Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts

Small and Happy's 10 reasons I LOVE Moulin Rouge!

That's right. I can think of 10 reasons and I'm sure you could have too if you'd given it as much thought as me, but then again this is my all time favourite movie so perhaps you don't think about this musical gem as much as I do. 

This list was inspired after 'Come what may' popped up on my iPod and it got me thinking 'God Ewan McGregor is amazing, in fact...this song is amazing...this whole movie is just amazing, I wonder how many reasons for just how great this movie is I could come up with...'

And voila, an deep insight into my blog writing on y va!

1. It's a musical. This in my book makes any movie infinitely better than your average film. Except Mean Girls, that golden nugget is just perfect as it is.

2. It's set in Paris. Now the city of lights may not set mes pantalons on fire with excitement like it does for 99% of the female population (save the part which houses Disneyland) however even I know that a pretty cool location makes this movie have that certain je ne sais quoi.

3. The Sound of Music reference. Sure, it's tiny bit in the film and if you don't remember it then you clearly have watched this movie less than five times, that's not okay so go bump up that number please. But yes, two musicals in one? Sounds great to me! 

4. It's got Kylie! I don't want to stereotype but could this movie have any more gay friendly elements?! The Parisian chic, drama and now a pop princess dressed as a fairy?! This is the film that just keeps on giving.

5. It has the ULTIMATE mash up. Like for real, the Elephant Love Medley so expertly combines so many songs that it makes every mash up Glee ever did look like child's play. And that hard for me to say because I have a special (and very secret) place in my heart for their 'It's my life' mash up with Usher's Confessions. Another example of musical genius right there.

6. Jim Broadbent. If him running around singing Like a Virgin with a white sheet flapping around on his head doesn't make you laugh then I don't really know what your deal is.

7. The fact that a lot of it takes place in an elephant. That's just exotic and cool and a whole host of other adjectives.

8. Ewan McGregor. His face, his voice, his eyes. His innocent beauty and love for Christine makes me tear up every time. Why is he not more of a thing still? Those sky, broadband adverts whatever he did recently just have not fulfilled the Ewan shaped hole in my life.

9. Come What May-a beautiful duet and one of my all time 'ill just sing along to this at the top of my lungs even though I can't carry a tune and try and sing both parts at the same time because I think I'm so talented' tracks. You know the ones I mean my friends.

10. Finally, it is an ultimate star crossed lovers story offering up such pearls of wisdom like 'the greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return', the slightly more somber 'jealously will drive you mad' idea and the just plain silly myth that men will recite poetry they've written just for you when they're trying to woo you. Firstly, they just want the clothes off and secondly, this isn't bohemian Paris mes amis so any concept of wooing is exactly where the waiting theatrical eavesdroppers (another little reference!) are...right out the (elephant shaped) door. 

So there you go...some slightly mad but most I legitimate reasons as to why I just love this film so much. It has everything I could want and I definitely think I'll be popping it in the DVD player once I'm back from this travelling malarkey! 

What's your favourite film? Have you ever written a post about it? Is there someone out there who loves this film like I do?! Tell me please so we can be friends! 


PS- that last part sounded desperate I know. I need you to know I actually do have a lot of friends, like too many to make time to see (#popularproblems....more like #busyteacherproblems) but I don't have a fellow Moulin Rouge obsessive in my life so if you're one of them, make your extremely discerning self known to me! 

Small and 10 happy things! #9

A bit of a crazy week which has ended with a lot of hospital visits so it's all been a bit unexpected! Everyone's fine it's just my boyfriend has a severe eye infection which is needing 24 hour, on the hour care. Despite a worrying week on that front I have managed to have some highlights (always looking for silver lining!) so here are my ten happy things from the last seven days!

1. Boyfriend doing a mini shop on Monday for all my supermarket essentials despite being so poorly! This is even more amazing now knowing he's been admitted to hospital since. What a kind soul.

2. My tutoring sessions going really well on Monday. Started the week off nicely!

3. Getting picked up from school on Friday by my grandma (feeling like a kid again!)

4. An amazing and inspiring course. On Thursday I went on a teaching behaviour course and it was so fantastic. The speaker was incredible and it was so invigorating and interesting! Plus it was at Man City's stadium so that's another Manchester sight ticked off! 

5. Being back at home in Sheffield with my mum and sister this weekend. This was already planned and with boyfriend in hospital it was great that I wasn't in the house by myself!

6. Having a buffet lunch with my family for my Dad and grandma's birthdays. My grandma put on an amazing spread (as she always does) and we all had a wonderful catch up with some quality time. She and M&S make one hell of a team!

7. Going out for a birthday meal that same evening for one of my best friend's birthdays. It was so nice to catch up with everyone and it was lovely to have some good food and conversation with some of my nearest and dearest. They have all offered so much love and support during this time too which has made me feel so lucky.

8. Mother's Day celebrations. Mum, sister and I all went to the cinema together. We saw Focus and thoroughly enjoyed it. Even the scenes where Will Smith had a shirt on... ;)

9. Watching The Inbetweeners movie while doing some weekend work. Does this movie get anyone really in the mood for summer? 

10. Getting a wonderful, surprise gift from my Dad. He, out of the blue, got my sister and I a gorgeous package from Champneys spa (aka our favourite place on Earth) full of products and an official teddy bear! I can confirm the bear has been christened Clarissa (she is fancy after all) and she is extremely soft and has settled in perfectly with the rest of my cuddlies. Yes, I know I am old. #noregrets

So how's your week been? What's made you smile? This week has really shown me to appreciate every small little thing so let's hear some of your little surprising gems! 

Lots of love,

Sophia x

Small and happy's TOP 10 girly movies!















Sophia x

Small, happy and going Into The Woods.

Well, another day and another cinema trip so it may seem! Twice in one week!  I don't think this has ever happened before..  First up was the incredible and brilliant sob fest that was The Theory of Everything (check out my review here) and yesterday I popped to my local vue to see Disney's Into the Woods.

Now before I dive in, I literally mean 'popped in', I can't stress how near my cinema is when I say it is local.  Literally five minutes away.  I've never lived so close to one before and I feel like I'm really going to start going more.  I always say this because I love films and I don't think anything offers such escapism as going to the cinema (apart from books maybe but even then you can get disturbed!) but now given that I can get there quicker than it takes my kettle to boil I have no excuse!

So, the movie.  Well firstly, Disney distributing it was a massive misleader for the average cinema goer.  I knew going in what to expect but there were many, many little girls in princess dresses in there with us and I bet they (and their parents) were not expecting a 2 and a half hour long dark musical about how happily ever after doesn't always turn out the way you hoped!  The poor children.  

However, as an adult who knows that life isn't always rosy I could appreciate the movie for what it was: an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's dark musical following the interlocking stories of some of our favourite fairy tale characters including Cinderella, the Baker and his wife (a wonderful James Corden, the baker not the wife, obvs), Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk.  All familiar characters yes, but the stories?  Not so much..

The songs are great on the whole, if you're into that I'm singing what I'm saying type of thing, (think Rent) and all the cast all had fantastic voices.  I suppose it helps that the songs were precorded unlike the raw, live vocals used in the recent adaptation of Les Mis. It's also enchanting, funny and unpredictable, which is certainly a nice surprise when dealing with fairytales!  However, having said that, the second act did go on a bit longer than it needed to, I think 40 minutes easily could have been cut and it wouldn't have harmed the film at all.  I suppose that's the difference when you see a musical on stage, they never feel long!  To me anyway, although I guess maybe I've been lucky to only see ones I have enjoyed.

You can't deny the film is filled with stars, Meryl Streep, Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt, James Corden (the list goes on!) and while there were so many great people in this film that was part of its problem for me.  There were certain storylines I wanted more of like Johnny Depp as the Wolf who was barely used which was a shame (I believe most people would agree with me there!) Despite this, it was wonderful to see so much of Meryl (a goddess among us) and James Corden had a much larger part than I anticipated so that was a lovely surprise.

Overall, if you like musicals and fairytales and are looking for something dark and gothic and different I would definitely recommend seeing this.  If this type of movie is not your thing usually don't go expecting to be converted to all singing all dancing way of life.  This is not the musical to do that.  However, if you're fan of the genre already, go on!  Head Into the Woods, I'd love to hear what you think of it!

Hmm, I wonder what movie next...American Sniper perhaps?  Anyone seen that?  What have you seen at the cinema recently?  Anything to recommend?

Sophia x

Small, happy and The Theory of Everything.

So yesterday I made the (rather out there!) decison of going out on a school night! Somewhere other than the gym! I know. This teacher's wild.

Boy and I had been desperate to see The  Theory of Everything since we saw the trailer way back in November. So coupling this with the devastating discovery that orange Wednesdays are soon to be no more (and the cinema becomes as affordable as going to the Maldives...not really obvs, but it's still too much!) we decided to push the boat out and carve out some cinema time mid week!

I won't go into telling you the story because we all know by now it's the biopic of the great Stephen Hawking's life and love of his wife Jane. Being a massive fan of Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones going into this my hopes were high!

I guess the first thing I should say about the film is that I cried my eyes from about 15 minutes in and carried on progressively until I was well on the way walking home. I was a wreck. That may have been to do with the fact that I'm over tired and there's work stress going on what with looming inspections however it was mostly due to the perfection of this film, I am sure.

It was heartbreaking, inspiring, real, romantic, endearing, funny, hopeful and thought provoking. I honestly don't know what else I can say but if you can think of a positive adjective, you can without doubt apply it to this film. 

The acting as well was superb. Eddie Redmayne WAS Stephen Hawking, the mannerisms, the movements, the way he carries himself. It was so real the way he portrayed both the man and the disease, stunning. I haven't seen all of the other films with the best actor nominees for the Oscars but you'd be hard pressed to beat this performance.

But I want to talk about Felicity Jones, who took on the role of Stephen's loving and caring (in all senses the word!) wife. Their marriage is so realistic and shows true love in its purest form, but also doesn't why away struggle and the hardship you can only imagine is ever present when dealing with a situation where one of you is a carer.

It made me feel full of pride in the human spirit to watch Stephen defy odd after odd and keep achieving such magnificent milestones, personal and professional. And just so proud that we have these people in the world. Not just the extrovert, genius, forward thinkers but also the selfless, caring and strong beyond their means, people. The ones who take a back seat in some respects but who are dedicated, committed and souls to be revered in their own right.

It is definitely a must see, magnificent from start to finish, an important watch and an absolute award winner in very sense of the word! 

I am proud to be British because of this film. 

So how about you? Have you seen this yet? If you have please tell me you sobbed too! If you haven't seen this wonderful piece of cinema yet, are you planning to? 

If your answer is no to that final question then this post's been a bit of a fail so that's my bad...

Hope you're all good, it's Friday tomorrow! And also, hello lovely new followers, great to see you, say hi!

Sophia x

Small and happy because of the HARRY POTTER TAG!

Saw this on and I just had had had to do it!  Time to talk about the man who has been with me throughout my childhood and adolescence and now well into my adult years.  Not my boyfriend, someone I've loved and known even longer than him.  The one and only HP and his magical world. we go!

1. What is your favourite book?

This could be very accurately ascertained by looking at all my very tatty copies of the books and seeing which one has had the most wear and tear.  From this scale (and the sheer amount of sellotape surrounding the spine) it is very clear that Goblet of Fire is the clear favourite.  There was so much to love and get excited about in it: the devilish Rita Skeeter, the Triwizard tournament, Cedric Diggory, the Yule ball and all the hormonal drama that brought, the whole House Elf debacle, Voldemort coming back I could go on!  Basically, this book was jam packed full of drama and that's why I love it so much.

2. What is your least favourite film?

The Half Blood Prince, it's the only one I don't have on DVD, I can count the times I've seen it on one hand which is really saying something when it comes to me and Harry.  It's because I don't really love or care for the romantic side of the books, Ron and Hermione were cute to read and I didn't mind them in the movies but Daniel Radcliffe and his love interests (for me) had ZERO chemistry.  I found all of his scenes with Ginny in particular so so awkward to watch and there were just more of them in this film and that's why I don't watch it much.

3. What is your least favourite book?

Chamber of Secrets is the one I feel like rereading the least but I don't know why, I like the story and the movie!  I still love it anyway.

4. What is your favourite film?

Aaah, this is hard.  I remember we all had to cheer when the tour guide said the names of each movie and he mentioned our favourite and I found myself yelling quite enthusiastically along one else in the room.  Firstly, I didn't know I felt so strongly for the first one and secondly, I didn't realise no one else did!  I think The Philosopher's Stone will always hold a dear place in my heart because of the utter excitement I felt waiting for it to come out, knowing that the stories I loved were going to be on screen was just so much for little 10 year old me!  I still remember loading the trailer on quicktime on the apple website where they had all the trailers (anyone else remember that?)  I remember going with all my friends numerous times and I remember counting down the days until the VHS (wooo kicking it old school) was released.  I think it's because I attribute so many happy times to the movie that I love it so much, but even now when I rematch it as an adult I still hugely enjoy it and love it dearly.  Plus they were all so so cute back then.

5. Parts of the books/films that made you cry?

When Dumbledore died (in the books) and when it all ended, just so many feelings.

Hmm, this is hard, I'm gonna go with Oliver Wood the HOTTIE Quidditch coach, for sure. Totes teenage crush right there. Failing that, Cedric Diggory, just because.

7. Who is your favourite character?

Again, tricky, I love Hermione, she's a bit of a kick ass female role model no?  In the movies I really enjoyed Malfoy, thought Tom Felton was great.

8. Who is your least favourite character?

So not bothered about Winky the house elf, she annoyed me, sorry Dobby is enough for me!

9. What is your least favourite line?

In movies I was never really bothered about Hermione's little, 'books, cleverness, there are more important things, friendship and bravery,' speech in Philosopher's Stone but I wouldn't say it was my least favourite at all.   But my clear favourite in the movies would be 'now I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed, or worse, expelled'.  Poor Hermione and her mixed up priorities.

10. What would your patronus be?

A big panda bear.

11. If you could have the resurrection stone, invisibility cloak or elder wand which would it be?

Invisibility cloak, so I could travel the world, go anywhere for free and shoplift!  Who said that last one?!  Disgraceful...

12. Which house would you be in?

I have a thirst for knowledge like a Ravenclaw but when I do quizzes I end up in Hufflepuff (I know) so I'm not sure.  Basically I like to think of my self as a brave Gryffindor with Ravenclaw intellect, Hufflepuff kindness and Slytherin's fierceness but maybe I'm hoping for a bit too much!


Emma Watson.  I have so much respect for everything she's doing with the heforshe campaign with the UN, it's very inspiring and I'd love to pick her brain and just see what she was like in person. I just think she is truly a class act and I feel proud that is she is out there representing British women.

14. If you were on the Quidditch team, which position would it be?

I guess I'd be a seeker because I'm tiny and could whiz around looking for the snitch and no one would know about it!

15. Were you happy with the ending?

I was happy with the ending as in the last chapter, but not the epilogue.  If it had without the epilogue I would have been thrilled.  I see why JK showed us the future to avoid any continuations or speculation but still I don't think it needed to be so twee.  It's very unlikely that they would have all gotten married and I won't start on the names of the kids!  For me the Hunger Games epilogue is perfect and I would have loved something like that.  It was clear enough that we knew what was going on with the characters but nowhere near so specific.  To me HP's epilogue felt like what you think as a kid when you have a crush on a boy at school and you imagine marrying him and what you'd call your kids and they're all after people you know.  That's just me though, I still just feel a little cringey whenever I see or read it.

16. How much does Harry Potter mean to you?

Everything haha!  I'm by no means some dedicated fan writing fanfics and living on HP tumblrs but I read and and read and read the books and loved them and the characters with all of my heart.  They were my childhood, I spent months counting down for the movies and the books, I spent hours queueing and I spent days discussing them with my friends.  Some of my best memories were because of Harry Potter and I'm very, very grateful for that.

I hope you enjoyed reading this, I certainly loved writing it!  Give me a chance to talk about Harry Potter and I will wax lyrical!

How about you?  Are you as a big a fan?  Have you done this tag on your blog?

Sophia xxx

Small, happy my favourite things!

I saw this on the lovely Jennie's blog (I swear she's becoming one of my must reads) and I love making lists and I love talking about my favourite things so I thought, why not?!  Plus, having an excuse to put Julie Andrews in a post is always going to be wonderful.

Oh, by the way, if you don't know why Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music is applicable here then oh my God, please go and watch that movie and then come back here!
Done it?  Yes?  Desperate to be a nun/have seven children?  Good.. so here we go, my favourite things:

1. Products/things: My phone (I know, so bad..), my panda toy (yes, I know I am an adult), my diary, Body shop body butters.

2. Foods: Houmous, frozen yoghurt, most types of cereal, ALL fruit and veg, my Portuguese grandma's cooking.

3. Places: New York, New York and New York.  Joking aside I also love Portugal (obvious reasons) and any Disney shop, land or world!

4. Things you'd miss if you didn't have them: My boyfriend, my friends, my family, good health.  Anything else you can easily live without.

5. Things you do when you're bored: Read recipes, blogs and pinterest.

6. Things you enjoy when it's sunny: LIFE.  I come alive when it is sunny.  I can't explain how much the Sun makes me enjoy everything on another level.

7. Films: Moulin Rouge, most disney, Bring it on, Pride and Prejudice, How to lose a guy in 10 days, Crazy stupid love.

8. Songs: Aerosmith - I don't wanna miss a thing is my all time favourite, favourite song.

9. Brands: Topshop, H&M, Anthropologie.

10. Outdoor things you like: Exploring new places.

11. Events: Birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, my anniversary.

12. Cartoons: Sailor moon, Scooby Doo, most things that were on the Cartoon Network in the 90s.

13. Buildings: Empire state building (obvious, yes).

14. Anything in everyday life: People being kind to each other, seeing happy old couples, finishing a great book.

15. Traits in a person: Kindness, patience, acceptance.

16. Influences: My old dance teacher.

17. Drinks: Green tea, cosmopolitans, most vodka cocktails.

18. Experiences: Celebrating with family and friends, travelling.

19. Things to watch: Friends (just, forever), Desperate Housewives, Parenthood, Grey's Anatomy, Gilmore Girls, I'll stop listing now...

 20. Books: Harry Potter, love you, HP, forever.

If you've done anything like this on your blog, please link me, I love to read and get an insight into what makes people tick!

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