Sooo, a little Monday post. A couple of weekends ago I saw the movie Before We Go and after the first 10minutes I just new this was a movie I was going to love. It's one of those not well known gems, like Elizabeth Town, Tamara Drew, Begin Again and Stuck in Love.
Before We Go
2016 Director: Chris Evans Cast:
Chris Evan, Alice Eve,... Lenght: 1h 35min Genre: Comedy, drama, romance
9/10
Nick (Chris Evans) plays the trompet and is playing in Grand Central in New York one night. Around 1.30am a woman rushes past to catch the last train. Unfortunately for her she misses her train and Nick offers to help. That one night units two strangers in the most unique way.
It's Chris Evans' directorial debut and he did fine job. The script is fantastic and the characters incredibly likeable. The story builds up to some unexpected revelations and it makes you wonder whether they'll end up together or not. They truely hit some high and low points. You can't help but rooting for them. It's a proper romance,
but not with your classis predictable ending. Evans brings it with such
tenderness and care you belief it could actually happen to anyone. Well,
not to me. I'm in bed by 10pm usually x)
It is a small story with the focus on only 2 characters. No CGI, no action sequences, no Sci Fi, etc. Just a story that takes place over a time span of 5 to 6 hours, from 1.30am til 7am, in New York City. The idea is very simple and very basic, yet the story goes deeper. Two strangers end up going through some life changing moments in just one night walking around the City. It's refreshing to have a movie not covering weeks or months, but one simple, cold night.
Some valuable messages are given. Things like: Running away is easy. Staying is the difficult part. We love who we love and it sucks, but it shouldn't define you. And just because someone offers to help you or is being nice to you, doesn't mean they want something back or have an agenda. Now of that, I'm guilty. Mistrust in people. And I wish I wasn't like that. Something to work on.
It might leave you a bit emotional by the end of their journey, which is yet another refreshing factor about this film.
I hope Chris Evans will take on other projects to direct. He has a unique approach in my opinion and I'm interested in what he'll do next. In the meantime, here's the trailer, a clip and some interviews.
Trailer
Interview
Clips
If you decide to watch this film, I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!
So today is going to be a very very very short blog post. As mentioned previously I'm enjoying my 'no-plans-May' as much as possible. I started the month off with a visit from a dear friend from Belgium and a trip to Kent with my parents, so the 2 weekends following that were of oblivious nothingness.
As I did my grocery shopping on Friday evening, I didn't have to leave the house at all on Saturday and Sunday. As per usual my days were spent watching films and tv series. Reign is currently on a hold. Not because I got bored of it, but simply because I don't want it to end. It's one of those series :) So instead I watched the movies Ant-Man, Before we go and the Intern and I started watching the BBC mini series War&Peace.
Ant-Man
When the movie hit theatres last year it received mixed reviews and I was hesitant to pay £10 or more just to be disappointed. Well, I'm never going to listen again when it comes to a Marvel film. I really liked the film and am looking forward to Ant-Man and the Wasp :)
Before we go
This has been added on my favourites list next to Elizabeth Town, Stuck in Love and Tamara Drew. Mind you, I have a lot of films on that list, but Elizabeth Town and Tamara Drew are no block busters and are generally less known. It's Chris Evans directorial debut and he did a fine job. I'm probably going to add this to the Movietime Monday lists as well.
The Intern
I really wanted to see this one on the big screen, but Vue Croydon didn't show it. And I wasn't going to pay £15 to see it in the West End. So, I had to wait until it came out on DVD and voila :) I really really enjoyed this one as well. Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway are simply sublime.
War & Peace
I started watching this series simply because Lily James is in it. Why else? But when episode 2 ended I was hooked :) I've never read a Leo Tolstoi book and besides the film Anna Karenina, I hadn't seen or experienced any (adaptation) of his work. It is good television. A bit heavy towards the finale, but then again, Napoleon was invading Russia and there was chaos everywhere. A lot of people died or were crying, etc. But I'm glad I saw it nonetheless :) This is just the latest of the many many many adaptations.
Monday morning I left the house for the first time in 2 days and a long and stressful week began. My evening class on Thursday was probably the highlight. I do enjoy that class :)
And this is where I leave you :)
Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara
Another week, another update. On my numbering it is currently week 20, but I'm not sure it is actually week 20... It's May, nearly halfway through 2016. About that I am very sure x)
But, regarding this week's update. I went to see Captain America: Civil War on Saturday. If my friend hadn't come to visit me at the beginning of the month, I would have probably seen the movie opening weekend. As it was, life happened and Civil War had to wait 2 weeks. 14th May I finally saw it, and I loved it and I wrote a post about it. "Can you please move your seat forward?" - Bucky Barnes 'Winter Soldier', Captain America: Civil War 'review'
I also did some grown up stuff like tidying my room, doing a wash load and cleaning the apartment. It was my turn.
On Sunday I had a 3hour Skype call with one of my oldest friends and the rest of it mainly consisted of watching episodes of the Reign.
You might not know it already, but I'm planning a trip to Scotland at the end of June. (Less than 4 weeks to go!) Although the layout of my trip is pretty secure and I know exactly what I want to visit, my planning of when I want to visit all the places is ever changing. And thanks to Reign, a few more locations have been added on the to do list. It'll be a wonder if I'll manage to see them all!
My friend introduced me to the series about 3 weeks ago and I'm currently at episode 5 of season 2. Apart from Anna Popplewell (Susan in the Chronicles of Narnia movies), the entire cast were unknown actors to me. Turns out that Craig Parker (lord Narcisse) played none other than Haldir in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Who knew?
Then
Now
Giacomo Gianniotti who was lord Julien on the show, apparently is now a cast member on Grey's Anatomy. Toby Regbo (Francis) looked very familiar to me and guess why? He posed as a young Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!
Alan Van Sprang was introduced to me as the new Valentine on the Freeform tv show Shadowhunters. And Megan Follows, queen Catherine, is Anne from Green Gables. And there are so many other actors who were just completely unknown to me. For some it was their first acting job, for other it puts them on the radar. It's amazing what shows like that can do :)
Just like I'm even more interested now in the 16th century history. The number of times I pauzed an episode to google some historic facts. It's the same as with Outlander. Rather than just trying to find film locations in Scotland, I'm going to focus a lot more on actual culture as well. Not that both can't be intertwined. Last year I went to Glenfinnan to see the viaduct. It was also the location where Bonnie prince Charles arrived from France and arranged final preparations to take back the Scottisch crown.
As for the rest of the week, it was business as usual. Nothing exciting to mention I'm afraid. To be honest, I'm enjoying my 'free' time as much as I can, because at the beginning of June I have some 'events' planned and then I'm leaving for Scotland, so I'm enjoying it whilst I still can ;)
Yes, of course I went to see Captain America; Civil War. I don't think a lot of people really like Cap, or any of this films, but I do :) I like all Avengers, but I have my favourites ^^ Like any previous Marvel film, this one did not disappoint. At all.
For anyone who hasn't seen the movie, beware, there will be spoilers in this 'review'.
Captain America: Civil War
** spoilers **
2016 Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Cast: Chris Evan, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johanson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Chadwick Boseman, Elizabeth Olsen, Emil VanCamp, Paul Bettany,... Lenght: 2h 27min Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Marvel
9/10
As an after math of what happened in Sokovia at the end of Age of Ultron, UN wants to limit the Avenger's movements. Tony Stark, or Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) is in favour of this, Steve Rogers, or Captain America (Chris Evans) is against. You'd expect it to be the other way round, right? Cap's old friend, Bucky Barnes, a.k.a Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), is suspected of a bom attack in Vienna when the accords to rail in the Avengers was supposed to be voted for. Cap tries to help his old friend, but the Winter Soldier's past causes another rift between Cap and Tony.
In comparison to other Marvel films this movie leans more towards "Age of Ultron serious" than light hearted humor like in Thor or Avengers Assemble. The funny scenes that are in it, are proper funny though. Laugh out loud funny. I was lucky enough to watch the movie with a crowd who reacted the same way I did. At one point, in the least romantic setting possible, Cap kisses Agent 13. It's so Cap. Awkward but sweet, and long overdue. Not to mention that Bucky and Sam (Falcon - Anthony Mackie) are sitting in a tiny Beetle, witnessing the whole thing. After Agent 13 leaves and Cap looks over, you get your expected boys reaction when they see one of their mates hitting it off with the girl he likes. It is so innocent and refreshing in the serious subject of the movie. Should the government control every single thing?
Cap goes on a rather personal journey as well. In the First Avenger he tried to put his new powers to good use in trying to help to defeat Germany in WWII. In Winter Soldier, he's struggling to find his purpose in this new world. No world war to 'hide' behind. Cap's been 'accused' of not being able to function without war and conflict. It made it sound very negative. But when you look at our world today and when you look at the history of mankind, there is blood spilled everywhere. I wish it were different, but there no way around it: humanity can't seem to exist without conflict. Without fighting. Without war. And then you need men like Cap. He always tries to disconnect anything personal from his causes: save as many people as possible. In Civil War however, we're talking about his old time friend Bucky, who was brainwashed into Winter Soldier. Sebastian Stan had an amazing story line as he, as Bucky, remembers details from his time before he was a Soldier. It gets very very personal for Cap.
After Age of Ultron I'm really hoping for a Black Widow stand alone movie. Now after Captain America: Civil War I'm really really hoping for a stand alone movie on Winter Soldier. I know they are talking already for a Black Panther stand alone and an Ant-Man sequel, but what about Black Widow and Winter Soldier? Or Agent 13 for that matter. She is really growing on me.
I was kind of scared that it would feel a lot more like another Avengers movie as so many Avengers characters are making an appearance in this one, but it wasn't too bad. The story is told mainly from Cap's point of view and it's clear that it's his movie. But you don't see Tony as a complete villain either. You get why he does what he does. The writters did an amazing job there. You can't really disagree with anyone. Everyone makes a good point and some actions, like Tony trying to murder Bucky because he, as Winter Soldier murdered his parents, are in some way justifiable. Cap, however, comes to Bucky's defense and fights Iron Man. Hard. I understand Cap's point of view, but also Tony's. Who's right and who's wrong? It's not a black-and-white situation. But if there is to be another Cap movie, I wouldn't mind if only Falcon, Agent 13 and Bucky show up.
That said, I'm impressed with the screen time each character got, without loosing the fact it's actually Cap's movie. Spidey had a nice introduction and more screen time than I expected. I really liked the Amazing Spiderman movies and I was sad that Andrew Garfield was shoved aside. But now that I've seen Tom Holland's interpretation of the character, I'm curious about the stand alone movie. And hello Martin Freeman. No idea who his character is, besides the fact he's Agent 13's boss at the C.I.A. Or something. He might be a villain. He might be a good guy. But I'm sure we'll see more of him in the MCU ;)
As always, acting was on point, as is the script. This is apparently the longest Marvel film to date. Yes, even longer than Age of Ultron. A full 6 minutes longer. But let me tell you, those two hours and a half flew by. Not a minute where I thought to look on my watch to see how much time we still had to go, not a minute when I was bored. 2h27min that feel like 45min...
I was quite happy with the ending in the sense that it didn't really concludes anything, as per usual. The final final battle scene between Bucky, Cap and Iron Man was very intense. At one point I wouldn't have put it past the writers to kill off Winter Soldier. So I was preparing myself for tears... It wasn't necessary, but they finished with more questions. It leaves room for interpretation and of course, a next movie. I advise you to stay put until after the end credits. You've got one immediately after the credits and then one after the end credits. It's worth the wait ;)
Then, as per usual, the trailer, some interviews, clips, behind the scenes and what not :)
Trailer
Interviews
Clips
As for the question: team Cap or team Iron Man? I'm team everybody, but if I really have to choose: team Cap. More and more I've come to realise you can't just trust the government to have your best interest at heart. Think for yourself.
Who else is hoping for a stand alone Winter Soldier movie? Or Black Widow? Or any other suggestion?
If you're looking for inspiration for things to do in Kent, keep on reading!
Following my previous post, I've already let you know that Friday after work I took the train from St Pancras to meet my parents at Ashford International in Kent. I had never really visited anything in Kent, so it seemed the perfect opportunity to do so :) We ended up visiting Groombridge Place, Hever Castle, Knole and we hiked on One Tree Hill. And let me tell you, together with my visit to Cambridge and my visit home in March, this was one of my favourite weekends this year so far ^^
So Friday after work, around 5.40pm I sat on the train from St Pancras to Ashford International. My parents picked me up at the station and we had dinner at the outlet near the station. After dinner we rode to our little cottage in Tenderden. Cutest little house ^^
Saturday morning started bright and early. Around 9am we sat at a local Costa for our dose of caffeine and after that our adventure began. First stop was Groombridge place. You might not be familiar with the name, but it is the house Joe Wright used in his Pride and Prejudice adaptation in 2005. Unfortunately the house is not open for visitors, but luckily you can just walk around the house.
You might not know yet, but I'm a massive fan of Pride and Prejudice, especially the 2005 version. So many of my all time favourite scenes are in that film. So many good dialogues. So many beautiful shots. Amazing score. The opening is just one of the many many many sequences that I just love.
Eventhough the house wasn't open for visitors, I was so excited. It was such a great start to the weekend ^^ It is basically thanks to my mum that I visit such amazing places like Hill Top and Basildon Park. If she hadn't introduced Peter Rabbit or Pride and Prejudice into my life, I probably wouldn't be visiting all those amazing places. Also major props to my dad who puts up with my mum and I when we geek out about movie related stuff. In 2014 when we went to visit the Leavesden studios, my mum and I wandered around for about 2hours whilst my dad was patiently waiting on a bench for us somewhere ^^ Anyway, here another shot of the house :)
And a behind the scene of the movie
After Groombridge place we road on to Hever castle. This castle used to be the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII 2nd wife. Super interesting. We took the audio guides to guide us around the house and it was so good. And yes, you read that correctly, Henry VIII would have walked those very halls.
After Anne's father died in 1539, the castle came in Henry's possession. He then gave it to his 4th wife Anne of Cleve, as a settlement in their marriage annulment in 1540.
In 1903 the castle was bought by William Waldorf Astor who restored the castle and used it as family residence. He even built an entire village behind the castle to house all the staff.
The gardens are truely beautiful. We were too early to see the rose gardens, but the Italian garden was amazing and huge. A 'small' area was nearly as big as our entire garden back home... Of course there are things to do such as a maze, water maze, archery, hiring a little boat to paddle on the lake, walks around the lake, golf, etc etc. We did the maze, archery and walk through the garden and around the lake.
I discovered I'm actually quite good at archery x)
By the time we arrived back at the car it was time to go back to the cottage. I was exhausted. The fact that Classic FM was playing all sorts of movie scores didn't help me to stay awake. Dinner at Prizzo and then to sleep. Aaah :)
Sunday started pretty much the same way as Saturday. A coffee to start the day and then off to our first stop of the day, which was a hike on Ide Hill. We were so lucky with the weather. The hike was about an hour and a half and we saw some beautiful views. Oh, and blue bells were nearly EVERYWHERE :)
After the hike we made our way to Knole house, a country house in the area. I'm not going to lie, not the highlight of my trip. I was really looking forward to it though. Knowing that certain scenes of Pirates of the Caribbean, Sherlock Holmes and the Other Boleyn Girl were filmed here. But it turned out to be a dark, grim, dusty old house. They are currently in the process of renovations, so I dearly hope they'll be able to lift the house's spirits up a bit. Unless the house is just dark and dusty by nature. I wouldn't recommend it just yet. I'd wait until the works are finished. The exterior was very impressive though and the deer were very cute. I would definitly concider paying it another visit after the works are done :)
These cuties are known to make an appearance when you make a walk through the many many acres of land surrounding the house.
Same as on Saturday, I was exhausted. Did another nap in the car on the way home x) Dinner was a bit earlier than on Saturday, which meant in theory that I could go to sleep earlier as well, but the BAFTA's were that evening and I wanted to watch til the end... ^^ Which wasn't too late in the end.
Monday morning started off quite relaxed and ended a bit stressful as I had to catch the 11.43am train back to London. I had to be at the office by 1pm and it seemed it was getting a bit tight, but in the end I had to wait 20min for the train x) Better too early than having to run for it!
As for the rest of the week, it was a normal work week. Nothing special to report there.
And that is it for this week! Out of the entire trip, Knole house was the only thing that let me down a bit. My expectations were probably a bit too high, so that one is on me. As all the rest of it, I highly recommend every single one of them :) Has anyone else been to Kent and what would you recommend?
I know I know, this post is live incredibly late. Before I knew it the weekend has come and gone and I didn't have the time to write anything!
The reason why will be clear in the next post ;)
So, weekend of bank holiday and I had a visitor from Belgium! My dear friend Amal (who also has a blog: Hello it's Amal. She mainly writes about her interest in fashion, beauty and lifestyle. Check it out if that is your cup of tea ;)) whom you might remember from a previous blog post: Local tourists: Madame Tussauds, Abbey Road, London Eye,... :D Since we keep missing each other every time I'm in Belgium, she decided to come to London to finally catch up. It was about 6months since we last saw each other so we had a lot to catch up on x)
Saturday afternoon around 2 I met her at the exit of the Eurostar in London St Pancras. We had a little bit to eat at the Costa across the exit and started our weekend of talking. Before we knew it we sat at the Costa for over an hour :o Time to get moving! First stop: Leicester square. Yes, we had a schedule. We wanted to see a musical, so what better place to go to one of the boots on Leicester square? Next stop: Covent Garden.
At Covent Garden we wanted to see the Colourful Street. It's a tiny tiny street, alley really, between the large buildings in London. It really looked cosy, but very busy as well, so we walked through quickly. At least now I know where it is and I'll definitely go back. We also made a stop in Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue. A proper geek shop with all things memorabilia, clothing, books, comic book, collectables, bags, etc covering Star Wars, Marvel, dr Who, Harry Potter, GoT, the Walking Dead, etc etc. Right up my alley ^^ At Covent Garden we had a look at the art installation as well, of course.
After that we walked towards Piccadilly, as Amal wanted to go to a Boots and the one on Piccadilly Circus is absolutely massive. From there we walked towards Debenhams on Oxford street, passing Kingly Court, Carnaby Street and Liberty on our way there. After we did our shopping, it was nearly 8pm already! Time to eat. A hamburger at Byron's on Regent Street it was :)
Back home, we decided to watch the first episode of Outlander season 1. Amal wasn't familiar with the series, but she really enjoyed Reign (new to me!) which is about Mary, Queen of Scots, and she'd like to go to Scotland one day. So all that indicates she quite likes Scotland, so hey! Watch Outlander! :) Of course we ended up talking for a very long time, so by the time we actually came around watching the episode it was passed 11.30pm already. Whoops...
Sunday morning started bright and early as we wanted to do as much as possible during the day. It took us by surprise when we arrived at London Bridge 10min after we stepped on the bus at the bus stop at the end of my street. 10 MINUTES. Granted, it was Sunday morning before 9am, but 10 MINUTES!! That's all it took to get from home to London Bridge.
We wanted to buy some Krispy Kreme donuts at the little shop in the station, but it didn't open until 10am :( Not to worry, Breakfast Club it was ;) As we were so early, there was no queue. Delicious toast with poached egg and avocado. Yummmm. By the time we walked back out people were lining up all the way to nearly the corner of the street!oO Tip: go before 9am!!
As we were near Borough Market (FYI the market is closed on Sunday!), I took the chance to have a look at Bridget Jones's front door. I've passed that front door so often now, but on a 10m distance and I never realised it was the front door. So last Sunday, I grabbed the opportunity to finally snap a picture.
I know, I need to cut my fringe...
From London Bridge we walked up to Spitalfield Market, passing Monument and Leadenhall Market. I wanted to have a look at the little stall with all the books to see if there was anything interesting, but the stall was gone! In fact, all the usual stalls were gone! Instead all sorts of food stalls had popped up. I figured it was some sort of food festival. At least that is was hope it was! So our visit to Spitalfield market was short and from Liverpool Street we took the underground to Holborn to go to the British museum. Another place I've never been before...
Like all free musea in London, it was massive. I really like the fact that most musea are free in London. It's really encouraging to actually set foot inside. But like most huge musea, like Natural History museum, Science museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, etc. there is just too much and you have to make choices of which parts you want to see and we only had about an hour and half! By 2pm we had to be at Lyceum Theatre because we were going to see the musical the Lion King!!!
Photo by Amal
Honestly, amazing musical! I'd definitely recommend it if anyone would like to see a musical in London West End. Wicked is another one :) After the musical, which ended around 5pm, we were a bit emotionally drained... And I was starving. But it was still too early to have dinner and we needed a little break after that musical. So we headed to Green Park, bought ourselves a little snack and a drink and sat on the grass to enjoy the lovely weather. It was so nice :)
From Green Park we walked to Buckingham Palace were we sat on the steps of Queen Victoria's statue. We basically moved our asses from the grass in Green Park to the steps in front of Buckingham Palace, talking the entire time. We also did some people watching and analysing a random group's dynamic x) Really fun. From Buckingham Palace we walked along The Mall towards Trafalgar Square to see St James' palace where king Henry VIII has lived (and many other kings and queens). Not before snapping the below images...
"Please keep off the grass" .... People....
We then walked through St James' park and saw the cutest squirrels ^^
Amal wanted a picture with a red telephone box and she's right. I mean, last time she came to visit she didn't take one and you can't leave London without a picture with a telephone box!! So I suggested to go to Big Ben as you have a lot of telephone boxes in that area and bonus, you can have the Big Ben in the background. I managed to snap a few of her, but unfortuntely some really silly tourist couldn't wait her turn and basically drove us away. Ugh -.-
Then the dilemma of 'where to eat' rose. It was passed 7.30pm and I really really don't like to eat late so I wanted to find something to eat, and soon. Eventually we settled for Bella Italia near Leicester Square. At first I was very hesitant. Usually there are people standing on the street, trying to lure you in their restaurants. Something I'm firmly against. Luckily Bella Italia didn't have an employee trying to get you in their restaurant, so I didn't object. The food was really good by the way :)
Around 10pm we were home and we decided to watch the first episode of season 1 of Reign! I introduced Amal to Outlander and she introduced me to Reign. I'm currently on episode 6 and I really enjoy it :) It is loosely based on history and in my opinion more aimed at a young adult audience rather than an Outlander target audience, which is just full on for adults. Here's a trailer of the first episode of Reign.
I'm absolutely loving the costumes ^^
Monday morning Amal's train left at 11am, so she needed to check in around 10am, but we were at King's Cross at 9am so we waited in line at Platform 9 3/4 for Amal to have her picture taken ^^ Potterheads rule the world! :D
Here's a little maps to show where in London we've been x)
Wednesday after work, a colleague and I bought a bottle of wine and some crisps and we went to Regent's Park to enjoy the setting sun. It was a horrendous day at the office so that 2 hour chat in the sun was most welcome :)
And Friday after work I took the train from St Pancras to Ashford International to meet up with my parents! But that is for next week ;)
If you made it this far: congratulations and thanks for reading!
xo - Sara
