The Eighteen Year Itch

I don't have to runaway and live in the street. I can runaway and I can go to the ocean, I can go to the country, I can go to the mountains. I could go to Israel, Africa, Afghanistan.

That moment in your life when, actually, what you want to do is just get the hell out of home and do something, anything, in order to make your stamp on the world, or leave your mark on other people's lives, whether for better or for worse, just so long as people actually care. In the words of Tallulah in Bugsy Malone 'You may forget I've been here but you won't forget me'.

Actually that sounds vaguely threatening, so to tone it down, I'd like to mention how I have won my coveted place at university, and now I would like to just GO THERE ALREADY and not have to wait until October. Which is such a long time away. And yes, I am doing things in the mean time like, um, going to Italy on Sunday (such a hard life, right) but really all I'd like to do is start living. 

And so we come to The Breakfast Club, John Hughes' brilliant film about high school cliques, genders, preconceptions, and breaking all of the above. I think the beauty of it is that everyone can identify with multiple characters and, unlike Ferris Bueller's Day Off which is just about the freedom of life (deep statement alert), it actually asks questions of teenagers, about why we act how we do, whose perceptions of ourselves we are conforming to, wittingly or unwittingly, and whether we can actually break from the mould and live for ourselves, making our own decisions. 

I think the images and styling of this film are absolutely to-die-for, with 'good' vs 'weird' clearly marked out in the jock clothes and fingerless gloves, but one of the most poignant scenes in the film is when lovely Molly Ringwald gives Judd Nelson's character her earring. Just this idea that a small diamond earring can stand for so much and so many different things in different settings, wholesomeness with Molly and rebel attitude with Judd... It's brilliant.

The Artist

At the gala screening of 'The Artist' last week, truly the best film I have seen so far at the London Film Festival. Dujardin utterly deserved his prize at Cannes, and should definitely be nominated for an Oscar. It's strange that a predominantly silent film has such an emotional pull, but I laughed, cried and spontaneously clapped during the screening (along with the whole of the rest of the audience). The film riffs on the plots of both Sunset Boulevard and A Star Is Born, and uses original twenties settings and staging to provide an extremely modern tale. The cinematography is beautiful, and the classic soft-focus closeups are captured exactly as they were 80 years ago, though perhaps a little less blurringly romantic (to go with the 21st century story of the trappings of fame, depression, pride and its fall).

It's an unlikely choice to pick to see at the cinema, I guess, but I give it a million starred review, and urge you all to put all your prejudices about 'black and white' and 'silent' to one side, and give it a go. Fork out eight quid (cinemas are so expensive these days!), it'll be the best eight quid you've ever spent- promise! 

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Coral Crop Top

top and shorts - Topshop

I dropped my camera on the floor this morning, so what were already slightly grainy photos have become even more blurred and unfit to be posted - but I have no other way of taking photos, so please excuse the quality... 

Thank you all for the support of my last post! I will definitely report my experiences of the London Film Festival on my blog so you can all get a bit of 'backstage action.' I hit 25 followers yesterday, which was exactly a month since my first blog post, so I'm pretty happy at the moment! Thanks for following, it really means a lot to me that you enjoy my posts and my writing. As well as acting, I'm interested in fashion/music/film journalism, so I'm using this blog as a way to practice my writing style and gain an audience...which I seem to be achieving! So all's good!

This afternoon I went to see the film 'Whats Your Number?' with Anna Faris in (and Martin Freeman also for about five minutes-love Martin Freeman!). I expected it to be another dire romcom, and in some ways it was, with its incredibly predictable plot - girl makes friends with guy to help her find a husband, but realises at the end that he has been 'the one' all along. There were some incredibly funny bits however, and although the main character Ally was 'in-between jobs', she'd been fired from a position in a marketing company, rather than, say, her cake shop closing. I think that maybe, after the hilarious 'Bridesmaids' (although that film did feature a cake shop), films marketed at women might be getting a teeny tiny bit more realistic and true to life. Which can only be a good thing.

I'm getting my hair cut on Friday - shorter or same length to grow it out? Any opinions? I have no clue, personally - see how it goes, I guess.

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No more braces!

jacket - ted baker, button shirt - UO, belt - thrifted, trousers - San Francisco, boots - Zara

Today is a good day for two reasons. 1) my last visit to the orthodontist EVER which means no more brace/retainer! 2) I've just had an interview at a local lifestyle magazine for work experience/interning, and they've said that they would like to take me on! It's a monthly publication, and in about two weeks they are shooting the fashion spread for their November issues, and I think I am going to be working on it-they're going to contact me soon. I am so thrilled that they have agreed to let me come and work at their company for a bit: I really NEED magazine/editorial work experience if I am to do anything fashion-journalismy in the future, and so this is definitely a huge step in the right direction.

In other news, I am still having camera issues, but I am getting there (hence one blurry picture, one not). I have already decided that a good camera is number-one-top-priority for me to spend my money on - even more than clothes!

Also - I urge you all to go and see Jane Eyre with Mia Wasikowska and the glorious Michael Fassbender. Although I think maybe more could have been done by the director Cary Fukunaga about keeping up the tension and general drama of the piece, it is superbly acted, with a brilliant screenplay from Moira Buffini, and the cinematography of the film is simply exquisite. It's as if every frame is a painting. Plus, you have to look out for a scene-stealing Judi Dench, who bustles around with a sort of lace napkin on her head.

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Fuzzy camera

jacket - all saints, daisy dress - reading festival, shoes - UO

Hi all, apologies for the lack of posting, but I have been trying to figure a way to take a credible outfit photo that I won't be ashamed to upload. I've finally alighted on a scheme which involved me sticking my camera to my brother's music stand with a bit of bluetack - if anyone has any better methods (I'm sure they do!) please say! I could do with some advice. Also, I took these this evening in rapidly fading light, hence the fuzzy, awful quality. Will do better next time.

bangle - vintage

I bought this dress at Reading Festival 2010, with my last £20 (I sacrificed supper for it) and it has become my failsafe outfit if I am ever too tired/hurried to decide on what to wear. Like this morning, for instance: I went to a farewell-before-uni breakfast with my friends at the local cafe and woke up FIVE MINUTES before I had to be out the house. oops. So flung on my dress and ran.

I saw possibly the worst/best film today - William and Kate: The Movie - about the origins of the happy couple. It was absolutely dire, and therefore possibly one of the best movies I have ever seen because it was so hilarious. It deserves a watch, simply to check out Kate's awful collection of hats, or laugh at how woefully weedy lovely Prince Harry is.

Other things I have done recently: WORKED a lot and I can now make the best ever cappucino, went to Wagamamas with the gals from my drama group (recommend Cha Han which comes with miso soup-yum), housesitted some Labradors and decided that dogs aren't actually that bad, wrote my personal statement (!), went to London to visit the new mall in the City/attend a Shakespeare workshop, read the whole of Caitlin Moran's 'How To Be A Woman' - brilliant book! 

Oh and I've applied to volunteer at the BFI Film Festival in October, and filled out an application form for the Montpellier language course in November. Hopefully both of those will work out, and ta dah! my gap year will be sorted up until December - phew!

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