Adrian

I watched "The Normal Heart" tonight. It was really depressing, but really good. The cast was amazing and the whole production was really well done.

I was born in November of 1981, so I'm one of the first to have it be a part of my entire life. And by the time I was able to comprehend it... I feel like I should have words for this, but I don't.

Now my heart hurts.

This afternoon, I drove up to Bryn Mawr to see Much Ado About Nothing with rebecca004.

It was awesome! Everyone and everything was great! I wasn't sure about Fran Kranz (Topher from Dollhouse) because I could only see him as Topher, but he did a great job. And as eternalmusings said - "holy crap, that house!" And as nakedwesley and I were saying - it's great to *FINALLY* see Alexis Denisof a) on the big screen and b) in a leading role.

And I think that Joss reusing actors from previous shows/movies and using his own house added an air of familiarity and intimacy to the whole project that was really nice and comforting.

Now I want to see it again.

I went out with my dad and his fiancee tonight and we had a good time. We first went out for dinner and I ate too much, but it was really good. Then we went to see Silver Linings Playbook - which was really good.

I forgot to mention that I saw Rise of the Guardians on Friday. It was a better movie than I was expecting and really enjoyed it. And even if I couldn't see them, it was still nice to hear Chris Pine and Hugh Jackman's voices for an hour and a half. :-D


I hope everyone had a good Christmas yesterday. Mine was pretty low-key, which is good. There was a bit of running around with going to my mom and stepdad's in the afternoon, then back to my dad's for dinner, then over to Jean's last night for "Doctor Who" and a gift exchange with her and Melissa.


Then today Jean, Melissa, another friend of theirs, and I went to see Les Miserables. I'll admit, I've never seen the stage production. While I realize this sacrilege for someone in theatre, it's been because of a couple things - 1) as much as I enjoyed reading an adapted version of it in junior high, I didn't *love* it enough to want to see a stage production (granted, if any had ever come closer than Broadway, I might've considered it), and 2) 99% of the people I talk to about the show (Melissa and Jean excepted) are rabid fans of the show and "OMG! You must see it! skfsoidsfjosdfkjasdfjosdfijo!!!!!!" and that's put me off wanting to see it as well.

I did really enjoy the movie. I think Hugh Jackman is fantastic and a great choice for Valjean. And who knew Anne Hathaway could sing? I do think Russell Crowe did a good job as Javert and is a good singer, but considering he doesn't have theatre voice training like Hugh, it was obvious, and especially when they sang together and also during his last song (which is a huge moment for Javert). I do recommend it for everyone.

Performance #2 went well. The audience was great. There were a few little flubs, but they were in different spots from before, so it's considered a win. :-)

Jean and I saw Cloud Atlas today. It was really good. I enjoyed how the stories were all woven together and the cast and crew were phenomenal. I highly recommend it. Just remember to not drink anything before-hand because it's a three hour movie. (But so worth it!)

Just got back to eternalmusings' house. We had gone into DC this evening for dinner and to see Frankenstein - this time with Jonny Lee Miller as the Creature and Benedict Cumberbatch as Frankenstein. I think Jonny Lee Miller did a good job as the Creature, but I still prefer Benedict. Possibly/probably because I saw his version first. I really wish it was coming out on dvd, even though I know it isn't.

And now I've got the trek home and back to the real world. :-(

The library was showing The Artist tonight and my friend Kate and I went to see it. It was *amazing* and definitely deserved all the awards and nominations. They did a great job with everything.

Got back a little bit ago from going up to Bryn Mawr to see Frankenstein - this version starring Benedict Cumberbatch as The Creature and Jonny Lee Miller as Victor Frankenstein. And I'm still trying to process it. It was just *amazing*.

I met up with Creatch and Deb beforehand for dinner at Bertucci's. (The rigatonni abruzzi is very yummy!) We had a great time chatting and squeeing. Then we met up with penguingal and rebecca004 at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, where there was more chatting and squeeing while we waited for the film to start.

The show itself was just phenomenal. It was recorded during one of the performances back in 2010 at the National Theatre in London. The role of The Creature is both very physical and very verbal and Benedict was *amazing*. The story is told primarily from The Creature's point of view, though there are a couple Frankenstein scenes, to help felsh out the story a bit more (so to speak). The set design was very minimal, but still very well done.

At the end, everyone clapped. And both penguingal and I were like, "Mind. Offically. Blown." and Deb was like, "Wow."

There is a trailer on the National Theatre Live's main page and most of the Creature moments are of Benedict.

On DVD: Finding Bliss It's an interesting twist on romantic comedies. And it stars Leelee Sobieski and Matt Davis (Alaric Saltzman on "Vampire Diaries").


In the cinema: Warrior It's a family drama with mixed martial arts. It stars Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, and Nick Nolte.


I can't say enough good things about either of them. They were both amazing, awesome, full of win, [insert your own glowingly positive adjective].

And the funny thing about Warrior is that I saw a preview for it about a month or so ago on a dvd my mom and I were watching and I thought, "Hmm, that looks interesting. I'll have to rent it." Then I started seeing previes for it on TV. Regularly. (Which eternalmusings will tell you is a rare thing because some how I always manage to not see movie previews.) And it changed to, "OMG! I NEED TO SEE THAT MOVIE!!!" And I have no idea why. But I'm *so* glad I did. It was so worth it.

I really should know better than to watch a depressing movie when my horomones are all over the place.

But Helen was a good movie. (And it's the one both David Nykl and David Hewlett were in.)