Discovering London

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Although I’ve been to London many times, I recently went for the first time to Canary Wharf and to see the Olympic site (as well as a small but mesmerizing trip to the British Library – just next door to Kings Cross St. Pancras – it’s absolutely astounding and I wish I’d had more time to relax and enjoy the books but the day was busy enough without getting too stuck into some beautiful literature classics (maybe I’ll save that for another time!)).

 

 

After a short ride on the tube and DLR – the impressive, driverless train – we arrived at the heart of Canary Wharf.

 I must say, the place amazed me – built around the 1980s, it inspires a futuristic type feeling as though I’ve been transported 40 years into the future as the endless glass skyscrapers towered enormously above us – it was a stark contrast to the Victorian architecture I’m so used to in London which probably made the whole place look even more extraordinary.

 A quick look around the beautiful Jubilee Place shopping centre and into the stunning Jubilee Park – velvet green carpets of grass amidst natural-looking rock water features – even some ducks to top it off in the middle of this marvellous metropolis – it felt like a mini city all on its own – forget the rest of London!

 

Cool street art too.

Finally we went to Stratford and to the beautiful Olympic Park.

 Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get tickets to see the games themselves and until now had not really seen the site but I must say it didn’t disappoint – talk about impressive! The park itself is stunning and surprisingly quirky:

 

 Furthermore, just outside Stratford station is Westfield shopping centre – it's HUGE! I love it – especially with so many of my favourite shops that are so rare to find in other places.

 Overall, a fantastic day out and it was great to see the perhaps more modern side of London although for me I still think it will never truly replace the heritage it is so famous for.

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Perfect Panini

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What better way to enjoy a relaxing holiday afternoon than with a delicious, fresh lunch? Here’s one of my all-time favourite sandwiches...but of course it’s much more than just a “sandwich” – it’s a Panini.

This beautiful delicacy (despite how fabulous it tastes) is really easy and quick to make:

 Just cut a few red tomatoes and fresh mozzarella into slices (around 3-4 slices of each per Panini).

Then cover with a gorgeous layer of salty Parma ham and drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil. Season to your liking and add beautiful flecks of green basil to enhance these fantastic Italian flavours.

You can either munch away as it is (which is my personal preference as I simply can’t wait any longer to dive in) or you can pop it in the oven for about 3 minutes or so – just enough to allow the mozzarella to melt and infuse its flavours with the Parma ham and tomatoes (this also helps if the tomatoes need using and have perhaps gone a little soft) then you’re ready to indulge in this fantastic treat....ah bellissimo.....

This delicious lunch, is not only great as a small self-indulgent treat but is also great to serve with friends. Either serve as it is or add small bowls of olives and plates of Italian salad (alternate slices of tomatoes and mozzarella (often laid out in a circle) with a sprinkling of basil).

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Jaw-Dropping Divergent

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 Film review of ‘Divergent’

SPOILER ALERT!

– based on Veronica Roth’s worldwide bestselling novel, this thrilling movie of love, war and breaking away from the constraints of a twisted society in a distant, post-apocalyptic future is fantastic and a definite must see!

WOW! After reading Veronica Roth’s fantastic first novel in the Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant series I was blown away by the originality in the becomingly popular sci-fi/fantasy teen genre. And I must say that the film certainly did her proud. Director Neil Burger produces a fantastic film sticking extremely close to the highly acclaimed novel about a distant future where the population is divided into “factions” depending on each person’s aptitude for certain personality traits: Selflessness (Abnegation), Intelligence (Erudite), Bravery (Dauntless) Honesty (Candour) and Kindness (Amity). No expense has been spared it seems when it comes to fantastic special effects as you experience the numerous serum-induced “simulations” that test (in often brutal ways) our heroine, Tris (Shailene Woodley). We watch (often on the edge of seats) her struggles to fit into her new world of bravery which is made that much harder when she discovers a life-threatening secret – she has an aptitude for more than one faction, i.e: she’s divergent..... dun dun dur!

As if this profound news isn’t enough, she’s suddenly thrust into the dangerous world of her new faction and the confusion of love interest, Four (Theo James). What is great about this sub-plot love story is that the conflict is finally not centred in a love triangle but more focused on whether the often cold dauntless leader has actually fallen for our infallible heroine or whether he is trying to discover her life-endangering, scandalous secret.

Furthermore, the setting that’s created is absolutely fantastic – it may not be all that much to look at on screen but as far as staying true to the book goes, the film feels like it’s been plucked out of my own imagination.

But I must say that I couldn’t help but feel a tad concerned when seeing the trailer and movie posters, not that the film didn’t look epic, but I was sadly prejudiced against Shailene Woodley (I hadn’t known of her before seeing Divergent) who plays Tris. As the lead part in one of my favourite trilogies, I felt she had a lot to live up to and excuse me for saying this but I felt she may have been just another “pretty face” (after seeing Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Transformers: Dark of the Moon and her pathetic attempt at “acting”) I was worried the film had perhaps made a similar mistake here as in the books, Tris only refers to herself as quite plain (of what I can remember). Obviously I knew she’d be more attractive than “plain/ordinary” but to see Shailene Woodley, I did have my doubts. But I’m happy to say I’ll eat my words - hats off to Woodley, she performed fantastically and not only blew away my preconceptions (which I’m feeling very guilty about now), she blew the whole cinema away in her professionally outstanding performance...I feel another Jenifer Lawrence in the making.

Another thing I must add is that I was pleased the film wasn’t afraid to be quite brutal in some scenes – there was no feeling that they tried to protect younger audiences too much which I’m thrilled about as it shows the producers were more focused on delivering a true representation of the novel, rather than a family-friendly money making machine (thank goodness). There was no shortage of often cold bursts of violence yet I’m pleased this didn’t consume the film that is more about breaking away from conformity.

Finally, I’d also like to say how thrilled I was by Kate Winslet’s performance. Yet again a perfect portrayal but this time of the control-maniac, Jeanine Mathews, as she two-facedly turns into the unlikely villain of this story. I can’t wait to see her subtly twisted performance in the sequel (bit worried about how wrong that may sound but I can’t help it when her performance was so brilliant and truly reflective of Roth’s creation).

Overall: 4 stars.
 
A thrillingly epic, well made film but not quite enough for me to recommend to everyone but if you’re a fan of The Mortal Instruments series or The Hunger Games, I can’t recommend highly enough. Stays honestly true to Roth's novel and with great performances from the whole cast, I highly anticipate its sequel!

 

Pictures: http://www.cineworld.co.uk/assets/media/films/7081_poster_iphone.jpg + Own editing on Paint

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A Long Way Down?

 

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Film review of ‘A Long Way Down’

SPOILER ALERT!

Based on the novel by Nick Hornby four people dissuade one another’s suicide attempts on New Year’s Eve from London’s tallest tower block.

More like a long way to the credits! Pierce Brosnan and co-star Toni Collette’s new film ‘A Long Way Down’ was a sore shocker and bitter disappointment. From each point of view this desperately trying to be bitter-sweet ‘comedy’ has totally lost the plot – much like its characters! Jess (Imogen Poots)  – the daughter of a politician with ‘invisible’-sister trouble is entirely thoughtless as she starts off the film based on Nick Hornby’s 2005 Novel by uncaringly approaching delicate subjects such as mental illness, cancer, drug addiction and sex abuse with about as much compassion as a school bully. I can’t say I’ve read Hornby’s book but I hope he handled these issues better than this – the film made the issues seem flippant and forgetful. Her character unfortunately barely diluted Breaking Bad star, Aaron Paul’s offensive JJ. Little do we know about his real reasons for suicide apart from of course his failed dreams of a 'grunge' band which audiences only discover after his bogus brain cancer ploy – how heart warming! Furthermore, the whole movie felt distinctly unrealistic which was a complete disappointment after high expectations from ‘About a Boy’ –  this should have only come out on DVD or better yet some random sky channel at 2am, not a film supposedly fit for cinemas with a fee of £7.90! (Cineworld)

 One point that must be made however, is the film must somewhat be congratulated on finally pulling together a half-decent, minor, touching storyline of Maureen’s (Toni Collette)  cerebral palsy sick son – a true wave of sympathy washed over the cinema’s audience I’m sure as we glimpsed a look into how hard carer’s lives are and their unrelenting generosity and kindness. Although I’m not too sure what real-life carers would think of this section of the plot – was it truly touching or unrealistic and insensitive like the rest of the film?

On the other hand, we still don’t know why she (or the others for that matter) were up on the roof in the first place – was JJ in fact just delivering pizzas (another pathetic attempt at ‘comedy’) as he sure didn’t have brain cancer? Maureen said she just felt ‘helpless’ – about what? (after finding out it’s not her son!) and Jess – was it your sister or just media pressure and a desperate cry for attention? At least with Martin (Brosnan’s character) it was obvious yet still not enough to pull the heart strings as he indelicately tries to defend his raping of a 15 year old girl (thinking of the Savile cases, this is a poorly picked film...at anytime, let alone now!) through sympathy calls of divorce, being fired and being alone and humiliated – these things can happen to other people without the stimulus of such a disgusting crime and they don’t come to this selfish character’s conclusion...but then we’re supposed to feel sorry for him – I can see now why they’ve branded this as a comedy – the plot’s a total joke!

You never know, I may be totally missing the point here in the fact that someone who is that desperate may never feel ‘ok’ to tell anyone about the real reasons that drive them to their decision. Maybe that was the point of this ludicrous film although from the trailer I feel exuberantly mislead if this is the case. Forget promises of a heart-warming tale of four strangers who help and support each other and know this bizarre and jumbled up film is hardly worth any credit at all. With my only question being: Why did these brilliant actors and actresses sign onto the unnerving project in the first place?

Overall: one star.

A disappointment at best but thank God for at least one vaguely touching storyline despite the unrealistic nature of this bizarre film.

Pictures: http://www.cineworld.co.uk/assets/media/films/7069_poster_iphone.jpg + Own editing on Paint

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