Now Playing: Inception

I have a new favourite director: Christopher Nolan. Wait, scratch that. He's not really a new director… I just hadn't realised how much I liked ALL his movies before. And there haven't been that many, either. Sure, I fell in love with him for taking the Batman franchise back to its dark psycho roots, but remember Memento? Yeah, he's awesome.

So when I heard he was all Batman'ed out and that he really wanted to make something else, I secretly prayed to any goddess who would listen that they gave him whatever he wanted, as long as he finished with the caped crusader. And they did. I picture the conversation going something like this:

WB: When can we begin filming the third Batman, Chris?
CN: Well, guys, I need a break from Batman. I'm not really feeling it right now.
WB: *panic* what? How can we make you feel it? money, hookers, drugs? Whatever you want, you got it!
CN: Uh, well, I'm actually thinking of this other movie--
WB: Sure! Here's a blank cheque! Cast whoever you want! Shoot whatever you want! Just make sure you come back for a third Batman!
CN: Ummm, okay…

aaaand, enter Inception.

This. Movie. Is. Awesome. No, seriously. I watch a lot of nonsense in the theatre, especially during the summer season. But this. This is good. Great. Epic. Remember how Matrix fucked with your mind and left you salivating and a little thunderstruck in your seat? yeah… like that. I loved it. Leonardo Dicaprio, who continues to impress me, is a great lead with Dom Cobb. He's flanked by equally great Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Cillian Murphy. Then there's the inimitable Marion Cotillard. Is there an actress out there that can embody gentleness, terror and pity in such quick succession with such conviction? Damn. She's amazing. (I also love that Nolan chose to use Edith Piaf so prominently in the film… clever).

The special effects are pretty amazing too. I love how they play with chemistry, physics, and the concept of time in ways that literally blew my mind without degenerating into something cheesy or convoluted. I could follow the "maze" that is the plot of this movie without getting unneccessarily lost. Oh, and the plot? It was one of the most original things I've seen on screen in a long time. Seriously, in a theatre full of sequels and reboots and bad 80's TV shows, it was refreshing to watch a movie that wasn't familiar at all. In any way.

Loved it. Will watch again. Will buy Blu-Ray. You should watch it too. 5 out of 5 stars.

Now Playing: Despicable Me

I normally don't do animated films, but Despicable Me really caught my attention. I love my villians, so when I was Steve Carell was going to play one, I thought "done!"

So, the story is about Gru, an aging super-villain who is being upstaged by someone younger (less talent, more connections) and who decides to use three orphan girls to get a jump on the nerd. The three orphans are pretty cute, but not in a saccharine way - they're funny and witty, sometimes naughty, sometimes scared, ... you know, like real little girls. My favourite moment? The theme park (this version is edited, so it's even better in the movie)!

I'm sure you're going to be able to figure out how it all ends, but who cares? This one is great. Go see it, especially if you have little ones you can enjoy it with. 4 out of 5 stars.

birthday blog

How does one celebrate a milestone? Especially one like the big 3-0? Who evens knows? I decided to lead up the day with not one, not two but three vacations (NFLD, Yukon, Stratford) plus a party on the weekend. It seems like I had covered off all the obvious things, so I left the actual day - today- for myself.
1) A leisurely lie-in, complete with historical romance.
2) A few fun errands, framing my long awaited posters.
3) Spent lunch defeating evil (I told people they couldn't win on my birthday)
4) Bought a new computer (Timmy is to be reincarnated as my mother's computer),
5) Lobster dinner and a sparkler with dessert.
...Good Day.

I feel like I should have something profound to say right about now - but really, I don't. I also feel like I should be more depressed or something - and really, I'm not. In fact, I'm kinda happy. If my thirties are nearly as good as my twenties, I'm going to be a-okay. Emphasis on the A.

love me do

I had an interesting conversation with a cousin of mine over the weekend regarding love.

Some context: I'm about to turn thirty, am single and actually pretty happy about it. I have lots of friends, of both genders, who are happy/single, happy/taken, unhappy/single (though quickly diminishing) and unhappy/taken. I know very little about love, having experienced it in only small quantities. I do know about lust, passion and jealousy however.

With this sparse knowledge, I began listening to the tale of Ali, who's been dating someone for seven months, who's already exchanged the big L and who actually thinks she's being smothered by her too-attentive mate. At seven months? You already feel smothered? I say it's over. The first blush of romance has faded. Then, she tells me the saddest thing I've ever heard: "relationships aren't really about love; they're about 'used-to-it'ness". Every last mushy feeling in me gasps in horror. So, I share with her what I think a relationship is really based on (as if I'm some expert).

She's right, a relationship isn't based on love. It's based on:

1) Respect: out of that respect, comes all the vows that are important (truthfulness, faithfulness, acceptance and forgiveness). This is why you have to give him space to breathe and tinker and read and play (with or without you); he does the same for you.

2) Passion: often confused with lust, passion is the desire to truly be with someone. It doesn't mean that you are with them 24/7 (because you should have lives outside each other) and it's more than missing them when they're not around. I think the true marker of passion is when you're having a really good time (say, drinking vodka shots at the Arctic Circle at midnight) and you think "I wish he could share this with me" - that's passion.

3) Lust: also very important. If he doesn't make your insides a little wobbly - especially when he's all dressed up and wearing that amazing cologne - he's just your friend.

4) Humour: he's got to keep you entertained, whether it's because he knows which movies to rent or what kind of game you want to play or when you just want to drink a pina colada on a patio. A sure sign that he has your attention? You've closed down the restaurant. He has to be able to make you laugh - right out of a bad mood, if necessary - or what are you going to do when you're old and feeble?

Truly, love is a childish ideal that Hallmark doesn't let us forget; it's something that made our teenage hearts melt but that doesn't really exist. There is no perfect man (or woman) and certainly no perfect relationships. Every successful relationship to which I've been exposed has one thing in common: work. Which brings me to:

5) Determination: when the road gets bumpy (and it will get bumpy), you have to have the determination to ride it out and fix the potholes. Divorce is not an option; leaving is not an option. When you are determined to work at something, the chances for success grow exponentially. Hope, faith and charity will get you started but it's old-fashioned elbow grease that will get you through. I see too many people walk away over the smallest of things.

If you experience all these qualities, then you're in Love my friend. The kind of Love that doesn't fade, but glows. The kind of Love other people can see when you both walk into a room and can feel even when you're not on the same continent. It's a good Love, a kind Love, an accepting Love. None of this RomCom bullshit. It's Love with a capital L. And I'll just bet that more than a few of us have walked away from it because it was just easier to do so.

Oh, and Ali? I give them two months. Why? See above.

Now Playing: The Last Airbender

We actually went to watch Jonah Hex (not because it's a good movie, but because of its Batman tie-in); that movie's theatre-run matches its running time. So, what to do at 0930 at the movies? We saw The Last Airbender instead.

I was... sceptical, to say the least. I mean, we all remember Shyamalan's last offering and just how un-good it was. So, when I heard he was being given the Avatar franchise (to which I had little to no exposure), I was both anxious and excited. I had also read that there was racial rewriting of the characters, making the film have more white characters than it was originally conveyed. Hmm. An Indian-American guy getting accused of whitewashing - interesting.

I liked the movie. I was expecting much less, but the story was well- set up, I'm looking forward to the second instalment and the child actors all held their own. Noah Ringer looked a hella lot like the character he portrays, (is he white? I don't know, he looked mixed to me... but does it really matter if he can act the part?); more importantly, the boy is a black-belt, so he sold it. The cast is rounded out with Nicola Peltz, Dev Patel, Aasif Mandvi and Shaun Toub. That seems like a lot of minority to me, but whatevs.

You know, I actually think this was one of the most diverse casts I've seen in a long time, with no horrible stereotyping either. I saw plenty of Inuit Peoples in the Southern Water City and lots of Eastern Asians in the Earth People and the Fire clan is very heavily Indian-influenced (though, not everyone is actually Indian). In fact, aside from the obvious "Caucasity" of Peltz and Rathbone, the other major characters are either a definite non-Caucasian or beige at best. People need to stop being so exacting and putting such a fine point of racial casting -perhaps when we stop looking at race and start just casting, I think we'll have made a great leap forward.

4 out of 5 stars.

Now Playing: The A-Team

I really resisted watching The A-Team. I mean, I wanted to, since as a child I had thought it self-evident that this Team was named after me. But the reviews were so very bad. Anyway, it was a slow Wednesday night and I thought "what the hell" so we went and watched.

Really? it wasn't that bad. Given the premise of the original show and the fact that Mr. T was not in it, I wasn't expecting a whole hella lot, but there was definitely enough. Good casting all-round. A decent enough story. Humour, action, a cheesy love story? Check check check. What else could really ask for?

Anyway, it was decent. There may have been some obviousness in the "twist," but hey, it's the A-Team, not Shyamalan. A definite rental, especially if you watched the TV show when it was actually on. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

true north

The thing is, being all allergic and having full-full days (of driving and/or being outdoors, which for me is exhausting), I didn't really write in my trusty journal at all! it's sad, but true. So this summary shall be brought to you by my memory alone, which, as we all know, is spotty at best. Thank the Goddess for pictures.

Day One: arrive in beautiful sunny Whitehorse around 1pm (PST) and start the trip with a warning from the ground crew to not stop on the tarmac (don't they understand about the pictures?!). Rent car (Sangria red!) and turn it on. I don't know what I was expecting from the radio but it certainly was not MIMS. Yeah, that soon became the catchphrase. Check into hostel, where we'll spend two nights as well as our last night in the Yukon. Have lunch at the Klondike Rib & Salmon, where we ingest the MOST DELICIOUS BURGER EVER! Seriously. Musk-ox in that spicy chipotle sauce they got going... god damn it. We talk about that thing for the rest of trip. But time was catching up and fast - we had been up since 5am EST and I began feeling like a walking zombie. Pub for Yukon Gold potato skins. Body cannot reconcile its sleepiness with the bright bright sun. 11pm, with the sun still shining, we head to bed.