Jennifer Lawrence!

Okay, so lately everyone has been talking about Jennifer Lawrence, calling her "The New Girl".
I personally am happy for her, she really seems cool.
So I thought I'd dedicate a short blog-entry to her. =)
Jennifer Lawrence (or J. Lawr for short) grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. She acted in church plays and at 14 decided to pursue acting and persuaded her parents to get her a New York talent agent.
After little roles on TV Shows such as Company Town, Monk and Cold Case, she finally landed a starring role on The Bill Engvall show, playing the family counselor Bill Pearson's daughter Lauren Pearson. She won a Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Performers in a TV Series before the show was cancelled in 2009.                          

Her first starring role in a movie was as Kim Basinger's daughter, who finds out about her affair with another man in The Burning Plain for which she won a Marcello Mastroianni Award.                                    

Her other roles include Agnes in The Poker House, Tiff in Garden Party and Young Zoe in The Devil you Know, before she finally landed her breakthrough role as Ree Dolly in Winter's Bone.
The movie earned her an Academy Award Nomination as well as winning several others.
In the movie she portrays a 17 year old girl who lives in rural Ozarks, caring for her mentally-ill mother and younger siblings, when she finds out their property up as a bond for court appearance.
 
In Winter's Bone                                                                        At the Academy Awards


This year we'll see her in upcoming film The Beaver co-starring Mell Gibson and Jodie Foster, a movie filmed in 2009 but postponed until 2011 due to the controversy surrounding Mel Gibson.
Also she'll be in Like Crazy and will play Mystique in the X-Men prequel X-Men: First Class, as well as having recently been cast in the highly sought after role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, beating out fellow Oscar nominee Hailee Seinfeld, Abigail Breslin and Sairose Ronan.
 
As Mystique                                         Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games


Jennifer stated that she has never taken acting classes and relies on instinct when acting. She currently resides in Santa Monica, California and I personally think she has a great career ahead of her.

What do you think? Are you as inspired as I am of the up and coming actress?
Comment below!
Have a nice day!

Elle

I'm Back!

Hi guys,
Sorry I wasn't around for a while, shortly after my last post I went to Hong Kong and Australia for Ski-holidays (yes, in Switzerland you get a 2 week holiday to ski) and after that I had to work.
So now I'm back!
Anyway, today I thought I'd blog about mirrors. I know not my normal blogging style but who cares?
I got the idea while doing my math homework, the problem was to construct the mirror-image of the geometrical form and where the mirror would be if its mirrored figure were in a certain place, etc. And it got me thinking, what would life be without mirrors? I mean, we all take mirrors for granted really, usually what one wonders is: What would life be like without friends or family or technology; but  never really mirrors. Would we even know how we looked like without them? Sure, we could see ourselves in the reflection of glass or a pool of water, but never really all too clear.
I remembered an episode of "Charmed" I had once watched in which mirrors were labeled as portals for demons to cross into our world. Apparently if you were to summon a demon you'd have to do it through a mirror.  I remember being terrified and never looking into a mirror at night!
Also, my sister told me once that there's a myth that when the clock chimes midnight and one turns 13 times around oneself and calls Bloody Mary's name 3 times she appears in the mirror.
Or the rhyme: "On Halloween look in the glass, your future husbands face will pass."
I don't really believe in any of this stuff anymore, but I still would like to know why they all involve a mirror...
Ideas?


Change of subject:
Movies I'd really like to see:
1. Limitless
-->  About a writer who gets some pills from a friend which allows  him to use his whole brain instead of the average. And that attracts some hitmen and Robert De Niro for some reason...
Reasons I wanna' watch this: - Robert De Niro!
                                               - Hitmen!
                                               - Pills!





2. No Country for Old Men
--> About a guy who finds $2 Million in the desert where a drug deal went wrong. He is then chased by an unemotional killer, also some Sheriff is trying to convince him to give the money to the police...
Reason: I know it's old but I've never seen it and I like Javier Bardem, also it's supposed to be pretty badass!



3. Black Swan
--> About a ballet dancer who finally lands the dream-role of the swan princess in a production of Swan Lake. She is a perfect portrayal of the white swan (perfect, can do no wrong) but not of the black one. Mila Kunis however is. This makes her go crazy or so... (and I know, I'm like the last person on earth not to have watched this)
Reasons: - Natalie Portmann won an Oscar for this
               - Mila Kunis!
               - Mental Instability!
            


4. Source Code
--> About a dude who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.
Reasons: - Jake Gyllenhaal <3
               - A race against the clock!
               - Action sequences!



5. Sucker Punch
--> About a girl who's locked up amongst others in a mental hospital. They all imagine a way to get out in a fantasy world or so... (I'm not sure about that part but that's what I gather from the trailer...)
Reasons: - More mental instability!
               - Action Sequences!
               - Quests!
Here's the trailer, if you gather more from it then I did please let me know!





Anyways, I wanted to somehow tie this in with something about mirrors, but I can't really think of anything, so if you've got any ideas let me know!


Elle


P.S.: Notice I was totally right regarding the Oscars!
I guessed correctly in every category!
Did you guys think they were all deserved? I think it's about time they gave one to Colin Firth and I love Natalie Portman and of course Batman so I was ok with it. Also didn't you think the X-Rated acceptance speech from Melissa Leo was hilarious?!
Thoughts?

Oscars 2011!

Yay! It's that time of year again! The Academy Awards are just around the corner!

I'm pretty excited! I love the Oscars! They're so fun to predict and finally the nominees have been released!

But I was surprised to find how many snubs as well as surprises there were this year!

So, I think I'll start in the "Best Picture" category. The nominees are:

The Black Swan

 

The Fighter 

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

The King's Speech

127 Hours

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winters Bone

There aren't any surprises here, all the movies were very high Oscar contenders. Though I don't really have an opinion, since I've only seen Inception and The Kids Are All Right, (In my defense 127 Hours comes out here in two weeks The Black Swan came out last week and The Fighter is coming out in a week and I don't even know when True Grit and The Kings Speech are coming out) but from what I've heard my bet is, it's gonna' be The King's Speech. With 12 nominations it seems to be the most promising in the bunch, also it's a war movie which seems to fly well with the academy (The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, Avatar etc...). Otherwise I think The Social Network has a good chance, though I was surprised to find it was only nominated in 8 categories even though I thought it might reach 12 like The King's Speech. Personally I'd like Inception to win, since I think it should have received more than just 8 nominations.

In the Best Actor category following nominees have been announced:

Jeff Bridges in True Grit

Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network

Colin Firth in The King's Speech

James Franco in 127 Hours

Javier Bardem in Biutiful

Okay, so James Franco, Colin Firth, Jesse Eisenberg and Jeff Bridges were sort of predictable, but Javier Bardem?! Who saw that coming? I actually think it's pretty cool that he was nominated and would really like him to win, even though I think this one's probably going to Colin Firth. That is, him or James Franco. I don't think they'll give Jeff Bridges a second one in a row and I personally feel annoyed by Jesse Eisenberg so, my bet's on those three. I have a question though, why didn't Leonardo DiCaprio get nominated for Shutter Island? Why does the academy hate him? It's almost impossible to be such an awesome actor, get nominated three or four times and not win! I was really disappointed after reading the list of Best Actor nominees and not finding him on there!

Another major category is the one for Best Actress, the nominees are:

Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right

Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole

Natalie Portman in The Black Swan

Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone

Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine

The actresses in this category are less predictable, except for Natalie Portman in The Black Swan, she probably will even win the oscar. Although I want either Jennifer Lawrence or Michelle Williams to win. I haven't seen Blue Valentine, but Michelle Williams is a very good actress and therefore I trust in the fact that she has what it takes. As for Annette Bening and Nicole Kidman there has been less hype about them than the others, therefore I think they have a lesser chance. On the other hand I watched The Kids Are All Right and Annette Bening was very convincing as a lesbian, so it's really anyone's game.

Moving on. Next is the Best Supporting Actor's category, the nominees are:

Christian Bale in The Fighter

John Hawkes in Winter's Bone

Jeremy Renner in The Town

Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right

Geoffrey Rush in The Kings Speech

This category has the most surprises in my opinion. Aside from Christian Bale and Geoffrey Rush, who both gave exceptional performances, I wouldn't have thought any other of these actors would have been nominated. Because of the great praise and Golden Globe Christian Bale got for his believable drug addict performance in The Fighter I think he'll take home the gold, though I'd really like it to be Jeremy Renner, since he was practically robbed last year or Geoffrey Rush, because he's pretty cool. Otherwise Mark Ruffalo also acted very well in The Kids Are All Right , as for John Hawkes, I had never heard of him before this nomination and haven't watched Winters Bone, so I can't really judge...

Now to the Best Supporting Actresses:
Amy Adams in The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter in The King's Speech

Melissa Leo in The Fighter

Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom

Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit

And more shockers, with the nominations of Hailee Steinfeld (who I'm so jealous of) and Jacki Weaver. Although it's been said that it's really only between Melissa Leo and Amy Adams I beg to differ, I think all of the contenders have a fair chance, though it'd be cool if Hailee Steinfeld, being only 14 or Jacki Weaver, being totally new to the academy, winning. Otherwise I love Helena Bonham Carter, so I'd like her to win too. So when it comes to the Supporting Actresses of this year, I'm neutral.

Now for the last category I'm blogging about: the Best Animated Picture Category.
(I know, most people would have chosen the Best Director category, but it amounts to the same thing as Best Picture)
Anyways, here are the contenders:
Toy Story 3

The Illusionist

How to train your Dragon

The reason I'm blogging about this category is because we all know Toy Story 3 has this one in the bag, but I'd really like The Illusionist to win. Even though it's the Secret of Kells of this year, it's very amusing and nicely made. Therefore I would just like to express my sadness towards that fact.

On a more brighter note, I've started a poll about whom you think should win. Please vote!
Regards,
Elle

Sick Day #3 @ home

Hi,
Still sick...
Feeling better though...
So, this morning, after I woke up and read my book for a while, my parents informed they were going to take a walk. So, because I felt very weak and my book's almost done, I decided to watch one of the five movies in my aforementioned post: Land of the Lost.
Land of the Lost revolves around Dr. Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell), who studies time warps and is an outcast in the science world. The movie starts on the "Today Show with Matt Lauer", where Rick and Matt have a dispute. 3 years later Dr.Rick teaches science at an elementary school. It is there that Holly Cantrell (Anna Friel) finds him and asks him to make the tachyon amplifier which he presented to the kids at the school. At first he refuses, until she shows him a fossil with an imprint of a cigarette lighter that he recognizes as his own, along with a crystal she wears around her neck that gives off strong tachyon energy. He later makes the tachyon amplifier and they go off on a routine expedition to the place where Holly had found the fossil and crystal. The place is a run down "theme park" of some sort and in order to get into the cave,  they have to take a ride through it with it's quirky owner Will (Danny McBride) . In the ride Rick turns on the tachyon amplifier  which catapults them sideways through time in space, to a place where past, present and future meet, a.k.a "the Land of the Lost".
This movie is funny - mostly because I watched it with my mom, who bursts out laughing each time Will Ferrell shows up on screen - but also because of Danny McBride, that guy's hilarious! One of my favorite scenes is when Chaka gives them those fruits, which make them high!
The only thing I thought was stupid, was Holly and Dr.Marshall getting together. She's like 20 and he' 45 or 46 or so! That's just wrong...
Wait a second...
My brother was just randomly chosen amongst 200 others to choose the blogs from the categories:
- Best African Weblog
- Best-Designed Weblog
- Best Fashion or Beauty Weblog
- Best Group or Community Weblog
- Most Humorous Weblog
- Lifetime Achievement
- Best Parenting Weblog
- Best Weblog about Politics
- Best Topical Weblog
- Best Writing of a Weblog
Yay!
I guess I'll help him choose...
This is so exciting!
I'm gonna' read through all of these!
Gotta' go!
Elle
P.S.: The only reason I put an @ in the title is because I wanted to see how it looked...
P.P.S.: I MADE 1000 PAGEVIEWS YAY!!!

Still Sick :(

So I'm still sick- and I feel worse... :(
But I watched Legend of Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and it was really good! It's totally exciting, I think this is probably the best animated movie of the year or even all time! (but I could be wrong...)
But seriously, it's about an owl named Soren (cool name!) and his brother Kludd, who get kidnapped by the "Pure Ones" when they were practicing flying. After they are taken away to the scary Pure Ones hideout, Soren and his new friend Gyfie are assigned to be "Pelletiers" (a.k.a they have to pick apart owl pellets for metal "flecks,"which are piled together into a frightening sci-fi mass of blue energy seems to afflict the owls with pain). They and a bunch of other owls are told to fall asleep while looking into the moon which somehow brainwashes them. ! Soren and Gylfie however don't follow orders and are saved. After that they manage to escape with the help of one of the "Pure Ones", but Kludd turns evil, having been chosen as on of the "Warriors", which he enjoys. 
Soren and Gylfie however are told to fly to "The Guardians", the enemies of the "Pure Ones" (a.k.a the good guys). 
I'm afraid I've already given too much away, but you guys should totally watch it!
It's one of the most epic sibling rivalry movies of the year/decade/age!  I really liked it.....
And it was animated! Okay... so maybe not age or decade, but definitely year! 



So, if you're sick (or even healthy) and feel like a cool animated movie, I would strongly recommend this!


Anyways, I have to get crackin' on my French,
Regards,


Elle

Sick :(

Hey Guys,
It's flu season and guess what? I' sick :(
I already felt it yesterday, but today it really hit me, so I went home early from school, puked my guts out and now I'm here, in my living room on the couch, on my mom's laptop ('cause she won't give me one 'till I'm 15 >:( ...) blogging in my misery and boredom...
But after spending two hours reading my book, I've decided it's time for some on-screen entertainment and I've gathered all interesting movies I wouldn't mind watching or haven't watched in decades, from the upstairs cabinet, since my sister and our math tutor are blocking me from the downstairs one, with all the good movies in it...
So the movies I found are but five:
-Zoolander (so funny)
-Hidalgo (haven't watched that in ages)
-Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Steve Martin :))
-Land of the Lost ('cause Will Ferrell's hilarious)
-Pirates of the Caribbean 1 (also haven't seen that since my tenth birthday party)
And, since my mom doesn't want me to watch anything sad or brutal and apple-TV doesn't offer that many movies I haven't seen I started downloading "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole", since the fight sequences are supposed to be pretty sick, for an animated movie.
It's almost 5:00 p.m and I'm starting with "Zoolander". See you in 85 minutes!

I was in the middle of "Zoolander", when I got a phone call from my friend asking me how I was, which is why I'm blogging again.
Until now my favorite things about this movie are:
- The Hansel theme song, which plays each time he comes from a ghetto blaster held by a person in his entourage
- The Mugatu building and it's inside, because it's freakin' awesome!
 Sorry, no better picture...
- Mugatu --> WTF!?

- Derek's gay outfits

- The British rasta DJ-guy

- The "Kill the prime minister of Malaysia!" video

Okay, the movie's done now, so funny! ;) Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are really young!
So is Will Ferrell!
To conclude my list from before, I also loved:
- Hansel's place
- Mugatu's throwing star shaped like an "M"

- The song "Relax" from "Frankie goes to Hollywood", I think I'll buy that on iTunes...
- The "Derek Zoolander Center for kids who can't read good and want to learn to do other stuff good too"


After having eaten dinner (soup...), I am now back on the couch, surrounded by used tissues and a bucket. I might take a nap now or maybe watch "Legend of the Guardians"... I dunno.
Since I have nothing better to do, I'll probably be back tomorrow,
Regards,
A very tired Elle ;)