"What the fuck is 'Project Elrond'?" - the Martian (movie 'review')

Hallooooo!!

Well, as promised, here's a blog post about that fabulous movie I saw Thursday evening... Yeah, that's right: THE MARTIAN. I was over the moon (eh eh) when I found out I was going to see the movie!

The Martian

** spoiler free**
2015
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Sebastian Stan, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kirsten Wiig, ...
Lenght: 141min= 2h21min
Genre: SciFi, adventure, humor, action,...!

The abbreviation LOL is applicable in this movie. Literally. Big time. Also, watching-with-hands-before-mouth-because-your-jaw-dropped-from-amazement is applicable. Man, I was exhausted when I walked out of the theatre. My body went from tense to relaxed to tense to relaxed again in matter of seconds. That can only mean one thing: the movie is a gem.

Let me give a very short summary of the plot: NASA has sent two manned missions to Mars. Mark Watney is the botanic/mechanist on board of the mission Ares 3 crew, the third mission to be sent to the red planet. Due to a sand storm they had to abandon their mission prematurly. Mark Watney gets hit by an antena and falls behind. Against all odds, he survives. Now he's stranded all alone on a planet with no way to contact Earth or enough food to keep him alive. How on earth (eh eh) is he going to survive?

As you might have noticed, this is the same summary as the one on my post about the book. It's the same story so why not? Anyone who's interested in the book version of this film, feel free to read my 'review' about it. "Fuck it, I'm king of Mars" - the Martian by Andy Weir (book 'review'). It's a must read. And this is definitely a must see.

One quick thing before I give my opinion on this movie and before you watch the movie (if you want to watch it): please note this is nothing like Interstellar. I've heard some people were disappointed as they were expecting something similar to Interstellar. I'd hate to see that happening to you. That's it :)

I'm not very familiar with Ridley Scott's work (yes yes, shame on me) so I can't really compare this movie to any of his other films. But what I can do, is raving about what a tremendous job he has done on the Martian. They've used a variation of cameras, including GoPros, to create an authentic feeling of a logbook. Obviously in the book it's a written logbook, in the movie it's a video diary. You have some amazing close ups and some mesmerising wide shots, from above, below, left, right... Every angle. You can't not let your jaw drop. Even if you don't like Matt Damon, go see the movie just to appreciate the shots of the scenery.

As you might recall from my book 'review' I mentionned that Andy Weir gives us inside information to build the tension. Scott approaches that via a different way, but the feeling you get whilst watching the movie is exactly the same as whilst reading the book. Which I think is very special. I've never really experienced that before.

Story wise, they changed a few small things from the book, which is inevitable, but they stayed damn close to the source. Love it. And the script! Good God, so close to what Andy Weir has written! You don't find that very often. Literally from page to screen, exactly the same. Of course, the word 'fuck' was left out as they want it to be more childfriendly. It's still a 12A though x) It is so funny and smart and witty at times you'll laugh out loud. And it's one thing to have a funny script, it's another to have a cast who can actually get the timings right.

Which brings me to my next point (see what I did there?x)): the cast. They all give a convincing performance, producing some very memorable one liners. Eventhough Matt doesn't share that much screentime with his co stars, you do believe that his character has a close relationship with his fellow crew members and that everyone on Earth is doing their best to get this guy home. Kirsten Wiig in a more serious, yet funny roll. Matt Damon who shows a different side of himself. Sebastian Stan, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, ... All of them. Simply a splendid cast. Nothing more I can say really.

And besides the memorable one liners, there is one scene that had me not only laughing out loud, but literally shaking with laughter. Sean Bean plays Mitch Henderson. At one point in the movie, at NASA, there is a meeting called 'project Elrond' to discuss a new idea about how to safe Mark Watney. Sean Bean's charachter Mitch is sitting around the conference table when Kirsten Wiig's charachter Annie askes: What the fuck is 'Project Elrond'?. Sean Bean plays Boromir in the Lord of the Rings. His character attends the Council of Elrond to discuss what should happen to the One Ring. The scene in this movie, where they're talking about Lord of the Rings, with him sitting at a table... That is movie gold right there x)

Still from the movie. Source: IMDb

Splendid score/soundtrack as well. Although it does remind you of Guardians of the Galaxy at times. And of Wall-E! Hear me out. It reminded me of Guardians because you have this upbeat 70's music as main soundtrack during this movie. Okay, in Guardians it s 80's music, but you know what I mean. It gives a completely different vibe to an outerspace movie. Which might be a dealbreaker for some, but it wasn't for me. I like the fact that you can be millions of miles away, on a different planet and still have a soundtrack from ABBA or Gloria Estefan. Very absurd x) And true to the book! The reason why I had to think of Wall-E is because of a editing choice Scott made. At one point in the movie you have a wide shot from above where you can hear the music echoing to emphasize the loneliness of Matt's character. Wall-E has exactly the same scene. + they're both abandonded on a deserted planet x)

I saw the movie without subtitles. Which brings me to the only less positive point about the movie. I think if I didn't read the book I might have had some major issues with following the story. There is some serious science chat and without subtitles it kind of went straight over me. I zoned out. But my colleague, who is from London, hadn't read the book said it was very clear and not difficult to follow at all. Well then, was that a reminder that English isn't my first language... x) Although I am reminded every week whilst I'm writing my blog posts x) So I can imagine that watching the movie with subtitles might be a bit easier.

And speaking of serious science chat. If a film crew wants to use NASA in their movie, NASA needs to be involved in the scientific part of the movie. Which means that quite a few pages of the script were in fact written by NASA. Which means that every scientific explanation is in fact a fact. How cool is that!? It's like with Interstallar, where they had help from Kip Thorne and they actually made a new scientific discovery! Okay, that didn't exactly happen here, but it is said that surviving on Mars like Mark Watney does, is in theory possible. How cool is that!? I wouldn't be suprised if there are any nominations for an Oscar or Golden Globe... *knocks on wood*

Lastly, the coolest thing about this movie is that they didn't portray all the smart kids as the cliché nerds. All the characters are very intellegent and witty and that shows that being smart does not equal being the clumsy nerd with the big glasses. I wouldn't be surprised if NASA gets a sudden burst of new astronauts next year :)

As usual, there is a taste of what you can expect ;)

Trailer

Clips  

Anyway, this is my opinion on the movie and my reasons why you should definitely watch it as soon as it hits theatres by the end of this week!

Thanks for reading!

xo - Sara

Walking the red carpet at the Martian premiere, many balloons and Peanut-ize yourself

Halloooooo!!

This week has been a special one. Unlike last week when so litte happend, I have plenty of stuff to talk about this week x)

A quick little summary of what I've been up to this week. I went to see the art installation at Covent Garden, treated myself on some tea from Whittard, I had coffee with a colleague at Carluccio's at St Christopher's place, I peanut-ized myself and I WENT TO THE EUROPEAN PREMIERE OF THE MARTIAN. I SAW SEAN BEAN! *takes deep breath to keep calm* That's the gest of this week x)

The beating heart of London visualised at Covent Garden
So, first of all, the art installation at Covent Garden. A few weeks back French artist Charles Pétillon presented his first public art installation. Balloons. Many many many balloons. White balloons. Who light up. Like a heartbeat. Hence the title of the installation :) I'm sure the artist has his own explanation as to what that piece of art is representing, but I'm kind of giving it my own explanation/interpretation. Isn't that the point of art anyway?

To me, the piece of installation represent the beating heart of London. Covent Garden is the most popular place in London and every day 1000 upon 1000 visitors walk through and around the building and aroudn the city. People come and go, but London is still here. And always will be. It's has a strong, steady beating heart. Standing in the middle of the South market, between hundreds of people, I felt relaxed. Alone yet surrounded. At ease, serene, happy. God, I love this city so much.

After my moment of medition and reflection. Or simly enjoyment, I treated myself with some tea from Whittard. English fruit: black tea with flavouring. I think this might by my new favorite tea. Too bad I can't drink it before I go to bed... Caffeine you see. Aaah well, Sunday was a successful day :) In case you're curious as to what I was up to on Saturday: I cleaned my room. That's right. Very exciting. Very glamourous x)

Peanut-ize me
When we all came in on Tuesday morning, we all found an email from our senior accounts director with a link to http://www.peanutizeme.com/. If I was to be a character in the new Peanuts movie, I would look like this:

I have to say, very very very smart marketing move, 20th Century Fox! We love things like this and we share them on social media ;) This link for sure gave us some very good laughs in the office x) It was also interesting to see how everyone sees themselves. And how you see yourself. It think I came quite close x)

Highlight of the week: the Martian European premiere
Now, not to dwell any longer on the smaller, but very fun, activities of this week, it is safe to say that Thursday evening was THE HIGHLIGHT of this week. THE MARTIAN PREMIERE. Sweet baby Jesus! I had planned to go to Leicester square after work to have a look on the screens and to just absorb the vibe that always comes along with events like premieres. Hey, some people enjoy music festivals or concerts, I enjoy a movie premiere. No judging please.

However, little did I know my evening would turn out quite differently. Around 4pm I got a Skype message from my colleague saying that he was going to send out an email for premiere tickets and that I should keep an eye on my inbox. As soon as that email came in, I hit the reply button and answered 'Me me me me'. My colleague had 3 spare tickets and the 3 first people to reply got to go. I was the winner x) Hell, I was over the moon with excitement! This week and last week were pretty tough as one of our colleagues is on annual leave, so we have to catch up on her work, which puts my own work behind and well, yeah. It's been very busy. But Thursday evening pushed all the worries to the back of my mind ^^

The 6 of us who got to go had a drink before we went over to Leicester Sq. As usual they ushered you over the red carpet, trying to get you off as soon as possible, making sure you don't bump into the actors who are crossing from left to sign posters and notebooks to right to give interviews. We nearly bumped in to Jessica Chastain though. Literally. Nearly stepped on her gown. That could have been very awkward... We saw Matt Damon's fabulous back. I even took a very blurry picture. Kirsten Wiig was there as well. Kate Mara, Jeff Daniels, just to name a few that we saw on the carpet. Oh, and Jim Chapman was host again :)

Jim Chapman taking a selfie and the entrance to the red carpet!

I clearly have to work on my posing x)

 Matt Damon's blurry derière

Blurry Kirsten Wiig

Once we were inside and seated we noticed that 1. we had 3D glasses (awesome) and 2. we didn't have the best seats in the house. But hey, it's a freaking premiere, I'm not complaining! I couldn't stop smiling, clapping my hands like seal and squal every 5minutes. It's not exactly behaviour I wish my co-workers to see... But then, you have to live in the moment. And I sure did. When I saw that Sean Bean was present, it was officially one of the best nights of my life so far. I don't think I've mentioned it over here, but I'm a HUGE Sean Bean fan. Him and Colin Firth are my two top favorite actors. But I'd like to clarify: just because you're a fan of an actor, doesn't automatically mean you have a celebrity crush on them! Just FYI.

Who can see Sean Bean? And Matt Damon? And...?

Anyway, I saw Sean Bean! And Matt Damon! And Kisten Wiig! And Chiwetel Ejiofor! And Kate Mara! And Ridley Scott! And Jessica Chastain! Ooooh happy days. I was kind of disappointed though that the cast didn't get to say a few words when they were on stage. But then again, that meant that the movie could start sooner ^^ I'm going to write a blog post to tell you all about it. Yes, it's that good. Should be live on Monday 28th, so keep an eye on this space if you're interested.

And this, ladies and gents, were the mention worthy activities of my week :) Especially the premiere. It was completely last minute, but ever so amazing^^

Please try the peanut-ize yourself as well. It's so much fun! And I'd love to see the results! ^^
http://www.peanutizeme.com/.

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Sometimes you need advice from someone you don't know (Favorite movie quotes part 2)

Hallooo!!

Here's another Movie quote Monday for you :) Hope you enjoy this one. It might sound very silly, but sometimes you need to hear advice from people you don't know, or charachters/screenwriters in this case :)

Lets go...

"Welcome to the island of misfit toys." - Sam, the Perks of being a wallflower

"Come on. You don't drink your fatty drinks, you'll never achieve quality cellulite." - James, Sliding Doors

"Things never happen the same way twice." - Aslan, the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

"You're supposed to be the leading lady of your own life, for god's sake!" - Iris, The Holiday

"Do you still run competitively?" "Oh no, now I just do it to clear my head. It's a lot cheaper than therapy." "So is walking." - Converstation between Logan and Beth, the Lucky One


This it for this week's quotes. Be prepared for another one next week ;)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Two 'Kathleen Kelly' moments in one week (You've got Mail, 1998)

Halloooo!!

This week I've had a 'Kathleen Kelly' moment. Two, actually. Really annoying. And it never seems to change. It still happens, eventhough I've crossed paths into young adulthood... But maybe I should clarify what a 'Kathleen Kelly' moment is...

Kathleen Kelly is the female lead character in the movie You've Got Mail (1998). Meg Ryan is the amazing actress who's playing her. In the movie Kathleen says the below quote:

"That happens to me when I'm provoked is that I get tongue-tied and my mind goes blank. Then I spend all night tossing and turning trying to figure out what I should have said."

I assume that I'm not the only one who's familiar with the above? Well, this week I had two really annoying incidents where I couldn't think cleary on what to respond. Hello Kathleen Kelly.

The first really annoying 'Kathleen Kelly' moment happend on Thursday evening. I was walking from the train station to my house, minding my own business, listening to music, blisfully unaware of anyone who crossed my path. Until I heard it. A whistle. And a 'heeey, sexyyyy'. Obviously I didn't stop and just kept walking as the catcallers came from the opposite direction, so I could leave them behind me asap. But I couldn't help but sigh, look really annoyed and roll my eyes. Apparently my resting bitch face doesn't scare off everyone... How unfortunate.

Now, since I moved to London about 18 months ago I can literally count on one hand how many times I've been catcalled. That is one thing I absolutely LOVE about London. You can actually travel from point A and B without being sexual harassed 5 times along the way. Unlike in Brussels, where I couldn't even put as much as my big toe outside the door or I was catcalled by at least 4 men, between the age of 10 and 65. It might come as a shock to some men, but there are women who'd like to walk around without being whistled at like a dog.

I've never reacted when a guy or guys catcall at me. I always make sure I'm getting the hell out of there, but afterwards I always think about what I could have said. "What do you hope to achief by doing this?", "When did this tactic actually work?", "Have some respect!", "I'm not a dog, idiot", "What's the freaking point!?",... Which leads to a very frustrated Sara, as I can't understand why some men do this. Not that I would actually say anything like that. It's like a bad behaving child: do not acknowledge it or you will teach it that bad behaviour leads to attention.

The second 'Kathleen Kelly' moment happend on Friday evening whilst I was waiting in a queue at the cash register in Lidl. The women in front of me was really slowlt putting her groceries on the till band. Annoying that may be, I'd never cut in front of her. However, the man standing in line behind me had a different idea. He actually put the 6 pack of water on the till band for the lady. But not in a nice 'Oh, allow me to help you'-way, but in a 'hurry the fuck up, woman'-way. When there was enough space for me to place my groceries on the till band, that's when it started. The guy behind me said that I could have easily gone before the lady in front of my, as I only had a few items. I couldn't believe my ears! So I actually said "Excuse me?!" And than that man said: "No need to get annoyed if you don't know what I'm talking about". Pardon me sir, I know exactly what you're talking about and no, I do not cut off people in a queue. How slow they may be. So I said to the man to 'please have patience', but he kept going on about how I shouldn't be rude. Finally he stopped talking, but when my items were scanned, he started again: "My apologies if you feel offended, but you shouldn't be rude as you don't know what I'm talking about'. I tried to polity wave it away with my hand, but the man had no off button. To which I politely replied that "I'm not being rude. I don't cut of people in a queue, that was your suggestion." I felt so sorry for the lady behind the cash register! It was so awkward, but for that man to suggest to cut off someone else in a queue, that is rude. And when I walked out, I could hear him started explaining everything to the lady behind the cash register. Even to think about it now, really makes me annoyed. Friday evening I kept think about what I could have said. Aaargh!!

I guess I'm not the only one who has the 'Kathleen Kelly' syndrome. But I guess it isn't always a bad thing. As Joe Fox (played by Tom Hanks, and male lead character in You've got Mail) would say:

"But then, on the other hand, I must warn you that when you finally have the pleasure of saying the thing you mean to say at the moment you mean to say it, remorse inevitably follows"

That's it for this weeks blog post. Please let me know your thoughts! Does anyone of you have the same problem? What do you do when you're in a situation like that? I'd love to hear about them!

As always, thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Favorite movie quotes part 1

Hallooooo!!

I think we've established by now that I'm a pretty big movie fanatic. The good, the bad and everything in between. And every once in a while, whilst watching a movie, a quote catches my attention. Most of the time the quotes are pretty random, but some have a bit more deeper meaning. You'll notice what I'm talking about x) Half the time I can't explain why a certain phrase catches my eye. They just do. So for the next few weeks I'm going to upload a blog post with a few of my favorite movie quotes. Instead of Movietime Monday, it'll be Movie quote Monday. It's still movie related, so hey ;)

All right, here we go.

"I just want you to be an old man." - Kate Collins, the Longest Ride

"Never conjure where you carve." - the Witch, Brave

"After all this time?" "Always" - conversation between Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2

"And those are the words of a gentleman. From the first moment I met you, your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain for the feelings of others made me realise you are the last man in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry." - Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice

"Rusty, a writer is the sum of his experiences." - Bill Borgens, Stuck in love

Some quotes are classics, but other most definitely are not, so I hope that some of these phrases might convince you to actually see the movie in question ^^

That is it for this Monday's blog post. Hope you enjoyed it anyway :)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

How small the world can be.

Halloooooo!!

Another week has come and gone. Can't believe that it is already time to upload this week's blog post! Week 36 that is. Jees.

So, about Friday night. Instead of going home after work, as I usually do, I went for a drink and some dinner on Leicester square with a colleague and a friend of hers. My weekend was already off on a good start :) Not that I mind my weekends to start watching a movie, but every once in a while I can appreciate a night out ^^ Since I was in the area, I stopped by the Criterion on Piccadilly Circus. Any Dowton Abbey fans here? You might remember this as the restaurant where Edith Crawley meets up with Michael Gregson. God I love the fact that around every corner in this city some film or series has been filmed x)

Downton Abbey screenshot

Saturday was the perfect day to have another movie marathon day. I saw 5 movies in total: Sliding Doors, Delivery Man, Best of of Me, Atlantis the lost empire and the Lucky One (again). I know I know, I said in my previous blog post that I was going to see the other Nicholas Sparks movies as well and then I ended up not doing it. Apologies apologies.

Sunday was probably the most interesting day of the week(end). I agreed to meet my colleague in Stratford Westfield as a friend of hers was competing in a gig. And I just had to get out of my room after spending all day in doors on Saturday x) Anyway, another friend of hers turned up, so we hung around all afternoon, sat outside between gigs and just chatted the afternoon away.

My colleague's friend in action

At 5.30pm the winner was announced and you know what? The guy won! So that was pretty cool :) There were a lot of talented people and groups, but in the end it's all about entertaining the crowd and that is just what he did :) There was also a guy from Australia who can play the guitar like a genius. Turns out, I saw that guy playing on Leicester square, April 2014. I even filmed it and put it in a video! Between 2.30 and 3.18 x)

How small the world can be :)

Also, today is Molly's birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mollibol! I miss you! Have a fab day :)

Aaaaand that's it for this week :)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Donating blood and the recipe for a Nicholas Sparks movie

Halloooo!!

I'm back in my beloved London ^^ But boy I enjoyed every minute of my stay in Belgium too. The weather was insane, unlike the rain in the UK. I've chosen a good weekend to go on a little break ;)

Unlike that busy weekend in May, I tried to keep it calmer this time around. But that meant I wasn't able to see quite a few people...  I just couldn't handle the running around and trying to fit everyone in to a time sloth. That'll be for the next time I'll go back :)

So this weekend, Saturday mainly consisted of catching up with two friends. One friend from uni I hadn't seen since she came to visit me in February (!!! Local tourists: Madame Tussauds, Abbey Road, London Eye,...) and another friend who I know for over 10 years now. It's crazy how some people just stay in your life. We might not hear eachother every day or even every week. But everytime we meet up, it's like no day has past. Those are the friends to hold on to.

The most beautiful sunset from my oldest friend's garden

Sunday morning I met up with another friend who just moved house. It was a short visit, but I'm so happy that I saw the new place and it just makes me so happy to see how well my friends are doing. They're all making a life for themselves. It makes me so proud^^

Sunday afternoon I went golfing with my dad. Both my parents are golfers and it was a nice opportunity to actually see what they're always talking about. I'm not a golfer myself, so I was just the caddy for the day. A long day that was. We left home at 12.30pm and we weren't back till 11pm! I slept like a dead person that night. The weather was also very beautiful, but 30°C was a bit too hot x) Anyway, my legs were killing me, right till Wednesday oO You won't hear me say golf isn't a sport.

Dad in action

Tuesday morning I took the Eurostar back to London and I was back at the office around 1pm. From there it was the usual week :) Well, this week was a Nicholas Sparks movie week to be fair. I saw The Longest Ride on Monday and again on Tuesday and Wednesday. I also saw the Lucky One on Wednesday and Safe Haven on Thursday. The Notebook, Dear John, A Walk to Remember and the Last Song will be seen as well before Sunday evening x) Hey, what can I say? I'm a movie lover, the good, the bad and the inbetween.

If you like Nicholas Sparks movies, or not, please read this article on Kansas: the recipe for a Nicholas Sparks movie. It's hilariously true x) I cried with laughter.

One important thing I did this week was donating blood on Thursday during lunch time. I was quite a regular donor in Belgium and even during my Erasmus program in Amiens, France. Thursday however was the first time I did it in the UK. I've always wanted to donate blood, but you have to be over 18 in Belgium. The first chance I got I jumped at the opportunity and since then I try to donate blood at least twice a year. Of course, with me moving around in the past two years it wasn't really ideal to donate. Before you can donate you have to complete a form to see if you are eligible to give blood. Moving around a lot isn't favourable. But this week I had a look and sure enough, I was allowed to donate ^^

If you're over 18 and you don't faint at the sight of blood or a needle, please consider to donate some blood too. You might be a speck in the sea of all the other blood donors, but your blood might safe someone's life! It only takes about an hour and it does not hurt a bit :) If you're living in the UK, have a look at this website http://www.blood.co.uk/  . If you're up for it, register and find out the nearest facility to donate. If you are living in Belgium then Bloed Serious is the website to go to. I'm afraid I'm not really familiar with the blood donating in other countries, but I belief every hospital has a room where you can drop off some of your red fluids, so you might want do do some research :) And always keep your eyes open. There might be a pop up stand in a mall, school or shopping street where they're collecting blood. That's where I always went to when I was still living in Belgium.

Voila, on that serious note I'd like to end this week's blog post.

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara