Post no. 700!!!

I must admit I had forgotten all about my annual Favourite Things of the Year That Went thing until this morning, so here it is, after just mentioning that, reading through a few of my old posts, I actually remarked upon my planned move to England 15 months before it happened (see post of 15 Feb 2004), but of course no one noticed, haha!

I am also going through a short-lived Greg Proops phase. I know it's short-lived so I am not going to give him his own label (unless "The Proopster" could possibly be a label...hmm...). Anyway, to the list!

This year's list's categories are blatantly ripped off from all the three lists before it, and rightly so! Some may have been added, some may have been lost in the post (I am using Royal Mail, after all).

My Top Favourites of 2007

Coolest Villain of the year
Ralph Fiennes for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (see also the list from 2005)

Best Steve Carell Film of the year
Evan Almighty, and that wasn't very good, even.

Best Hank Azaria Film of the year
Run, Fat Boy, Run

Indie Album of the year
The Go! Team: Proof of Youth

Musical Album of the year
Original Soundtrack: Hairspray

Most Surprisingly Good Album of the year
Melanie C: This Time

Album of the year
Erasure: Light at the End of the World

Funniest New Series
The Armstrong & Miller Show, BBC (UK)

Strangest Series Cancellation of the year
The Class, Warner Bros. (US)

Most Disappointing Comedy Series of the year
The Omid Djalili Show, BBC (UK)

Favourite Comedy Series Characters of the year
The WWII RAF pilots from The Armstrong & Miller Show, BBC (UK)

Favourite Comedy Series Sketch of the year
See above.

Best End to a Series
The Vicar of Dibley, BBC (UK)

Most Anticipated Film of the year
Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World's End

British Film of the year
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Most Anticipated Game of the year
Crysis

Most Disappointing Game of the year
Assassin's Creed

Most Surprisingly Good Game of the year
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

Best PC Game of the year
Two Worlds

Best Console Game of the year
Final Fantasy XII (PS2)

Best Handheld Game of the year
Final Fantasy IV (GBA) (I only have my trusty PDA and GBA, ok?)

Best Game of the year
Two Worlds

Best World Premiere of the year
The stage version of Breaking the Waves, Oslo Nye Teater (Centraltheatret)

Best Stage Revival of the year
Arsenic and Old Lace, Oslo Nye Teater (Hovedscenen)

Best Norwegian Stage Production of the year
Fiddler on the Roof, Oslo Nye Teater (Hovedscenen)

Best Play or Musical of the year
La cage aux folles, Menier Chocolate Factory (surprised?)

Would Have Most Wanted to See
Evita just once more

Most Anticipated Book of the year/decade/century
J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Most Annoying Yet Strangely Catchy Song of the year
Timbaland: Apologize

Worst Idea of the year
My trying to get a job in sales

Best Moment of the year
29 November, when I first saw my two favourites suddenly combined: La cage aux folles and Philip Quast

Labels: anders hatlo, comedy, dennis storhøi, erasure, evita, film, gaming, geoffrey rush, greg proops, lists, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, Norway, personal, philip quast, ralph fiennes, theatre, TV, work

I am currently very much looking forward to the following:

Spider-Man 3 - dubbed "Speidermann" by me by mistake yesterday; funny only to Norwegians, I suppose.
Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End - well, Geoffrey Rush is back, so what's not to look forward to?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - the fifth film had BETTER have a lot of Snape in it!
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - the last book will be released in exactly three months from today and I should probably start thinking about taking a few days off at around that time! After all, I will be going through serious withdrawal and pain after having read it.
The final performance of Evita - it'll be my eighth visit and I am sick and tired of spending so much money on that show. If only I could actually afford it, it would not have been such a problem (duh), but as my debts seem to be growing and not decreasing with every down payment, I really should stop spending my money on...anything, really.

See why I need to have something to look forward to? Jeez, now I've depressed myself. Off to read Freakonomics.

Labels: Alan Rickman, evita, film, geoffrey rush, literature, musicals, personal, philip quast, theatre

I am currently enjoying three weeks off from work. I mean thoroughly enjoying them. I'm spending the days writing (it's National Novel Writing Month after all) and so far, even though I'm three chapters into the book, I haven't killed off any characters yet. This is a miracle to anyone who's read all my previous work. Still, that could change with subsequent rewrites...yes, another miracle to those who've read my previous work. I am going to rewrite sections of my book? But isn't that sacrilegious? Well, one has to conform to some degree--and also realise that perhaps one isn't such a big genius one can just churn out one perfect first draft after another.

Who am I kidding--of course I am that genius, just pulling your leg. ;-)

So The Sound of Music has opened to raving reviews (and they're raving in a very positive way), which is very nice. I saw one excerpt on last Friday's Children in Need and it looked like they may get it together soon. There was also an excerpt from Evita; luckily my favourite sequence from the show, because absolutely none of my favourites were present (they were probably at home, sleeping, because they're all so bloody old), so watching the excruciatingly ridiculous show for six hours paid off to a certain degree. Luckily my flatmate decided to join me this year as well, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. So we were sitting there, or rather lying there, commenting upon everything that happened on the screen. I don't know how they do it, honestly. I mean, they've been doing the charity show for 26 years (I think it is) and still haven't put together a good routine for the live transmission. And of course what they call "celebrities" are usually wannabe-celebs from so far down the wish list the hosts could as well have done all the stunts themselves. That would have been more entertaining. Or perhaps the programme is meant only for those who read the tabloids and watch the soaps? Still, some good music (the usual six bands who turn up for every UK charity event) and I finally got to see bits of both Avenue Q and Wicked, two of my favourite Broadway shows from recent years, based solely on their original recording albums.

Speaking of musicals...for a change...it has occured to me that I may have a thing for Javert (seriously, if you don't know who Javert is, there really is no point in your reading my blog). I discovered two of my favourites* when they performed as Javert, and then three of my other favourites** turn out to have played Javert at some point. So basically I should stay away from any performance or film of Les Misérables in the future, otherwise I'm sure the list will grow. :-)

We discovered a lovely Indian restaurant down the road from us last week. Very nice. Low prices. Good food. Fine atmosphere. And my flatmate was delighted to see it was possible to smoke at the table. We will most probably go back soon.

But right now I've had enough procrastination for one day, I think. I have a few characters to kill off before lunch, after all, so I'd better start writing. Need to be a good girl today, or I won't be allowed (by myself) to go to the cinema or play the newly released Neverwinter Nights 2 (woo-hoo, a whole new world for my beloved Timon Siger to play in).

*) (drum roll) Philip Quast and Michael McCarthy (shock)
**) Geoffrey Rush, Roger Allam, Tim Morgan

Labels: evita, food, gaming, geoffrey rush, holiday, Javert, Michael McCarthy, musicals, philip quast, roger allam, theatre, tim morgan, TV, writing

...or something equivalent to that. Yep, we went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean film yesterday. Swashbucklers, cutlasses, Letters of Marque, squids, dubloons, everything you expect from a great pirate film. Wait...squids?

Bill Nighy and Stellan Skarsgård did their best (which is a helluva lot, really) to make it a very enjoyable film indeed. And I was very happy to find the answer to One of the Great Mysteries (spoiler alert, so check the comments to see exactly what I mean when you have actually seen the film yourself). Looking forward to the third installment, that's for sure!

We also went to see Over the Hedge earlier this week. Great voices all around. Really liked Steve Carell as Hammy. Spot on!

Other than that, I have read a few books (well, one book and one play) and played The Sims 2: Open for Business during my days off, as well as watching a nearby paper warehouse burning down. It's on its third day today; still flames to be seen.

Current track: Nothing.

Labels: bill nighy, film, gaming, geoffrey rush, literature, theatre

I haven't gone back to the bank since that fateful day, because...well, I don't know if I have enough patience for annoying people. I shall have to soon, though.

Last Friday (a week ago) we went to see "Second from Last in the Sack Race" which the Woodhouse Players were performing in Leytonstone (just a short busride away...well, not as short as we would like it to be, perhaps, especially not when scruffy-looking people smoking something with the distinct smell of "herbs" enter and try to poison the whole wagon). It was rather good and we quite enjoyed ourselves.

Then on Sunday I discovered that my favourite TV detective nowadays uses the exact same laptop that I have. They showed it for about a second, but I have a keen eye for detail (when I feel like it, ahem) and recognised it straight away. Of course, since I can't help myself and tape every episode (yeah, so arrest me), frame by frame search helped to confirm my suspicion. And for those who wonder what the hell I'm talking about, you clearly haven't read my blog closely these past few weeks. Click here.

(Skip this following paragraph if you don't know Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, as it contains a spoiler in the form of a song title) On Wednesday we had dinner at four while watching the Liam Neeson/Geoffrey Rush film version of Les Misérables before hurrying down to the tube station. By the time we arrived we realised we'd left home much too late and took the tube only halfway before hopping onto a cab. You see, thanks to Red Ken's "Everyone's London" campaign, we'd bought tickets to see Les Mis at a reduced price. My flatmate didn't know the story well enough (even though I've run it by her several times while forcing her to listen to one of the (many) recordings I have of the musical) so that's why we watched the film first. The cabbie laughed at us when we asked if he could get us to the theatre on time. As you may know, theatres are NOT like cinemas and tend to close their doors and actually start the show on time. I know, it's preposterous, isn't it! Anyway, the cabbie was a very nice man and wouldn't stop talking (which was fine by us), but we quickly understood there was no way in hell we'd arrive on time. Luckily we're Scandinavian-looking girls and were let in anyway, fifteen minutes into the performance. I would like to apologise to the person sitting next to me as I nearly fell over her when I sat down. Well, it's been a little over a year since I last saw the musical and the cast had unfortunately changed. Not that that was a really bad thing, since I actually discovered one of the best Valjeans I've heard (no wonder, John Owen-Jones knows how to sing, having performed in numerous musicals, including an enormous amount of performances as the Phantom) as well as Enjolras (Shaun Escoffery) and was quite impressed with the Javert-of-the-day (Jeff Nicholson). I am, as you may have realised by now, quite evil and despite the fact that I thought he did a very good job, I couldn't help but grin when he didn't receive any applause when singing "Javert's Suicide". Being an avid fan of a couple of other Javerts (Quast & McCarthy) I may be biased, but they always receive(d) much applause after this song. Of course, not applauding means I was part of a lousy audience. Well, at least they got a standing ovation at the end and they're celebrating their 20th anniversary tomorrow/today (the eighth). Fantastic!

Then someone provided me with tapes of a few TV programmes from back home, and gasp! Why didn't anyone tell me the King of Standup (and I don't care who you may prefer, for me there is only one) - Eddie Izzard - had appeared on a talk show there? Good thing I got to see it, so thank you.

And why on earth - I'm sure this is out of spite, because it's just unbelievable - why did they start showing Waking the Dead again in Norway; the series I still haven't seen; just a few weeks after I moved across the pond? That's just not fair. Meanwhile, we are eagerly, nay - desperately awaiting the rest of the series to be released on DVD, but the Beeb only released the first series last month, and there are another four to go before we're up to date. This'll take years!

Now I'm cross.

Current track: Philip Quast - Stars

Labels: comedy, geoffrey rush, Javert, Michael McCarthy, musicals, personal, philip quast, theatre, trevor eve, TV

First of all, I watched The Life & Death of Peter Sellers yesterday (finally released on DVD, as I've heard about the film for two years) and I must say Geoffrey Rush did a very good job. And it was fun to see John Lithgow again, as well as the so obvious once I saw it great Nigel Havers portraying David Niven.

Then I would like to turn your attention to my newly added "Quotes" section (on the right hand menu), where you will find quite a large compilation of some of my favourite quotes. Please visit if you would like to prolong your life.

Current track: Nothing.

Labels: david niven, film, geoffrey rush, john lithgow

...don't ever forget saving your game whilst playing The Sims 2. I hadn't saved for about three or four hours yesterday (luckily I saved just as my character managed to climb to the top of the business ladder, unfortunately he got a live-in girlfriend and a little baby after that) - when my cordless mouse decided to change channels, and courteously enough told me this by minimising the window and popping up a very informative box on the desktop. I never got back to the game, looked at the watch and decided it was time for supper anyway, as it was seven o'clock and I hadn't even had breakfast yet.

In order to have some company while eating (the things you do when you live alone...), I put on a film. It was Whale Rider, which I hadn't seen yet even though I received it about a month prior to Christmas. When I'd finished that one, I went on to watching Soldier of Orange (which had a few interesting translation mistakes in the subtitles, for instance "Kriegsmarine" became "the Greek Marine" (this made absolutely no sense whatsoever, but obviously the translator never watched the film)) for the third time before ending the evening's séance with Shine, which I've been wanting to see for many months now, but just never got around to. I have of course seen it before, since Geoffrey Rush is a favourite of mine (and why shouldn't he be?) - it was as brilliant this time around as last time.

Current track: Still quiet at work.

Labels: film, gaming, geoffrey rush

Possibly one of the funniest lines ever uttered in a comedy. I first saw Robin Hood: Men in Tights in a Dutch truckstop in the summer of 1994, the sound was turned off and it had Dutch subtitles, but halfway through the film I decided this was definitely something I had to rent once I got back home. It was even better with the sound on. There were several new things I learnt about Robin Hood while watching that film. ;-) Well, it's been ten and a half years and it's still one of my favourite comedies and among those films I must have seen ten times or more. Of the three Robin Hood films that were released during the early nineties, this is the best, then comes Robin Hood (the one starring Patrick Bergin) and last and definitely least, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It is, after all, Kevin Costner, and not even a delightfully wicked Alan Rickman can really save that film. Back to the Mel Brooks version, it's got a brilliant cast (especially Cary Elwes and personal favourite Roger Rees (as the awfully camp Sheriff of Rottingham, the one with the terrible syntax problem)) and the lines are quite simply among the best ever written. It's all very silly and very Mel Brooksy. Three or more thumbs up!

The Golden Globes were announced yesterday (and I forgot all about it, since I don't have any channels anymore that would actually be bothered to transmit the whole show) - there was at least one very good choice made: Geoffrey Rush got the award for best actor in a made-for-TV drama. I've told you before and I'm telling you now as well as long into the future; he is amazingly gifted and deserves all the awards he can get his hands on. Seriously, he can make a crap movie turn into a brilliant one. There are hardly any of those actors around so I think we should pay more attention the minute one actually does appear. Typically, though, no one seems to have noticed his win over here; they listed quite a few of the winners but were all emphasising on the "well-known" (and not necessarily good) actors and series. It's all getting a bit tedious.

Speaking (as usual) about films, I went to the sneak preview of En folkefiende (Enemy of the People) tonight, and...uhmm...I'm not sure what to make of it. I guess the film was OK, and there was a lot of talent around (Jørgen Langhelle is quickly becoming a favourite of mine), but the theme was quite boring, so by the time the film finished I was surprised only ninety minutes had gone by. It wasn't half bad, though, there were moments that were very good, but the subject just wasn't very interesting and that ruined the film for me. Lovely scenery, though, very good for the tourism. Unfortunately, no one abroad would bother to distribute it. :-)

Current track: Leonard Cohen - Nightingale

Labels: Alan Rickman, award shows, comedy, film, geoffrey rush

After having overslept and missed an entire film starring Dame Julie Andrews and James Garner this morning, I tried to make up for it by watching a couple of films during the evening. I started off with The Importance of Being Earnest, a highly overdue second viewing, and then moved on to Shakespeare in Love, the latter idea brought on by spotting a framed picture I've had standing on the floor in front of my bookshelves for a couple of years now. The picture is one from the film in question, and it's autographed by some of the actors involved. Well, I've never actually believed the autographs to be genuine, I just thought it would look nice on my wall back when I bought it. However, something drove me to investigating a bit further today, and I'm starting to believe the autographs may very well be bona fide, otherwise they've made an enormous effort in forging the signature for a meager amount of money. Roaming the 'Net for photos of their autographs, I happened upon Ellen's autograph site which proved to be very interesting, as she's made a list of all the celebs she's written to, stating the dates of when she sent the letter and when she received a reply. There are also scans of the photos and autographs she has received, and my favourite was the one she got from Richard Curtis. (You should see this for a laugh!)

Now, what's the common denominator for the two films I have watched today? Actually, there are four of them: Dame Judi Dench, Rupert Everett, Colin Firth and Tom Wilkinson - speaking of whom, am I the only one who thinks he is absolutely brilliant? No matter what role he takes on, he does it so well. The same with Geoffrey Rush. I'm so in awe of those two.

And on that note, I'd better get ready for a short night's sleep before heading for the snowy landscape that is Oslo at the moment. Friday was marvellous; as I was walking home from the tube through the rather windy and snowy weather, I noticed that (possibly due to the mini blizzard) no one had used the pavement on which I was walking for at least an hour, and there was velvety snow everywhere. Quite beautiful. But snow is beautiful, until the cars rev up and spew out their toxins. Hollywood snow isn't very real, unfortunately, but on Friday they might as well have filmed Christmas with the Kranks there. Ooh, I saw the trail for that film earlier this month and was slightly embarrassed. I liked the book a lot (quite different from the other books Grisham has written), but the film looks as if it's going to be totally screwball, which I hate. Looks like I have to go back to my old impression of Tim Allen - he was superb in Galaxy Quest but I've never liked him in anything else. Oh, well. I'm not the one losing my money on that film.

Current track: Depeche Mode - Freelove (DJ Muggs Remix) (awfully out of key - erlack!)

Labels: colin firth, film, geoffrey rush, james garner, literature, tom wilkinson

It's obviously that time of year when I start publishing my Lists(TM); could be because I had a delicious supper, or just because I was getting tired of people constantly asking me which films I've got. So here is my film collection. I keep a huge database in Excel with loads more info than this, but I decided on just listing the titles here. I have kept my four categories, though: Normal, where most of my films are kept - these films are not among my favourites, but they were good enough for me to keep in my collection; Classic - older films (often in black and white), also not my absolute favourites; Must-see - newer films that I adore; Champ - classic films that I absolutely love.

Having browsed my newly updated list, I discovered that my Top Ten list of actors appearing in most films (in my collection, that is) is as follows:

William Hurt - 24 films
Alan Rickman - 18
Dustin Hoffman - 18
Geoffrey Rush - 18
John Cleese - 17
David Niven - 16
John Lithgow - 16
Sir Alec Guinness - 16
James Garner - 15
Michael Palin - 14

Further investigations left me with these additions - these are the ones that appear in ten or more films within my collection:

Christopher Walken - 12 films
Kenneth Branagh - 12
Alfred Molina - 11
Kevin Kline - 11
Bruce Willis - 10 (What? Must be the Die Hard films.)
Eric Idle - 10

The first actress appearing on the list is right beneath Eric Idle with her nine films; Emma Thompson. We need more parts for women in the film industry!

Current track: D12 - How Come

Labels: Alan Rickman, alec guinness, alfred molina, david niven, dustin hoffman, film, geoffrey rush, james garner, john lithgow, kevin kline, lists, michael palin, william hurt

I agree with this film critic in that Geoffrey Rush seems to be doing his well-known Javert routine when appearing in Ned Kelly. But what a wonderful reprise, especially since Rush's Javert is so...uhmm...brilliant.

This is just typical Hollywood: At last, the region 1 release of Brides of Christ is here, but look at the front cover of that one - it says "Brenda Fricker, Naomi Watts and Russell Crowe". You twats! Russell "I'm so aware of my incredible sexiness that I sometimes make people gag" Crowe is only appearing in one of the six episodes! The protagonists are played by Josephine Byrnes, Lisa Hensley, Sandy Gore, Brenda Fricker, Naomi Watts, Kym Wilson and Pat Bishop. And no, Mr. Crowe is not dressed as a ship's commander at any point during that episode, nor is he dressed as a gladiator. I know they're doing this to sell more copies, I'm not stupid, it's just very, very annoying that they do that at all. It's like the rest of us, who know a few more actors by name than just the top-billed Hollywood ones, don't count. Well, get this: You wouldn't have sold half the copies you're selling without any really good actors and their devoted fans. We may appear to be just a few, but there's a whole army of us out there and we've got money.

/rant

Yay! Speaking of supporting actors that could very well be given a chance at the helm of a film at any time soon, please, Chris Cooper is being honoured at the San Francisco Film Festival next month, alongside Milos Forman. The only question is; did this come as a result of Cooper's recent awards, or did they actually manage to conjure up this great idea by themselves?

Snippet from The Australian - "In fact, so cramped are the facilities at the theatre in inner-city Belvoir Street that David Wenham and Richard Roxburgh have been forced to use toothbrushes to rehearse a sword fight from Hamlet" - about the Australian Company B theatre.

Current track: Nothing

Labels: film, geoffrey rush, Javert, theatre, TV

When I first saw this, I didn't like it very much. I think it was the fact that Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes were in it. However, I'm warming up to them. Now, of course, I love the film, not only because it's very good, but because there are so many actors in it that I admire. I have to mention Tom Wilkinson in particular. Mostly because he's a fantastic actor, but also because he's been overlooked for so long. Much like Jim Broadbent, really. Among those not having been overlooked that are appearing in Shakespeare in Love, there's Colin Firth (you should see him in Relative Values and Hope Springs), Rupert Everett (not credited, though), Simon Callow ("everyone" remembers him from Four Weddings and a Funeral), Dame Judi Dench and of course Geoffrey Rush (who's got a strangely accurate way of telling which roles are great - even if the film is mediocre he's always stunning - and no, I thought this about him before my casual interest in him developed into full-blown fandom). And last, but not least, followers of Britcom would do well to notice Imelda Staunton, Simon Day, Mark Williams, Steve O'Donnell and Martin Clunes appearing in this film.

For some reason I've got this framed, signed photo from the film that I don't quite know where to put. It's currently sitting on the floor in front of one of my bookcases, silly thing.

Current track: The score from Shakespeare in Love

Labels: colin firth, film, geoffrey rush, tom wilkinson

I find myself thinking "I wonder what they're doing on stage at Oslo Nye Teater right now." The silly thing is, I think I've pinpointed the right scene. Somebody arrest me and put me away till July. :-)

Have you seen Ned Kelly? I bought it last year because Geoffrey Rush was in it (for about half a minute, I might add.) The film turned out to be quite all right, especially if you're into beards (which I'm not, not particularly anyway, although some people look good with a goatee. Ahem.)

Current track: Morcheeba - Sao Paolo

Labels: film, geoffrey rush, musicals, theatre

Congrats to Harvie Krumpet (go Geoffrey!) for best animated short film!

About the five-second delay in the US; what's with the censorship? What happened to the freedom of speech and all that? Apparently we get to see the show five seconds before the Americans do, so a couple of thumbs up for that. ;-)

Also a couple of thumbs up for Billy Crystal apologising to Dame Julie Andrews before "wrecking" My Favourite Things from The Sound of Music.

Current track: Annie Lennox - Into the West (they're presenting the nominated songs)

Labels: award shows, film, geoffrey rush, humour