I know I am slightly behind with this post…sorry!

We had a blast watching the Oscars though. As I have said before, we don’t have a TV so we went to a screening at a cinema in Chelsea. If you don’t know, Chelsea is an area in NYC where lots of gay people live. There was a drag queen commenting (or bitching) about everyone and everything that was going on, which was hilarious. The audience was in a really good mood, cheering and booing. It was fun sitting in cinema chairs because it felt a bit like we were in the last rows of the Academy Awards theatre.

The Oscars went fairly smoothly this year, I’d say. No huge surprises. I thought the hosts played it very safe which I didn’t expect. I thought that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin would be more fun but to be fair, “hosts” is a bit of a stretch of the word anyway because they were barely ever on stage.

What was up with the woman who won Best Costume Design? “I already have two of these at home, so…” BITCH! She is not gonna get another one after that speech!

And poor little Kristen Stewart was so nervous that she had to cough…awww…how embarrassing. I wonder whether she is the sort of actress that will be famous for a couple of years and then just disappear again or whether she will grow out of her Twilight image and actually become a serious actress.

Ok, so where were Angelina and Brad? And Nicole Kidman? Well, I guess you get tired of the whole thing after a few years.

No one was as nervous as Kathryn Bigelow. It was quite charming how real she was. That’s the problem with actors and actresses. They quite often put on a persona for their speeches. But Kathryn was alarmingly close to passing out.

About the dresses: They seemed less crazy this year which I liked. Although there wasn’t one that I really loved. I often like the dresses of the lesser famous people most, because they are not trying so hard. I did like Sandra Bullocks and Rachel McAdams (who is she?) dresses. I did not like Jennifer Lopez dress. Bubble wrap alert!

Was it the short film category where the woman suddenly jumped onto the stage and took over the microphone? So funny!

I was not pleased with Sandra Bullock’s win. I haven’t seen the Blind Side (and probably never will) but to me she will always be Miss Congeniality. Fun but that’s all.

I really wanted Colin Firth to win!!! Jeff Bridges is great and I’m sure he gave a wonderful performance in Crazy heart but I’ve been madly in love with Colin for so long and plus he did give an amazing performance!

That’s all I can remember right now…I might add more to this list later. What did you guys think?

I am very happy to tell you all that Steph from The Flick Chick passed on the Kreativ Blogger Award to me. This is very exciting news to me since I am only writing this blog for fun and am mostly surprised that some people (other then my mother) do read it once in a while.

The rules of this award are as follows:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

So here go the 7 things that you might find interesting about me (and some you might already know):

(1) I have a B.A. (Hons) in Film Production and majored in production design. (Now you are probably wondering why my reviews aren’t more in depth)

(2) I am currently studying acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute in NYC.

(3) One of my real passions is traveling and I’ve lived in seven different cities (so far).

(4) I have the same kind of scar on my cheek as Arwen in LOTR but didn’t get it from fleeing from the Nazgul.

(5) I have an unusually bad long term memory and tend to forget whether I have seen films or not after a couple of moths (this is one of the reasons why I started this blog).

(6) I am obsessed with face cremes and body lotions and go crazy if I don’t have any hand creme after I have used soap.

(7) My friend and I made a kick-ass adaptation of Titanic when the movie first came out. We had no boat and we had no water and we were the only actors in it. Best film ever made!

Here are some of my favorite blogs (if you are not on this list, it probably just means that you have already received this award from somebody else):

(1) Hoping For Something To Hope For I have been following David Bishop’s blog for a really long time now and always enjoy his reviews. It is a real pity that lately he hasn’t been writing much and I am hoping for a comeback soon!

(2) Bitchin’ Film Reviews I don’t only like this blog for its great title but also for its fantastic film reviews.

(3) M.Carter @ the Movies This is a blog that I found receintly and have been following it ever since. I especially like her Listmania! It’s always great to read another girls opinion!

(4) CinemaWatch Thomas writes about all the movies he sees and I find his opinions very interesting.

(5) Anomalous Materiel Movies I have recently discovered Castor’s blog (or maybe he discovered mine) and very much like the style of it. His opinions on movies are opposite to mine quite often but I always like reading what someone very much unlike me thinks.

(And two non-film related blogs that I love:)

(6) Where the Lovely Things Are Mallory posts a lot of really lovely art/design/fashion links. I don’t know how she finds all of them but its a real joy to look at everything.

(7) Color Me Katie This blog really makes me happy. Katie is a photographer with a very unique vision and I find her joy of life very inspiring.

The 60th anniversary poster.

Kid in the Front Row is hosting a blogging collaboration where we all write about a memory we have of a particular cinema visit. I have to tell you, I go to the cinema a lot. In different countries, to different cinemas with different people. So I am having trouble remembering a lot of it. I thought about writing about the time when I was interning at a cinema magazine and got to see a lot of movies before they came out, together with “other” members of the press. Or about going to the cinema while away on holiday (which I always do), or maybe about the amazing Everyman Cinema Club in Hampstead, London but I guess the memory that sticks out the most is of three of my friends and me going to the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 (I know, technically, 2007 isn’t “long ago” but to me it feels like this was in another life time).

Quentin watching an independent documentary.

We had submitted a couple of films to their Short Film Corner for which we got extremely bad accreditations to the festival. But the worst accreditations to the Cannes Film Festival are still like a pot of gold to young impressionable film students (for those of you who don’t know: I studied Film Production at an Arts School in England). There we were, in the place to be if you love film and film people. Cannes is just amazing and I highly recommend going to the festival if you can. It is the kind of festival where you find yourself sitting a row away from Quentin Tarantino and where Martin Scorsese walks past you while you are waiting for a friend.

Gael Garcia Bernal making his way through the crowd.

Cannes is a very traditional Festival and there is a dress code for evening premieres. This meant that whenever we wanted to see an evening premiere we had to drive back to our rented apartment (which was slightly outside the city, due to incredibly high rental prices during the festival), get changed and drive back to the cinema. You can also only attend these evening premieres if you get an invitation. Our accreditations did not include invitations which meant we had to queue just off the red carpet and wait until everyone else was inside to see if there were some seats left. Because all of this takes such an effort, we only did it a couple of times.

Finally going up the stairs.

It is a very strange feeling standing in a sort of cage next to the red carpet while Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and George Clooney walk past you, followed by a herd of extremely well dressed photographers (they are not excluded from the dress code). It certainly shows you where you are in the greater scheme of things… Although there were also a lot of spectators and fans standing on the other side of the street behind barricades and hanging off trees to take pictures of the stars. Another way to get into the premieres without an actual invitation is standing outside the film market with a sign “Need tickets for such and such a film”. An option which a lot of people chose.

Inside the main cinema.

After all the invited guests are inside, the “gates” open and all the people who were queuing hurry inside to get the last remaining seats. It’s great fun! The main cinema in Cannes is really big and since everyone is dressed up it does feel like a very special occasion. My dad (who goes to Cannes every year) said that last year they played Disney’s UP in 3D as the opening film and everyone had to wear these ridiculous looking 3D glasses which must have been quite a sight. They just don’t go with all the beautiful evening gowns (alright, this was probably the girliest sentence I have ever written on this blog)!

I know I was supposed to write about a cinema visit that went right/wrong or funny/tragic but I wanted to share a memory of a cinema visit (or 10 days worth of cinema visits) that impressed and fascinated me. I could probably go on talking about the festival for another 10 paragraphs but I am gonna stop here. Hope you enjoyed it and hope you get to go to the festival at some point .

I haven’t been posting a lot lately due to several reasons: First of all, I have a lot less time these days with school and homework and work and all that. The second reason is that I am not actually going to the cinema very often. I don’t know about the rest of the US or the world but in Manhattan it costs at least $12.50 to go to the cinema which, for a student, is a lot of money! The good thing about NYC cinemas is that you can usually sneak into other screens after you finished watching your original movie but you have to plan it well. Thirdly, I seem to be focusing more on plays lately. Not necessarily watching plays (because they are, obviously, even more expensive than the cinema) but catching up on my reading.

So today I thought I would talk a bit about the plays I am reading at the moment:

Courtship by Horton Foote

Set on a terrace in Texas in 1915, this slowly told story focuses on two sisters whose father doesn’t want them to get married. The slightly older Elizabeth is madly in love with Horace Robedaux and wants to elope with him, whereas the schoolgirl Laura is still dreaming of ever falling in love. The entire play takes place in one single evening and consists of simple dialogue between the family members and Elizabeth’s suitor. There is a lot of gossip about the neighbors in town and discussions between the sisters to what it would be like to be married. It is a sweet play and I am sure it could be nicely done with a good set of actors. What I find strange is that Horton Foote wrote this play in 1985. I am just wondering what made him write this dated story?

The Days and Nights of Beebee Fenstermaker by William Snyder

Beebee comes from a very small town somewhere in the US and right after finishing colleges moves to a big city determined on becoming a writer. At school and college, she has won a lot of awards and is known to be a very talented girl. Once in the city, Beebee’s savings run out a lot faster then she expected so she has to get a job working as an assistant in an Import/Export company. In the evenings she comes howe exhausted with no more energy to work on her novel. After more or less failing in writing the novel, she decides to take up painting instead. Her only friend in the city is Nettie Jo, a young woman who likes to socialize and whose only dream is to get happily married. After Nettie Jo moves away, Beebee gets involved wtih a man who isn’t working and lets her feed him. I actually really like this play. Poor Beebee starts out with such optimism and gets absolutely crushed by “the real world”. It is very well written and I am sure would be a really good play to see performed.

The votes are in for your favourite road movies:

1.) Almost Famous (read my review here) is the clear winner with 32%

2.) Thelma and Louise gets second with 26%

3.) Bonnie and Clyde is third with 23%

I have to say that I am quite happy with the results. Also surprised that two fairly old movies won. I would have expected Little Miss Sunshine to be one of the top three. Thanks for voting

I have got some exciting news:

I am moving to New York City next week to study at the Lee Strasberg Institute of Theatre and Film. I already did a term there during my time at University (I have a BA in Film Production from the Arts Institute at Bournemouth, England) and wanted to go back to studying at the Strasberg Institute ever since. Now I have finally found the courage (and funding…) to re-apply and got accepted (again). I am staying for three terms this time and hope to learn a lot.

TheMovieNess blog will, of course, remain the same. I will just be sitting in New York while writing…big difference for me, not so big for you

Sorry I haven’t posted anything in so long. I have been watching films and will be writing reviews on them soon. I promise

I went to London over the weekend to visit some friends. London is such a great city and I always love looking for film settings there (the blue door from Notting Hill, pretty much every scene from Match Point and so on). While my friend and I were having lunch near the Columbia Road flower market this weekend, we spotted Keira Knightly and her actor boyfriend Rupert Friend. This part of London is so full of quirkily dressed people that they really didn’t stand out. Every other person there could have been a star. It’s always fun to see actors in real life. Especially when they fit so wonderfully into their surroundings. It makes them more human. Keira looked a lot nicer and prettier in real life than in the films (I personally don’t like her as an actress), but she did look unnaturally skinny.

The Woman in Black

We went to see the play The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre near Covent Garden. It turned out to be the 20th Anniversary for this play to be shown at that theatre. It is a ghost story about a solicitor who is trying to tell his family about a time in his life where he encountered a ghost a long time ago. A young theatre director helps the now old man to make the story more interesting for his audience.

The entire play consists of these two men and a ghost woman in black who only comes on stage occasionally. The actors have to be incredibly good to keep the audience’s attention through the entire play, and they were. I didn’t actually expect to be scared in a play, but it was quite freaky. A lot of it was down to rather loud sound effects and sudden appearances of the woman. It was a lot of fun watching the play and getting scared by it. What I also really enjoyed was that the producer came onto the stage after the play and gave a short speech because of the anniversary. He was really funny and it felt special to have seen the play that evening.

Terminator Salvation

I got talked into watching this film by two of my old housemates from University (two boys as you can guess) and the film just really sucked (sorry Jon and Dave, if you are reading this…). I thought Christian Bale would be enough to enjoy the movie but he was terrible. All he did was use his intense dark Batman-voice and look tough. And then he hit a couple of guys. That’s it. And he is not even shown very often. It’s mostly about Sam Worthington’s character. Oh, and the story was: humans fighting against machines. This should not be the story of a Terminator film, because it is the setting. There should be a story around this setting. If I had a rating system, I would probably give this film a 1/5 (one for the special effects). Alright, that’s enough ranting, just take my advice and don’t watch it.

Hi everyone,

I am not sure how it happened, but I got nominated for best Lamb Banner over at the Large Association of Movie Blogs. This is so exciting!

Please vote for me here!

Thanks so much,

Vanessa aka TheMovieNess

I just read about the new production of “Guys and Dolls” featuring Lauren Graham (from the Gilmore Girls). Even though I have already seen “Guys and Dolls” in the West End in London, I would really love to see this version as well. The version I saw starred Ewan McGregor and Jane Krakowski and was a lot of fun to watch. Unfortunately we were sitting quite far in the back, but it was still great. But since it is such an American story, I would like to see it in America. The music and the story are just so much fun. I also love the era it is set in, the costumes and the language are so great. If you can’t get to NYC then just watch the film.

This year I had the honour to be in a jury at the Oberhausen Short Film Festival. Before I was invited to go there, I had never really heard about the festival, or about Oberhausen as a town. But it turned out to be a very rewarding experience.

What is the festival all about? This year was the 55^th festival in Oberhausen. It is a very small festival (compared to the ones I have been to, anyway). There are only about five cinema screens, one festival lounge (for eating and parties), one festival space (for discussions), a guest office (for accreditation) and a press office (for Internet). That’s it. And everything is small and in very short walking distance from each other. This, of course, is absolutely brilliant because, as guests, you have no cars, so you have to walk everywhere. If you go to the Berlin Festival, for example, the cinemas are quite close to each other but the parties and other events are at completely different places and you have to take several subways or buses to get there.

Another good thing about a small festival is meeting people. You see more or less the same people every day, so you remember them and can always find someone to talk to.

The festival is very international and the main language is English. All the films have English subtitles (except for one French film which had no subtitles at all…what a cliché! Of course, the French expect everyone to speak their language…).

Jury Duties: Being in a jury is fantastic! We were put up in a very nice, four star hotel, which made a fun change to my usual travel lodgings of tents, B&B’s, motels and the likes. We were invited, or better, obliged to attend the evening events, such as the official opening of the festival (and the fun VIP party afterwards) and the awards ceremony at the end (if you have ever been at a festival, you might know how difficult it is to get into these kind of events). But the best thing about being in the jury is the accreditation. You can get into any screening you want to see (on the downside, you don’t actually have time to watch other screenings apart from the international competition). In the screenings that we had to go to, there were even seats reserved for us.

The duties we had to do were to watch the films that were in the competition (about 50 more or less short films) and decide which one deserved an award or an honorary mention. This might sound easier than it actually is. There were a lot of great films. And, being five people from different backgrounds with different tastes, we had a real discussion.

The winner of our Jury (there were at about 6 juries over all) was the Austrian film “Elefantenhaut” (Elephant Skin). It is a film about a woman who is working in a factory and living a simple life. She has to look after her mother and has no time to herself. Although the story of the film is sad, in the end she is a very strong person. The people in the film are not trained actors but they are unbelievably good. Although it was not my first choice for the award, I am very happy with the decision. Our statement was: “Although the film shows people in miserable surroundings, they prove themselves to be loving, strong and caring. It takes a contemporary view of a current topic and draws our attention to possibilities of life we believed lost.”

The Special Mention went to the rather short but excellent British film “The Conservatory.” It is very cute and I am sure will be successful.  Our statement: “In a short and humorous way the film shows how the unspoken takes on form, inflicts injury and is overcome.”

My personal winner: A collaboration of British and American filmmakers produced the wonderful film “Nora.” It starts out being a documentary about a woman growing up in Zimbabwe. It then turns into a sort of dance film and about the woman’s (Nora) life. It tells her story, using dance (she is now a dancer in New York) in the most beautiful way. The colours and the dancing are incredible. On the surface it is simply a beautiful film but underneath it is a struggle with living in Zimbabwe, coming of age, having to be strong and finding one’s character.

Oberhausen town: It is quite a small town in the mid-west part of Germany. It was completely bombed during the war (I assume it was anyway) and has been rebuilt in the very ugly style of the post-war period. It is not a nice town. It is also extremely empty. It felt like the festival people were the only ones there. Very odd. But this really doesn’t matter because all we saw was the inside of the cinema. One day we went to a museum in a castle which was very pretty.