It has been a rather busy week, hence the very minimal amount of writing on the blog. Work has been going quite well, and it is an immeasurable comfort having employment once again. There were some.....challenging moments, and especially with being sick but I got through it and am now able to enjoy the weekend. Today I changed the oil and oil filter in my car, cleaned the rear brakes, and changed the air filter. Aside from burning myself ever so slightly and giving myself a very long scratch when removing the oil filter (of which oil got all over my hands, rather nasty business) it went well, and my car engine should be very happy. All of the maintenance was well overdue. I did some baking and made some rather delicious cranberry bread which I cannot wait to taste after it cools down a little bit more. It's great to get back into baking; I don't know why I find it so relaxing, but, I do. The world still stands surprisingly enough. I feel like that is one cat I've beat to death enough, so I shall leave it at that until there is something actually to chat about. I just finished watching Anna Karenina which was a good film. I'm giving it an "Admirable Ability." Jude Law as Karenin, was quite lovely, and of course Keira Knightley as Anna Karenina was astounding. A good surprise was Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Vronsky; he and Keira Knightley had such excellent chemistry on screen it was profound. Mathew McFayden also had a small but significant role as Oblonsky (don't ask me to explain who he is or purpose; it was a little confusing on that end). There were also quite a few other cameos, and other well talented actors and actresses that popped up like Alicia Vikander, Emily Watson, and Domhnall Gleeson (Brendan Gleeson's son, who was also Bill Weasley in Harry Potter). It was an excellent cast, and also had an excellent director Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement) which was based on Leo Tolstoy's monstrosity of a novel which is over 1500 pages. I intend on reading it somehow, because the story is compelling as are the characters, it's just really, really long. I also now have a new profound interest in Imperial Russia, and the aristocracy as well. It's a shame the Red Revolution annihilated everyone in that strata; Stalin and communism sent that country so far backwards, especially politically and philosophically. The story is about a woman who has a torrid love affair with a beguiling young man, and then all of the difficulties that therefore ensue because she is married, and life in Russian high society is dictated by a stringent set of rules. At times the film dragged, and oftentimes didn't make sense. How they transitioned within the film was quite unique; as if the film were a play and all of the different sets were actually sets on a stage, which are then moved around depending on the scene. That was very fascinating but also a little confusing. The music by Dario Marianelli was to die for; that is the one thing that I will carry away from this film for a long time. Definitely a fantastic score that film score enthusiasts should own. He really should have won that Oscar for Best Original Score but that's alright. he'll get it next time. The costume design by Jacqueline Durran was beautiful and breathtaking; everyone was gorgeous. There is nothing like watching a romantic drama, that has beautiful people dressed beautifully, with dramatically, and beautifully stirring music. Did I like this film, yes. Is it for everyone, absolutely not. This isn't an action film; pure romantic drama with some character development, so if you're not into that, then don't watch this because you will pull your hair out. I wouldn't want to watch this all of the time, but it was good, and I do recommend it, but keep in mind that the story is a bit of tragedy. Well, here comes another new week as we inch closer and closer into Spring, although with the weather as cold as it has been lately, one would never know.Anna Karenina trailer
Costume Documentary for Anna Karenina
Elysium Trailer (looked good, and then it looked predictable and therefore boring. Who knows, but Jodie Foster looks great.)
