month of october.

# 55. Marcelo in the Real World by Fransisco X. Stork
# 56. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
# 57. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
# 58. Op Klaarlichte Dag (not translated in English yet) by Simone van der Vlugt

Favorite of the month: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"

I haven't finished the last one yet, but I will soon because it's a real pageturner. You will read a review on it soon. I'm going to read "A Christmas Carol" next month, I can't believe I never read it! And I have the first book in the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" series on my to-be-read-pile. I'll keep you updated.

In My Mailbox (18)

My first card from Australia!!! I love this card, with the dingo on it. Beautiful animal.

Sent on: november 21st 2011
Received on: november 30th 2011
Distance: 16,603 km (10,317 miles)
Travel time: 9 days

Best of... Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster is ready for every role. She started acting when she was very young and now she has an incredible list of great movies. Here are her best so far.

"Taxi Driver"
Her big break. She played a young prostitute who befriended De Niro's character Travis Bickle. "Taxi Driver" is one of the best movies ever made.

"Freaky Friday"
The original version from 1976 off course, forget the remake with Lilo. Not that this one is such a brilliant film, but way more fun than the second try.

"The Accused"
Although you don't sympathize her character from the beginning, what happens to her is heart-ripping. So cruel, chilling and wrong. Jodie won an Oscar for her role and that's well deserved.

"The Silence of the Lambs"
Her best movie and I don't think she can ever top that. Based on a novel by Thomas Harris and such a great movie. The scene between Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter are most memorable. And how creepy is Buffalo Bill? Again an Oscar for Jodie.

"Nell"
Another fantastic performance by Jodie Foster. I haven't seen this movie in a while but I always loved it. It's just amazing how Jodie van get lost in her role so well. By the way, my mom can immitate Nell.

"Contact"
About a woman who is trying to intercept an alien message. The movie has its flaws, but overall it's pretty good. One of the flaws: Matthew McConaughey...

"Panic Room"
What appealed to me the most is the way this movie was filmed. Great cinematography. And with that the film is very exciting, I can watch it over and over again and still feel the same tension.

"Flightplan"
The movie reminded me a bit of "Panic Room". She loses her daughter on a plane and than people tell her the girl was never on board. It's basically Jodie who does the work here.

"The Brave One"
Oh how I loved this movie. Her character is super strong and I really admired her bravery. Jodie is fabulous as Erica Bain. Great movie, great performance.

"Nim's Island"
I always like childrens adventure stories. They open up a whole new world for us adults. Jodie was so over-the-top funny, I really liked seeing this other side of her. And Abigail Breslin and Gerard Butler are amazing too.

I haven't seen "The Beaver" (and probably won't, because it looks ridiculous) and I'm really looking forward to seeing "Carnage".

50 Books Challenge 2011 - # 57: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Title: We Need to Talk About Kevin
Author: Lionel Shriver
Story: Eva never really wanted to be a mother - and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday. Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood, and Kevin's horrific rampage in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her estranged husband, Franklin. Uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood from the start, Eva fears that her alarming dislike for her own son may be responsible for driving him so nihilistically off the rails.
Start: november 21st 2011
End: november 27th 2011
Comment: On april 8th 1999 Kevin Katchadourian kills seven classmates and a teacher. Eva is his mother. She writes letters to her husband Franklin and she describes her relationship with Kevin, Franklin and her daughter Celia. She talks about the doubts she always had about being a mother and the mixed feelings she had ever since Kevin was born. Eva describes Kevin as a bad child, but Franklin sees it differently. He sees him as an All-American-Kid and himself as an All-American-Dad. You never find out if Kevin was just born bad or that he was raised that way. Eva is constantly asking herself if the lack of motherly love has made Kevin lose it. As a reader you can go two different directions: You either think it was Eva's fault because she was cold and arrogant and never really loved her son. Or Kevin was bad from the beginning and no mother can help that. This is a book you shouldn't read before having a baby, because it's chilling. **SPOILER ALERT** In the letter before last, we find out that Kevin didn't only kill his fellow students, but also his dad and his little sister Celia. That isn't even the most shocking part of the story, because in a sick way Kevin did always love his mother more than his dad. A very well written book with a great climax and I can't wait to see the movie.
Rating: 4,5/ 5

Elisabeth, Emma, Ryan and Audrey

I made some new wallpapers. The first one features Elisabeth Harnois, one of the the new "CSI" stars of season 12.

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, a great movie couple. I still haven't seen "Crazy, Stupid, Love" because nobody wanted to go and see it with me. I will have to waitn for the DVD.

And last, Audrey Hepburn. A beautiful picture, I just had to make a wallpaper with it.

Movie Trailer Sunday (13)

This weeks trailers are about a Disney rerelease in 3D, chimpanzees, corruption, a serial killer and and alien invasion.

Beauty and the Beast 3D
Description: Originally released in 1991, "Beauty and the Beast" is a classic "tale as old as time" that follows the adventures of Belle, a bright young woman imprisoned in the castle of a mysterious beast and his enchanted staff, who must learn the most important lesson of all that true beauty comes from within.
Director: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Starring: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury, Bradley Pierce, Rex Everhart, Jesse Corti, Hal Smith, Jo Anne Worley
Trailer: Trailer "Beauty and the Beast 3D"
Comment: My favorite Disney movie ever!

Chimpanzee
Description: The world is a playground for little Oscar and his fellow young chimps, who'd rather make mayhem than join their parents for an afternoon nap. But when Oscar's family is confronted by a rival band of chimps, he is left to fend for himself until a surprising ally steps in and changes his life forever.
Director: Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
Starring: Not available
Trailer: Trailer "Chimpanzee"
Comment: This looks so beautiful...

Rampart
Description: Officer Dave Brown (Harrelson) is a Vietnam vet and a Rampart Precinct cop, dedicated to doing "the people's dirty work" and asserting his own code of justice, often blurring the lines between right and wrong to maintain his action-hero state of mind. When he gets caught on tape beating a suspect, he finds himself in a personal and emotional downward spiral as the consequences of his past sins and his refusal to change his ways in light of a department-wide corruption scandal seal his fate. Brown internalizes his fear, anguish and paranoia as his world, complete with two ex-wives who are sisters, two daughters, an aging mentor dispensing bad advice, investigators galore, and a series of seemingly random women, starts to unravel. In the end, what is left is a human being stripped of all his pretense, machismo, chauvinism, arrogance, sexism, homophobia, racism, aggression, misanthropy; but is it enough to redeem him as a man?
Director: Oren Moverman
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Ice Cube, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Steve Buscemi, Ned Beatty, Anne Heche, Ben Foster and Cynthia Nixon
Trailer: Trailer "Rampart"
Comment: Woody Harrelson is flirting with the Academy.

Gone
Description: Jill Parrish (Amanda Seyfried) comes home from a night shift to discover her sister Molly has been abducted. Jill, who had escaped from a kidnapper a year before, is convinced that the same serial killer has come back for her sister. Afraid that Molly will be dead by sundown, Jill embarks on a heart-pounding chase to find the killer, expose his secrets and save her sister.
Director: Heitor Dhalia
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Carpenter and Wes Bentley
Trailer: Trailer "Gone"

The Darkest Hour
Description: Five young people find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.
Director: Chris Gorak
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor, Joel Kinnaman
Trailer: Trailer "The Darkest Hour"

In My Mailbox (17)

Today my third card from Russia. It came from its capitol Moscow. It's a real cute card.

Sent on: november 1st 2011
Received on: november 26th 2011
Distance: 2,175 km (1,351 miles)
Travel time: 25 days

The Many Faces of... Bruce Willis

Bruce Willis is one of my favorite actors. Not because he's the best actor per say, but just because he always entertains me. And he has so many different looks. Here are some of them.

Face # 1: Die Hard
Role: John McClane
Comment: My second favorite movie character and I love the tough guy Bruce.
Rating: 5/ 5

Face # 2: The Bonfire of the Vanities
Role: Peter Fallow
Comment: A bit nerdy, doesn't really work for him.
Rating: 2,5/ 5

Face # 3: Hudson Hawk
Role: Hudson Hawk
Comment: Thank God the look is better than the movie. I like the hat and I always loved his smile...
Rating: 4,5/ 5

Face # 4: Death Become Her
Role: Ernest Menville
Comment: You thought he couldn't look nerdier? Think again. Bruce is not a mustache guy.
Rating: 2,5/ 5

Face # 5: Pulp Fiction
Role: Butch Coolidge
Comment: Pretty good look, not very special.
Rating: 3/ 5

Face # 6: North
Role: Narrator
Comment: I had to put this one on the list. How cute, Bruce as a bunny. Eastern has never been the same again.
Rating: 3,5/ 5

Face # 7: Twelve Monkeys
Role: James Cole
Comment: Bruce looks pretty damaged, but that makes him sexier in a way. Is that weird?
Rating: 4/ 5

Face # 8: The Jackal
Role: The Jackal
Comment: He had many looks in this movie alone, but I just picked one. He looks like an albino, with the uber-white hair. No..
Rating: 2,5/ 5

Face # 9: The Fifth Element
Role: Korben Dallas
Comment: Again: BLONDIE!
Rating: 3/ 5

Face # 10: The Sixth Sense
Role: Malcolm Crowe
Comment: A troubled man...
Rating: 3/ 5

Face # 11: Unbreakable
Role: David Dunn
Comment: You can't really see much of his face, but Bruce is getting older. Not that it's a problem, because Mr. Willis still looks good.
Rating: 4/ 5

Face # 12: Bandits
Role: Joseph Blake
Comment: OMG, the hair. Worst look ever.
Rating: 1,5/ 5

Face # 13: Sin City
Role: John Hartigan
Comment: Definitely one of my favorite Bruce Willis characters. And like his "Over the Hedge" character R.J. says: "Chicks dig scars".
Rating: 5/ 5

Face # 14: Live Free or Die Hard
Role: John McClane
Comment: Same character and still looking fine after so many years. This is one of the reasons I love Bruce!
Rating: 5/ 5

Face # 15: Surrogates
Role: Tom Greer
Comment: He fits the cast of "Sons of Anarchy" just perfectly with this look.
Rating: 3,5/ 5

In My Mailbox (16)

After a long day of work it's so great to find three postcards in your mailbox! The first one came from the Ukrain, my first card from that country.

Sent on: november 1st 2011
Received on: november 24th 2011
Distance: 1,282 km (797 miles)
Travel time: 23 days

The second one came from Austria, also my first from that country. This is my favorite card so far. I love the fall and this is just such a beautiful picture.

Sent on: november 22nd 2011
Received on: november 24th 2011
Distance: 785 km (488 miles)
Travel time: 2 days

The last one came from Belarus. Very simple with sunflowers, but I love sunflowers.

Sent on: november 20th 2011
Received on: november 24th 2011
Distance: 1,486 km (923 miles)
Travel time: 4 days

Top 5 Thursday: Prettiest Leading Lady

I'm going to share the prettiest leading ladies with you today. That's all I can say, just start reading my list.

5. Rachel McAdams
She has many different looks, but she rocks almost every single one of them. I like Rachel so much because she’s very ordinary but still unique. Some features make her look like the girl-next-door type, but still she’s has a striking appearence.

4. Emma Stone
She hasn’t been a leading lady as long as the other women on this list, but she deserves a spot. I think Emma is a gorgeous woman, who wants to be more than just another pretty face. And she is. She's very talented and I think her raspy voice makes her even more appealing.

3. Naomi Watts
She’s a natural beauty and a woman who actually still looks pretty when she cries. Look at “21 Grams”, where she’s a recovering drug addict who just lost her family. Even then Naomi manages to look great.

2. Kate Beckinsale
I think most men loved her in “Underworld” where she’s wearing a very thight catsuit. Unfortunately I think sometimes she’s just cast for her looks, because I think she’s also a very talented actress.

1. Charlize Theron
Charlize isn’t only a brilliant actress, she also the most beautiful one out there. And she’s someone who doesn’t care about her looks, because she dares to be ‘ugly’ in her roles. To her acting is more important than looking good.

They almost made the top 5: Eva Mendes, Natalie Portman, Katherine Heigl, Emily Blunt, Sienna Miller and Scarlett Johansson

In My Mailbox (15)

I went on a shoppingspree today, with my mom her two collegues and one of the daughters. We had a great time. When I came home, I saw this pretty flower card on the table. My first card from Germany, our neighbours.

Sent on: november 18th 2011
Received on: november 23rd 2011
Distance: 299 km (186 miles)
Travel time: 5 days

In My Mailbox (14)

I got another card from the US today. Rita, the woman who sent me the card, is actually from Portland, Maine. When she was visiting her sister in Oregon, she sent me this card. I don't know from which town or city, but the card is really pretty. It's a bit sad that the card was slightly damaged.

Sent on: november 13th 2011
Received on: november 22nd 2011
Distance: 5,550 km (3,449 miles)
Travel time: 9 days

Pic Spam: Audrey Hepburn

She's my favorite classic actress. I just bought a new calender for 2012, with pictures of Audrey Hepburn. That inspired me to dedicade a pic spam to her.

In the Picture: The Characters from "Love Actually"

"Love Actually" is the perfect film for the holidays. Christmas is coming near so it's time to take a look at this film again. There are so many characters, that I had to cut a little bit. Here are the characters from "Love Actually".

Harry
Played by: Alan Rickman
Harry is a manager at a designer agency. He recently got a new, young assistant. Harry feels attracted to her, but he’s also very happily married and the father of two. He buys his assistant an expensive necklace for Christmas. He later admits his foolishness.

Karen
Played by: Emma Thompson
Karen is Harry’s wife and she’s busy dealing with her children Daisy and Bernard. She finds the necklace in Harry’s pocket, assuming that it’s for her. When she’s opening presents, she realizes that the necklace wasn’t for her, but she doesn’t want anyone to know that she has been crying over it. Karen does confront him.

David
Played by: Hugh Grant
David is Karen’s sister and is the recently elected Prime Minister. He’s a young and single man. He meets his household staff and has an instant click with Natalie. Because of his position, he thinks it’s inappropriate to have feelings for her.

Jamie
Played by: Colin Firth
Jamie walks in on his brother, while he’s sleeping with his girlfriend. Crushed by this, Jamie retires to his French cottage where he meets Portugese housekeeper Aurélia who speaks only her native tongue. There’s an instant attraction between them and when he returns to England he realizes how much he loves her. For her, Jamie learns Portugese and visits her to ask her to marry him.

Juliet
Played by: Keira Knightley
Juliet is a happy newlywed woman and got married in a lovely ceremony to Peter. Juliet doesn’t get along with Mark, but she has no idea why he doesn’t like her. She tries to bond with him, but he never talks to her. When Juliet visits him, she find out that Mark has actually been madly in love with her all that time.

Daniel
Played by: Liam Neeson
Daniel is Karen’s best friend. He just lost his wife and is left behind with his stepson Sam. Daniel wants to help Sam with his mission to win over the girl he’s in love with. With that he also tries to deal with losing his love and tries to move on.

Sam
Played by: Thomas Sangster
Sam has fallen in love with his classmate Joanna. He found out that there’s only one way to win her over: become a musician. He starts to play drums to impress her at the school Christmas party. When she’s leaving for America, Sam follows her at the airport to tell her about his feelings.

Billy Mack
Played by: Bill Nighy
Billy Mack is a worn off rockstar with only one more goal: He wants to score the number one Christmas single. His longtime manager Joe is the only one who always stood by him and he realizes that he’s been ‘the love of his life’.

Natalie
Played by: Martine McCutcheon
Natalie is one of the members in David’s household staff. She appears to be very nervous while meeting him for the first time, because she starts rambling and swears a couple of times. David finds it endeering. Natalie is pushed into a corner by the American president, who’s tried to seduce her.

Mark
Played by: Andrew Lincoln
Mark is Peter’s best friend and is secretly in love with Juliet. He never talks to her because of self-preservation and out of respect to his friend Peter. Mark does take a moment to truly confess his feelings for Juliet, which she acknowledges with a kiss.

Sarah
Played by: Laura Linney
Sarah works for Harry and she has been in love with her co-worker Karl for years. At a Christmas party, the two dance and eventually Karl drives her home. Sarah invites him in, where they start kissing. They are interrupted by Sarah’s mentally ill brother, which effectivly ends things between Sarah and Karl.

Rufus
Played by: Rowan Atkinson
Rufus is a minor but significant character. He is a jewelry salesman and is obsessed with gift wrapping things. With that obsession, Harry almost gets caught while buying the necklace. Rufus is also the distraction at the airport, so that Sam can run to Joanna.

Favorite Character: Mark