Best of... Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman started acting at a young age and luckily for us she wasn't just another child star. She grew out to be one of the best actresses of her generation with an impressive resumé. Here are my favorite Natalie Portman movies.

"Léon"
This stark portrayal of humanity and inhumanity is produced with the style and finesse that one expects from Luc Besson. The combined talents of Jean Reno, Natalie Portman and Gary Oldman provide not only an unmatched on-screen chemistry, but also three perfectly created characterizations

"Heat"
Pacino and De Niro is a duo that everybody wants to see on screen. The only screentime they have together isn't even that long, but both performances are magnificent. It's an exciting thrill ride of good versus evil and mind-blowing visuals.

"Mars Attacks!"
This is one of those movies you either love or hate. I like this film maybe because it's so absurd and idiotic. Stuffed with a lot of famous actors, just hilarious and maybe a bit misunderstood. Really people, don't take this movie too serious.

"Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace"
Episode 1 till 3 aren't as good as the other three "Star Wars" movies, but out of those three this is the best. It is solid but has its flaws.

"Cold Mountain"
This is a very good film, tragic and sad, about people with clear hearts. The acting cast are impressive especially Jude Law, Renee Zellwegger and Natalie Portman.

"Garden State"
Don't tell a fan of "Garden State" that it isn't a good movie. They say the film defines their generation. I kinda grew on me too and I have to thank Zach Braff for that.

"Closer"
Natalie Portman and Clive Owen are the stars in this film, even more than leading actors Julia Roberts and Jude Law. And Owen and Portman are also a fabulous on screen duo.

"V for Vendetta"
My absolute favorite Portman movie. This film is powerful; mostly because of how different it is from every other blockbuster. Set in a possible future where America is in ruins and England is ruled by a totalitarian dictatorship. The well choreographed action sequences keep the pace of the film high. And both Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman are fantastic.

"The Darjeeling Limited"
Just a brief cameo for Natalie but it's such an expansive, random, happy, sad, funny, stupid, and wise trip that these 3 brothers take.

"The Other Boleyn Girl"
The book is better, but I've always been a fan of the film as well. Especially Portman's role as the backstabbing and vicious Anne Boleyn is impressive. Great chemistry with her on-screen sister Scarlett Johansson.

"Hesher"
Dark. Very, very dark, profane, vulgar, raw and rough. These words popped in my head while watching it. Good movie!

"Black Swan"
Her best performance so far. I love the transformation of Nina. With this film Natalie proved that she's definitely an A-lister. Mind-blowing performance and a creepy good story.

"You Highness"
OK, again not a movie that you should take too seriously. I really liked it though, although it got a lot of negative reviews. Perhaps it was because of Natalie Portman, who did give her best (and because of James Franco, it's never a punishment to watch him in a movie).

50 Books Challenge 2012 - # 12: Emma van Jane Austen

Title: Emma
Author: Jane Austen
Story: Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.
Start: march 12th 2012
End: march 19th 2012
Comment: "Pride & Prejudice" is my favorite Austen novel, actually it's even my all-time favorite book. "Emma" is also a good read, slow, but that's a fact when you read a Jane Austen novel. They aren't quick reads. That doesn't bother me though. Austen is great with dialogues and creating colorful and vivid characters that makes them almost touchable. These points make "Emma" an enjoyable read. The main character - Emma Woodhouse - comes through as credible and realistic. She has her faults, she makes mistakes, and inspite her wit and intelligence, she is young and inexperienced and this makes her very much like any other young woman in the 21st century. The reason I won't give "Emma" a five-star rating is because it's not equally as good as the other Austen novels I read. I don't think any book could ever beat "Pride & Prejudice".
Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (29)

This week trailers are about a sick woman getting a second chance, vampires, a father returning for his sons wedding, a disaster trip to Chernobyl and an estranged father and son reuniting.

A Little Bit of Heaven
Description: Marley Corbett (Kate Hudson) is young, beautiful, and wildly funny, but she's afraid of opening herself up to true love and commitment. Though she uses her humor to prevent matters from getting serious, a life-changing visit to her doctor (Gael Garcia Bernal) sends both of them on an eye-opening adventure of mutual discovery, leading to revelations neither thought possible.
Director: Nicole Kassell
Starring: Kate Hudson, Gael Garcia Bernal, Peter Dinklage, Kathy Bates, Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Weber
Trailer: Trailer "A Little Bit of Heaven"
Comment: Kate Hudson always holds a weak spot and Gael Garcia Bernal is just fantastic ever since I saw him in "The Motorcycle Diaries".

Dark Shadows
Description: In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet--or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin.
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller and Chloe Moretz
Trailer: Trailer "Dark Shadows"
Comment: Tim Burton movies are alway a visual treat and Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer andn Helen Bonham Carter are awesome!

That's My Boy
Description: While still in his teens, Donny (Adam Sandler) fathered a son, Todd (Andy Samberg), and raised him as a single parent up until Todd's 18th birthday. Now, after not seeing each other for years, Todd's world comes crashing down on the eve of his wedding when an uninvited Donny suddenly shows up. Trying desperately to reconnect with his son, Donny is now forced to deal with the repercussions of his bad parenting skills.
Director: Sean Anders
Starring: Adams Sandler, Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester, James Caan, Milo Ventimiglia, Susan Sarandon, Will Forte, Vanilla Ice and Ian Ziering
Trailer: Trailer "That's My Boy"
Comment: Although this doesn't really look (or sound) like the best Sandler movie, I do enjoy a good Adam Sandler comedy.

Chernobyl Diaries
Description: We follow a group of six young tourists who, looking to go off the beaten path, hire an "extreme tour" guide. Ignoring warnings, he takes them into the city of Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, but a deserted town since the disaster more than 25 years ago. After a brief exploration of the abandoned city, however, the group soon finds themselves stranded, only to discover that they are not alone...
Director: Brad Parker
Starring: Jonathan Sadowski, Devin Kelley, Jesse McCartney, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Nathan Phillips, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Dimitri Diatchenko
Trailer: Trailer "Chernobyl Diaries"

In Our Nature
Description: A scheduling mistake leads to an estranged father and son sharing a vacation home with their respective girlfriends.
Director: Brian Savelson
Starring: Zach Gilford, Jena Malone, John Slattery and Gabrielle Union
Trailer: Trailer "In Our Nature"

In My Mailbox (38)

Four cards again this week. All from the east side of Europe. The first two cards I received both came fom Russia. Odintsovo. My favorite of the week. I love this picture of the ferris wheel.

Sent: february 19th 2012
Received: march 13th 2012
Distance: 2,118 km (1,316 miles)
Travel time: 23 days

... and Yekatirinburg, my other favorite. A dolphin card always makes me happy.

Sent: march 2nd 2012
Received: march 13th 2012
Distance: 3,534 km (2,196 miles)
Travel time: 11 days

Then I also got a card from the capital of Poland.

Sent: march 14th 2012
Received: march 17th 2012
Distance: 936 km (582 miles)
Traveltime: 3 days

And last a card from Belarus. Pretty card with a cute hedgehog.

Sent: march 10th 2012
Received: march 17th 2012
Distance: 1,669 km (1,037 miles)
Travel time: 7 days

Thanks Olya, Natalya, Tomek and Marina for the great postcards!

The Many Faces of... Emily Blunt

Emily Blunt is one of my favorites. I dedicated some items to her, now I'm going to share all the different looks with you.

Face # 1: My Summer of Love
Role: Tamsin
Comment: She looks so Young and pretty.
Rating: 4/ 5

Face # 2: The Devil Wears Prada
Role: Emily
Comment: She looks as bitchy as she acts in this film. But still a very good look.
Rating: 5/ 5

Face # 3: The Jane Austen Book Club
Role: Prudie
Comment: Very strict look.
Rating: 3/ 5

Face # 4: Dan in Real Life
Role: Ruthie Draper
Comment: Very seductive.
Rating: 4,5/ 5

Face # 5: Sunshine Cleaning
Role: Norah Lorkowski
Comment: I love this look. Like the hair, the jewelry and the tattoos.
Rating: 5/ 5

Face # 6: The Young Victoria
Role: Queen Victoria
Comment: Very classy and elegant.
Rating: 3,5/ 5

Face # 7: Wild Target
Role: Rose
Comment: I love the hair!!!
Rating: 5/ 5

Face # 8: The Wolfman
Role: Gwen Conliffe
Comment: Just beautiful, so natural.
Rating: 4,5/ 5

Face # 9: Gulliver’s Travel
Role: Princes Mary
Comment: The royal look suites her.
Rating: 4/ 5

Face # 10: The Adjustment Bureau
Role: Elise Sellas
Comment: Can Emily Blunt look ugly??? I don’t think so.
Rating: 5/ 5

Face # 11: The Muppets
Role: Miss Piggy’s receptionist
Comment: She parodies her role from “The Devil Wears Prada”. Weird hair, hope it’s a wig.
Rating: 2,5/ 5

Jensen, Naomi, Elisabeth and Marg

It's been while since I posted some of my self created wallpapers. I have four new ones. First one is with Jensen Ackles.

Second is Naomi Watts, my favorite actress and this is a beautiful picture.

Then two wallpapers with each a "CSI" actress on it. Elisabeth Harnois and Marg Helgenberger.

They are all pretty simple, but that's the way I like them. The Jensen Ackles wallpaper is on my desktop right now. And you can all use the wallpapers for your own computer of you'd like.

Top 5 Thursday: Disney Pixar Characters

I think I stated my love for Disney Pixar movies more often, so this weeks top 5 is dedicated to them. Not the movies, but its characters. Here are my five favorite characters from Disney Pixar.

5. Mr. Potato Head (“Toy Story”)
His range of visible emotions is restricted to the accessories he stores in his backside, but most of them will be some variation on grumpy and superior. Unless he's talking to his Mrs, in which case fearful is the order of the day. He’s hilarious and cracks me up everytime.

4. Edna Mode (“The Incredibles”)
Because she's FAH-bulous, dahling. The best Pixar characters can steal a whole movie in a few minutes of screen time and few do this better than Edna, superhero costume designer extraordinaire. Her wit is as sharp as her fringe.

3. Rex (“Toy Story”)
This plastic dinosaur may be stupid, but he's loyal and true to his friends, and that's what counts. But don't make fun of his little arms. He's very sensitive about his little arms. And the memorable line: “How do you spell F.B.I.?”

2. Dory (“Finding Nemo”)
One of Pixar's most loveable characters, Dory may not be able to remember anything that happened more than 5 seconds ago, we will never forget about her. Dory is such a kind character, she just has a very big problem.

1. Mike Wazowski (“Monsters Inc.”)
He might look like a tennisball after a radioactive encounter, but Mike is the most hilarious, cute, funny and witty character Disney Pixar ever created. Just a sidekick, but a kick-ass sidekick!

They almost made the top 5: Aliëns (“Toy Story”), Hamm (“Toys Story”), Crush (“Finding Nemo”), Wall-E, Dug (“Up”), Mater (“Cars”)