August: Osage [Fangirl] County

February 8, 2014 Nina Penalosa1 Comment

It’s every introvert’s dream to watch a movie in a theater all alone — or whoever they happen to be with. Right? Or is it just me?Last week Caitlin and I headed a town over to watch August: Osage County because I’d honestly rather drive to a country bumpkin town 40 minutes away than go to the nice movie theater downtown that’s 15-20 minutes from my house. If you’re familiar with Stockton, you’d understand. Anyhow, much to our delight, when we walked into the theater for the 10pm showing it was completely empty! I did my little happy bounce knowing that I’d be able to fangirl whenever Benedict Cumberbatch’s strange yet handsome face would grace the screen. Of course, my happiness dwindled down when a couple of other folks came into the theater minutes later. *shakes fists at the heavens*

I had heard many good things about August: Osage County, and from the trailers I had seen I thought it was supposed to be a bit of a dramady, and I did laugh… the things I laughed at weren’t necessarily supposed to be funny though. This movie was rife with tragedy. A LOT of tragedy. I really did enjoy the film, but I just don’t think I’d be able to sit through it again. It was depressing as hell and emotionally shattering. Meryl Streep’s performance as Violet Weston, a begrudged middle-aged house wife with mouth cancer, was phenomenal (duh, it’s Meryl Steep after all), and the rest of the cast (Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper, Julianne Nicholson, Juliette Lewis, Abigail Breslin, etc) was perfect too. And there were so many moments that were horribly uncomfortable and shocking, it got to the point where I had to take the sides of my cardigan and criss-cross them over my face to blind myself from what was going on in front of me. I get second-hand embarrassed so easily. x__x

Given the content of the film, I felt slightly horrible for my fangirl actions. Fangirl actions? Like what? Well for instance, when Ewan McGregor’s handsome bearded mug popped up my natural instinct was to reach out to the screen longingly and turn to Caitlin and whisper, “OH MY GOD! EWAN McGREGOR! SO HANDSOME! I TOTALLY FORGOT HE WAS IN THIS MOVIE [because I was so goddamn excited about Cumberbatch — we both were].” And when Benedict Cumberbatch showed up as Little Charles, the mentally slow but oh-so-sweet nephew of Meryl Streep’s character, we both reached out to the screen and were like, “Awww, baby! Don’t be cry! OH MY GOD HE’S SO CUTE” (he’s in a bit of a sad state when the audience first meets his character). Oh, and he plays the piano and sings in the movie too [see clip below to hear it]. Yeah. Really. That’s when we had to try our very best to contain our feels, but both of us managed to mutter “No, don’t play the piano, you’re going to make me love you more. OMG YOU CAN SING. I LOVE YOU. DAMN YOU.”

DAMN HIM AND HIS TALENT AND HIS STRANGE BUT BEAUTIFUL FACE.

Whew. Sorry.

I swear, I acted as if I was watching Twilight or something. Ugh. I did my very best to not interrupt the viewing experience of the two other people in the theater though. But y’know what? I think the fangirling helped a bit, otherwise I would’ve left the theater in a completely horrible state of mind which wouldn’t have been ideal for the drive back home. The family dynamics were just so broken, and it didn’t matter that I knew it was fictional, I just felt so miserable witnessing every character shatter like fine china onto the ground. So I’m glad I watched it with a fellow Cumberbitch who happily and quietly squeled along with me. 🙂

Um, well… this wasn’t much of a review now was it? If anything this movie going experience only showed me that hanging onto itty bitty pieces of your youth (being a fangirl is a step up from being a 12-year old teeny bopper) can definitely help make the most out of any awkward and depressing situation. Does that even make sense? Whatever. I’m gonna shut up now.

Penalosa out. *drops mic*

Cheers,
Nina

Frankenweenied

October 1, 2012 Nina PenalosaLeave a comment

Tim Burton’s latest movie Frankenweenie doesn’t come out until this Friday, but for now we can all upload photos of our beloved fur babies and give them a ghoulish makeover to hold us over!

Rory ended up looking like a patchwork sea creature.

I had so much fun making Rory’s, I decided to do one for my boyfriend’s cat, Eevee. 🙂

You can Frankenweenie-fy your pet –> here

the reel world

Mirror Mirror

April 3, 2012 Nina Penalosa6 Comments

I didn’t have very high hopes for Mirror Mirror when I first heard about the project being made, but upon seeing its trailer I thought it looked like it would be cute. And then I found out Tarsem Singh directed it and I thought HOLY CRAP I MUST SEE THIS IMMEDIATELY. Had I looked further into the making of this film when first announced, I’m sure I would’ve gotten excited a lot sooner. But I don’t really look into these sort of things anymore. *shoulder shrug*

If the name Tarsem Singh doesn’t sound familiar to you, he directed this incredibly gorgeous film called The Fall a few years ago. It is, without a doubt, the most stunning film I have ever seen. EVER. It’s visually orgasmic; so rich in color and the scenery. OHMYGOD the scenery! And Lee Pace, aka Ned the Piemaker from Pushing Daisies is the leading man. AND it’s currently available to stream on Netflix. Um… are you still reading this? GO WATCH THE FALL RIGHT NOW. And then come back and finish reading my little blurb. 🙂

So you watched The Fall? Okay, awesome! Back to Mirror Mirror. It’s a fresh take on the Snow White tale as the original one, and reinterpretations of it, is solely focused on the Queen’s vanity and obsession to be the “fairest of them all,” whereas Mirror Mirror also has the Queen (played by Julia Roberts) hungry for power. The premise in Mirror Mirror is that the Queen is completely broke — she makes the village pay ridiculous taxes in order for her to throw lavish parties and whatnot. And of course, she loathes Snow White (Lily Collins aka Audrey Hepburn Jr.). A baron from a nearby kingdom suggests that him and the Queen should get hitched, but the Queen is repulsed at the thought. When a young, strapping prince (Armie Hammer) comes along she plans to marry him to save her kingdom. Seriously, who wants a baron when you can haz a prince?

Mirror Mirror was saturated in rich colors, much like The Fall, and the beginning of the movie had a fantastic animated bit that sort of reminded me of the story of the Deathly Hallows/Tale of the Three Brothers scene from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1. The characters were fun to watch, Julia Roberts makes for an awesome evil queen, and Lily Collins is Audrey Hepburn reincarnated. Unlike Snow White and the Huntsman, I can see how Lily Collins’ Snow White is > Julia Roberts’ Queen. I mean, Kirsten Stewart over Charlize Theron? PUH-LEEZ.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and this whole fairy tale trend that’s taking over Hollywood with making Snow White a little badass (ex. Mirror Mirror, Once Upon a Time, Snow White and the Huntsman (I guess)) is pretty effing rad.

the reel world

Lumos!

July 14, 2011 Nina Penalosa5 Comments

It’s Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 eve! While I’m extremely excited that the final movie is coming out, I’m also sad because there’s nothing else to look forward to. No more books. No more movies. Pottermore is coming out at the end of the year, but it’s not the same! The end of an era is nigh. 😦

I’m not going to the midnight show, but Jen, Shanice, and I are trekking to San Francisco to watch it at 3:30 am in IMAX 3D. Last year, when Jen and I still lived in the bay, were planning on going to the midnight show for the last HP movie, but they sold out. The next available one was at 3:30 am, so we went and it wasn’t all crazy. There were still lots of people, but they weren’t all rowdy and whatnot. So we’re doing it again!

Since this is the last hurrah, I’m dressing up like a Hogwarts student! Gryffindor to be exact. I’ll be throwing on a button-up shirt and tie later. And since I don’t have a wand, I’m just going to bring my Sonic Screwdriver (I’ll be a Timelord wizard!). Note my scarf — Jen knitted it for me! 🙂

Last night I spent what seemed like an hour and a half sewing this Gryffindor patch onto my cardigan. My sister bought it for me 8 years ago at Comic Con. I’ve always meant to put it on a cardigan or blazer. Finally did so last night, and I have to say, it was a bitch. The patch is really thick, so it was hard weaving the needle in and out.

It’s 8:08 pm PST. Time for me to take a power nap before I leave for the movie!

PS: This will be me at 3:30 am…

geek style · the reel world

“Leave your stupid comments in your pocket.”

June 12, 2011 Nina Penalosa1 Comment

Yesterday I hung out with my good pal Tim and was later joined by his lady Alise. Tim and I had been talking about how we hadn’t watched Scott Pilgrim vs. the World since January and kept talking about having a nerd-out day to watch it together, but we’ve both been B I Z Z A Y. I have such a nerd boner for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World — I watched it 3 times in the theater last year, and I bought the DVD the morning it came out. In fact, I walked to Target to buy it before I had class (I used to live within walking distance of a mall). He suggested making it a double feature with The Room — Entertainment Weekly hailed it as “the Citizen Kane of bad movies.” It’s so bad, it’s AWESOME. We ended up watching it twice. Ugh… so hilarious. It’s supposed to be a drama, but the acting is so horrible, the script is weak, and there’s tons of plot holes, BUT IT’S SO AMAZING.

Take a looksie:

Tommy Wisseau, who wrote, directed, and starred in it, said that it’s a black comedy, but you can totally tell it’s trying so hard to be a drama. It was also filmed with both a 35 mm camera and an HD one because he didn’t know the difference… /facepalm.

The Room also has some pretty fantastic dialog. Here are some of my favorite lines:

“Leave your stupid comments in your pocket.” – Mark
“I feel like I’m sitting on an atomic bomb waiting for it to go off.” – Steven
“If you think I’m tired today, wait till you see me tomorrow.” – Claudette
Mark: How was work today?
Johnny: Oh pretty good. We got a new client… at the bank. We make a lot of money.
Mark: What client?
Johnny: I can not tell you, it’s confidential.
Mark: Oh come on. Why not?
Johnny: No I can’t. Anyway, how is your sex life?
“As far as I’m concerned, you can drop off the Earth. That’s a promise.” – Mark