The Big Screen...

So i am utterly terrible at going to the cinema, normally its due to the overpriced tickets, however now its due to... well communication issues. Luckily most of the English films are shown in Korea and most of them are shown in English with Korean subtitles however trying to find a cinema, get there in time and managing to catch a showing that hasn't been dubbed is something i just don't enter into... however there was this one time, in Busan, I managed to watch Sherlock Holmes and it pretty excellent. I have instead become somewhat addicted to downloads... and although I have only managed to get just one visit to the cinema thus far, i can offer review of the following

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus: Good, didn't realise quite how much Lily Cole was in it, and wished they had used Johnny a wee bit more than Colin... Heath was pretty immense and it is worth a viewing...

An Education: Well what with the Oscar, Bafta malarkey over Carey Mulligan, it had to be done eventually - I was kind of surprised I enjoyed it, yet thought the whole concept was minorly ridiculous, I mean come on would you let your sixteen your old daughter date a guy who looked like he was in his thirties??

Cracks: I read something about it and having been wanting to see it for a while. Rather overly weird in places, but good... Eva Green is pretty impressive, her decline is intriguing...

Whip It: Drew's directorial debut, also starring the fabulous Ellen Paige. A film about roller derby that is pretty darn wicked.

Up: Watched on the plane to Tokyo... so not technically a download but still - The Old man is adorable, the boyscout is the cutest thing ever, but seriously the thing with dogs is just one step too weird.

Crazyheart: I watched it because I love and adore Maggie, I also liked this film... in the same way I liked Walk the Line - I watched it, didn't think I would like it, didn't love it - but there was something.

The Time Traveller's Wife: Read the book, had to watch the film... it was good preferred the book...

The Lovely Bones: Read the book and was utterly intrigued about how they would have managed to make a film, without destroying it, it was beautiful and I cried - several times - I would even dare to use the word 'haunting'...

My Sister's Keeper: My mum has an obsession with Jodie Picoult, so I watched it for her. I watched it when I was feeling depressed and homesick which was a really bad move on my part. Even if I had just one of the lottery and married Johnny Depp then I would still have bawled my way through this...

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: I was very late in the game on this way, my attempt to catch up on Oscar nominations from last year BEFORE this years was done and dusted. I mainly watched it for Brad, but it was genuinely good, It is now being shown constantly on Korean TV and I have seen it around four times...

Revolutionary Road: What would have happened if Leo hadn't died on the Titanic. Kind of predictable, depressing and the ending could have been toned down a little.

Changeling: I liked it, Ange rocked. Didn't know what was coming, genuinely intrigued by the whole thing... would watch it again, luckily it is also know being killed by Korean television, so i have been able to watch it again

Couples Retreat: Totally rubbishly hilarious.

The Hangover: Surprisingly good, I HAVE to go to Vegas. The dentist just rocks!

New Moon: Not as good as Twilight. I am so Team Edward.

Julie & Julia: Love, love, loved. As soon as I get back to England I am buying the book and I am totally in angst over the fact I don't have an oven in Korea. Amy Adams rocks. She is also good in 'Sunshine Cleaning', which I watched in Leicester Square during a rainy ISIS shift...

The Yes Man: Love the book, the film is good, but it's just SO American...

Avatar: Good, but lets be honest, Its Ferngully for 2010. Ferngully will always be my favourite...

The September Issue: OBSESSED. Shortly after watching it I managed to purchase an amazing Anna Tshirt in Ilsan... I would quite like a Grace one too match..

Fantastic Mr Fox: I'll be honest, not as good as I'd hoped.... The animation is beautiful but, its just a bit... draggy

Four Christmases: I downloaded it and watched it for Christmas. Funny, but only really at Christmas.

Adventureland: Its got Kristen Stewart and Ryan Reynolds in it. Really really good, the Soundtrack is amazing... I shall probably invest in the DVD

He's just not that into you: I read the book in the summer, it came free with UK Glamour, it was essentially drivel but Ginnifer Goodwin is really good... and I liked ScarJo's apartment. I was going to watch this one on the plane, but went for Confessions of a Shopaholic instead. I chose bad.

Marley and Me: Kind of cute, but also kind of annoying. I just felt sorry for Jennifer Anniston. That says alot considering how much I love Angelina.

Where the Wild Things Are: Good, I cried, beautifully made, and just kind of beautiful. Watch It.

Those are just a select few, They're have been more and there will be more to come... I like watching films, I like writing but when it comes to film reviews, as you can see I am rather useless...

I know I am in Korea but...

Right now I am sick with some kind of flu like disease and bored and would really like to go to Vietnam. I am trying to figure out if and when in my schedule I could fit it in, without causing too much damage... for instance would it be possible to fly home via Vietnam having just discovered my PGCE starts on September 13th, a week earlier than I thought. Hmmm

cyril

'a south london mouse'. see blog links to the right.....

creative output

www.dailywordsabc.blogspot.com

Korean drugs advice?

Should I trust drugs that are for 'Snivels and nasal congestion'...

What's Sick?

I am. I am on the verge of death -

my head feels like its currently hosting some kind of elephant dancing competition

my throat feels like it has a samurai sword down it,

I have lost all sense of smell, and therefore taste. My Korean colleagues were very impressed when I ate some uber spicey dokboki at work... i was hoping it would clear my sinuses... it didn't.

My body feels like its been crushed by a brigade of tanks on exercise.

I blame, entirely my Wonder 7-1 students, formerly Wonder 6-1 who were the reason for my past near death experience. The reason being is they are all currently diseased with evil Korean germs and have the inability to cover the mouths when coughing or sneezing, or dispose of used tissues, that is when they choose a tissue over their sleeve. I love them but right now they are KILLING ME!

Reading list

I recommend all of this books. Particularly The Snow geese by William Fiennes and Ten Story Love Song by Richard Milward.

Both these texts are total opposites. The Snow Geese being the story of a man who crosses america tracking snow geese, it is just beautiful. Ten Story Love song is based in a block of council flats in the North and follows the stories of the residents in particular an artist who makes it big....

Miscellany of my life

Converse low tops - Converse, these are standard Korean footwear

Tortoiseshell sunglasses - Street stall

Print dress - Ilsan

I heart Tokyo Tshirt - Tokyo

Bizarre fluro Jesus soaps - Gift from Student

Japanese emperor fluoro coaster set - Tokyo

Matrioshka Doll - Incheon

Matrioshka snowglobe - formerly part of the bar decor at Oi Bar in Hongdae. I bought it off them on NYE after too many cockatails.

Hat - Aland 3rd floor vintage market

Pink bag - Aland - I first saw this at 2 in the morning in Hongdae but didn't possess the ability to buy, it I found it five months later when sober...

Choco Instamax

Orange M&M's - Tokyo

Miffy tape - Alpha stationary

Photo - Shauna Browne

Star Fruits Drago Fruits Nivea lipsalve - Family mart - I have three tubes because I always loose it

Hello Kitty contact lense case - because I had too

Scarf - H&M Seoul

Notepad - stolen from Old Rock in Ilsan - normally used for song requests. The owner looks like a hybrid of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. He's about fifty.

My little sister runs faster than me.

My sister is somewhat the polar opposite of me, in the sense that she dedicates her life to running and is pretty good at it. She is on scholarship at University of Florida, in the USA, having sacked of England 3 years ago. I, hate running but hey ho. This weekend she won the NCAA's, the USA National Collegiate Championship, at some track in Arkansas. And when she crossed that finish line she didn't look sweaty at all...

Heavy Traffic

A few weeks I was walking home from work when I was slowed down as around 40 armed tanks came down the road I was attempting to cross. The noise sounded like gunfire, the tanks had armed soldiers on them. Some of the soldiers saw me taking photos and they started waving, their hands, not their guns.