Friday Film Round Up

Hoping to make this a thing..

This week I've watched:

Aliens - pretty freakin awesome. Loved brilliant Ripley - a feminist icon - and the scary Aliens.

The English Patient - sometimes you just have to watch a melodramatic war-time drama on a November Sunday. In parts, cringing melodrama - but in a big, weird way I like the colonial references and how it's set in the desert*.  *although it has nothing on Casablanca.

Don Jon - I probably assigned this film way too much hype as I've been waiting for months to see it. Sure, I liked it, I guess overall it tells us that sex in porn films isn't real, (I read in newspapers that some teenagers don't know this - because of .... the internet). Yes, recommended - the acting is brill and it's quite amusing in parts.

Snail Nails

Check out my Matisse 'The Snail' inspired nails which I got done at the Tate Britain re-opening party last night by Wah Nails. YES, I got my nails painted at a swanky party.

I do too much washing up to have my nails fussy for long - just one chip and it all has to come off - hoping these might at least last for the rest of the day..

SKATE

I went to a super-duper party on Wednesday night - the opening of Skate at Somerset House. It was beautiful and they had a brass band, Christmas trees, lots of fake snow and ice skating.

They served mulled wine and hot chocolate in paper cups and a really delicious ox cheek stew type-o-thing. Champagne was on tap and lots of people wore fake (and probably some real) fur and loads of make-up - Narnia meets apres ski.

We were also given a beautiful pair of Coach gloves upon leaving - they're leather and lined with cashmere - they make my new TKmaxx gloves which I was proud of last week pale in comparison.

The Holiday

Great news! I won a weekend stay at a holiday cottage in Oxjam Peckham Raffle! Very pleased and excited.

The cottage kind of airs on the shabbier side of 'shabby chic', but what the hey - in the right light it might look like Kate Winslet's cottage in 'The Holiday...' I've also been imagining the whole thing will be like a real life Toast catalogue.

I've started thinking about some non-essential kind of packing:

- wine (for drinking and mulling) and gin.
- scented candles (I get the feeling this place will have a funny smell, and I've always wanted the perfect excuse to spend a lot on a Diptyque candle..)

Is it really so ridiculous to spend £60 on these? Erm - yes..

- slippers and or good socks (although these are essential)

Watch out for that jam.. not sure what all that stuff is doing on the floor...

Halloween Costume Ideas

I've been thinking about my Halloween costume and I'm strongly leaning towards Frida Kahlo - probably the most celebrated female artist in history, she is the emblem of Mexican culture and stood up for women everywhere by being a revolutionary and  rocking a uni-brow!

How will I do it?
By wearing some flowers in my hair, a big necklace and facial hair. I might scary it up by going as ghost of Frida Kahlo - I will see how it all turns out.

Other ideas

Scary:
Carrie (as in: Stephen King, not SATC)

Rosemary (from Rosemary's Baby)

Freaky face-guy from Boadwalk Empire (Richard Harrow)

Wicker Man participant

Non-scary:
Edith Head (found out about her thanks to Google Doodle yesterday)

Julia Child (any excuse to dress up like Julia Child)

JOINT COSTUME ALERT - Julia Child and Paul Child

My Halloween Horror Fest

I always like to get into the macabre spirit of this time of year - along with staring at pumpkins and thinking about my Halloween costume I like watching iconic horror movies.

Here are the films on my list to see in the run up to Halloween:
Suspiria (Italian horror movie with the tagline: 'the only thing scarier than the last 12 minutes of Suspiria are the first 94'.
The Thing (because I haven't seen enough John Carpenter films).
The Shining (because: Stephen King)
Nosferatu the Vampyre (this list wouldn't be complete without a vampire movie)
An American Werewolf in London (equally, what is Halloween without a monster movie)?

The iconic ones I love and want to watch again (and again):

Rosemary's Baby - watched this one after reading the book (which made for one of those rare occasions when the book and film supplement each other, rather than compete). The book supplies the nuanced details which can't be included in the film, and the film provides a nice visual reference - like the 'Bramford' (the actual Dakota building in New York) and  THAT ICONIC HAIRCUT.

Halloween - First of the slasher movies, legendary creepy music. Moral message: abstain from teenage sex.

Carrie - A great one of Stephen King's - really sad though. 'They're all gunna laugh at you'


Physco - Doesn't everyone occasionally think of that scene when they're.. in the shower?

Spooky Brilliant London

Eerie looking  London - they just don't take pictures like this anymore!
London is still perfect at this time of year. Check out this pics taken 100 years ago on glass..

When Harry Met Sally

It's hard to pin-point exactly what makes this film so great.. but here are 10 reasons:

1. Knitwear - so much chunky knitwear.
2. The funny voices in the Eygptian wing at the Met - 'I would be proud to partake in your pecan pie'.
3. Sally's fashion sense - so cool without ever trying to be cool. So much menswear (ala Annie Hall).
4. Sally's penguins. My Auntie Sally has an impressive penguin collection in her bedroom because of Sally's penguins.
5. NEW YORK.
6. The phrase 'high maintenance' came from this film.
7. Casablanca.
8. 'You were the only person I knew in New York'.
9. New Years Eve
10. It had to be you
10.a Deli sandwiches - pastrami on rye with pickles on the side. *

*wrapped in tin foil.

Cooking in your Pyjamas

Things I like to do on these dreary evenings (so much for Spring)...

Number 1. cook dinner in my pjs.

1. Nigella's in eggs purgatory. Spicy, tomato-y eggs...

2. Sausage cassoulet

3. Bubble and Squeak, with a fried egg and good quality tommy K.

4. Purple sprouting broccoli with cashews and baked salmon 

5. Gu puddings (any of them)

6. Pizza, with goats cheese, honey and rocket, and figs for good measure. 

New Bedroom Ideas..

My bedroom in my parents house is changing and I am downsizing rooms.

I have de-cluttered and thrown away some of the tonnes of useless things I'd been hoarding over the years. I have already selected the wallpaper, blue and yellow floral, and envision a pretty, light, and sparse room for relaxing in when I visit my parents.

Here are some ideas:

My House

I live in a 19th century coach house.

 

My new collecting habit: matching pyjama sets.

Wearing matching PJs is highly under-rated, but it is something which I have found VERY enjoyable over the past few months. I stopped wearing matching PJ sets after my old landlord stopped by one day a few years back when I was wearing a Bridget Jones style set and laughed at me. I stopped wearing them then and there... until now.

Thanks to lovely Zooey Deschanel, Taylor Swift and various fashion designers - 'cool PJs' is no longer an oxymoron. I highly recommend it, going to bed looking chic is a great boost for morale, and looks DARN CUTE.

Check out the Elle team wearing PJs to work for Red Nose day - sure wish my office had agreed to this!