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The much-awaited trailer for the second film in the Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire, was revealed at the MTV Movie Awards last night… and based on what we can see, I think we’ll have another fashion inspiration in the works!
Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) wear some spectacular outfits and I can’t wait to see them in full! (Of course, I was a big fan of the book – once I got around to reading it – so I’m looking forward to seeing the film for other reasons too!)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is due to be released on 21 November in Australia and 22 November in the US and UK.
I know I’m a bit late to the party here but I’ve just discovered The Lizzie Bennet Diaries – and I’m already a huge fan! (Seriously, I’ve spent every spare moment over the past few days catching up!)
So what am I talking about? The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a modern interpretation of Pride and Prejudice (which you may have guessed from the title) where Lizzie (Ashley Clements) is a grad student with a video diary. The plot is faithful to Austen’s novel without being completely predicable (for example, Kitty Bennet is actually Lydia’s cat in this version) so even though we know basically what’s going to happen, it all feels fresh and new.
At first, I wondered how it would be possible to modernise a novel so centred around marriage and societal constructs, but it was soon obvious that the Lizzie Bennet team has their act together – proposals are replaced with job offers (though love is still flirting away in the background) and a lot of the cultural observations from the original story are still surprisingly relevant today. I was particularly curious to see how the Lydia scandal would be brought into the 21st century – and let me say that something suitably shocking is currently unfolding!
The cast have great chemistry and the videos are great fun to watch. You really get to know the characters and they feel like real, modern people with real, modern problems. Half the time, I forget I’ve already read the book!
The series will be wrapping up shortly so make sure you catch up before it does – I’ve posted the first video below to get you started!
With the official Gangnam Style YouTube clip hitting 1 billion views just an hour or so ago, it seems a great time to discuss the best songs of the year.
Of course, the K-Pop hit has to be up there, along with Carly Rae Jepson’s Call Me Maybe. For me, Fun.’s We Are Young reminds me of my great summer holiday with friends and, living in Europe, I’ve come to appreciate club mixes more than I care to appreciate.
Check out a spectacular mash-up of the year’s hottest songs below and then let me know – what’s your song of the year?
I love film but with everything that’s been going on this year, I must admit I’ve watched less than I normally would. As a result, I will be even less offended than usual if you choose to disagree with my nominations! So without any further ado…
Biggest disappointment: I was seriously disappointed by The Amazing Spider-Man. Emma Stone is one of my favourite actresses, and Andrew Garfield has so much potential, but the script was weak and it really looked like the poor cousin of the Spider-Man trilogy. And don’t even get me started on Prometheus…
Surprising success: Who knew that a film about older people going to India could be so enjoyable? The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was one of my surprise favourite films of the year. I also liked Seeking A Friend for the End of the World, which was surprisingly uplifting despite what was inevitably coming at the end.
Still waiting: The downside of living in Switzerland is that I’m still waiting for a ridiculous number of films to arrive on the big screen. I’m most impatient to see Les Miserables, The Impossible, Zero Dark Thirty, Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook, The Perks of Being A Wallflower and The Life of Pi.
Runner Up: While I didn’t review it here (because it had already been out everywhere for months before I saw it), Looper was spectacular – it had a smart storyline that was different from the norm, a great cast and a great twist at the end.
Best Film of 2012: I know this will be a controversial call (bear in mind that all the big award-nominated films aren’t out here yet) but I’m going to give the top honour to Skyfall. I just thought it was a brilliant piece of cinematography and a real step in the right direction for the Bond franchise. Feel free to disagree in the comments!
It’s time to get festive! It’s less than two weeks until Christmas and as I type, the snow is falling outside my window in big, fluffy flakes. If your weather is a little less conducive to a festive mood, the below clip ought to get you feeling merry and bright quick smart!
Jimmy Fallon grabbed The Roots, Mariah Carey, a few school kids and some toy instruments to put together a rousing, back-stage rendition of “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. It’s so much fun that you can help but feel happy!
2012 has been a huge year (hands up if you also started a new job and went back to school!) and from next week, I’ll be wrapping it up with The Dernier Cri’s traditional “best of” series. Make sure you check it out!
PS Don’t forget to read our gift guide – we’ve got suggestions for everybody on your nice (or naughty) list!
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