This weekend what did I see? Deathtrap at the Noel Coward Theatre. Starring Simon Russell Beale, Jonathan Groff, Claire Skinner, Terry Beaver and Estelle Parsons, here’s how the theatre people describe it:

Groff plays the part of Clifford, a gifted young writer who befriends Sidney Bruhl (Russell Beale), a best-selling novelist and playwright. He turns up at Bruhl’s Connecticut home with a new stage thriller which turns out to be superior to anything Bruhl has done.

I had no knowledge whatsoever of the previous theatre production or film, all I knew is what I saw on the poster – A Comedy Thriller. I was expecting a murder, of sorts, but that was it.

Think this is one of my favourite plays I’ve seen. The actors were brilliant – very impressive cast. The set was stunning – loved the use of lighting. There was plenty of humor and a good set of jumps as well, which was surprising but welcomed! I like a bit of a jump in the theatre.

Recommend anyone to go and see this. Comedy mixed with a bit of murder – what’s not to like!

My next theatre trip won’t be until October! However will I cope? Well, I’ve got Muse at Wembley Stadium this coming Saturday, that’s how!

The Final Destination (03/09/10)
Was this the 3D one? I don’t know. There were moments where things were flung at the screen, but seeing it on TV I was clueless! Your standard Final Destination film with some carefully plotted death sequences. The opening death sequence was good, I liked that. Everything else though? Wasn’t the biggest fan. There were no major surprises and no twists that haven’t already been done in previous Final Destination films. Characters were your bog standard and all pretty bad, except Mykelti Williamson’s character.
Rating: 1/5

Mesrine: Killer Instinct (05/09/10)
I remember when this movie came out in cinemas here, roughly the same time as Michael Mann’s Public Enemies. I remember a family member of mine telling me I should see Mesrine as it was the French’s own public enemy no. 1. Well, I didn’t get round to seeing it then, which is a shame. Having seen it now I wish I had seen it on the big screen. Excellent first part documenting Jacque Mesrine’s climb up the criminal ladder to become a fully fledged, and pretty damn scary, gangster. Vincent Cassel is just brilliant – family man/husband at one point and then cold-blooded killer the next.

Just a really slick and well made thriller/biography of one impressive criminal.
Rating: 4/5

Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (05/09/10)
I was going to try to save the second part of Mesrine for next weekend, but I couldn’t. A few hours after I finished the first movie I popped this one in. The second part shows the now established Jacques Mesrine doing everything he can to live the life he wants to live. Things get very brutal. There was one scene where I was hoping it would end quickly! The final scene of the movie is amazing. It wraps up what you saw in the beginning of the first film but in such a way that I nearly fell off the edge of my sofa because of all the tension that was building up. Amazing piece of cinema really well done.
Rating: 4/5

Read on to see all the movies I’ve seen so far this year.

86 movies so far this year

1. Three Kings (4/5) 04/01/10
2. Defiance (5/5) 06/01/10
3. Frost/Nixon (4/5) 06/01/10
4. Dreamgirls (4/5) 07/01/10
5. Munich (2/5) 08/01/10
6. Ray (4/5) 09/01/10
7. Max Payne (1/5) 09/01/10
8. Mirrors (2/5) 09/01/10
9. Ali (5/5) 10/01/10
10. Slumdog Millionaire (4/5) 16/01/10
11. Australia (2/5) 16/01/10
12. Yes Man (2/5) 17/01/10
13. Shrooms (1/5) 23/01/10
14. Valkyrie (4/5) 30/01/10
15. Love the Beast (3/5) 30/01/10
16. Brick (4/5) 31/01/10
17. My Bloody Valentine (2/5) 06/02/10
18. Fantastic Mr. Fox (3/5) 06/02/10
19. Children of Men (4/5) 13/02/10
20. We Own the Night (3/5) 14/02/10
21. Outpost (1/5) 20/02/10
22. Push (4/5) 21/02/10
23. Revolutionary Road (5/5) 24/02/10
24. Milk (5/5) 26/02/10
25. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (3/5) 27/02/10
26. Rendition (3/5) 27/02/10
27. The Reader (4/5) 28/02/10
28. Flags of Our Fathers (4/5) 03/03/10
29. A History of Violence (4/5) 03/03/10
30. Office Space (5/5) 04/03/10
31. The Eye (2/5) 04/03/10
32. Alice in Wonderland (4/5) 05/03/10
33. Bolt (4/5) 06/03/10
34. Gran Torino (5/5) 06/03/10
35. Franklyn (2/5) 07/03/10
36. Green Zone (4/5) 11/03/10
37. Whip It (4/5) 12/03/10
38. Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (0/5) 12/03/10
39. Shutter Island (3/5) 13/03/10
40. Triangle (4/5) 27/03/10
41. Kick Ass (5/5) 01/04/10
42. Clash of the Titans (3/5) 02/04/10
43. Fast & Furious (4/5) 02/04/10
44. Silent Hill (2/5) 03/04/10
45. Final Destination 3 (1/5) 03/04/10
46. Lilo & Stitch (3/5) 11/04/10
47. Lord of War (3/5) 17/04/10
48. The Core (2/5) 25/04/10
49. Iron Man 2 (4/5) 02/05/10
50. Drones (3/5) 03/05/10
51. The Orphanage (4/5) 08/05/10
52. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (4/5) 09/05/10
53. Robin Hood (4/5) 15/05/10
54. Underdog (1/5) May
55. Dan in Real Life (3/5) May
56. In the Loop (3/5) May
57. State of Play (4/5) 19/06/10
58. Pride and Glory (2/5) 19/06/10
59. The Losers (3/5) 20/06/10
60. [REC] (4/5) 09/07/10
61. Inception (5/5) 17/07/10
62. Moon (5/5) 18/07/10
63. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (1/5) 23/07/10
64. Mars Attacks! (3/5) 24/07/10
65. Inside Man (4/5) 25/07/10
66. Splice (3/5) 27/07/10
67. Made of Honor (1/5) 29/07/10
68. Funny People (3/5) 01/08/10
69. Toy Story 3 (5/5) 03/08/10
70. The A-Team (4/5) 05/08/10
71. The Children (2/5) 07/08/10
72. The Expendables (4/5) 13/08/10
73. Gamer (2/5) 14/08/10
74. Dead Like Me: Life After Death (2/5) 14/08/10
75. Pour Elle (Anything for Her) (3/5) 15/08/10
76. In Bruges (5/5) 15/08/10
77. Salt (4/5) 20/08/10
78. Piranha 3D (4/5) 21/08/10
79. Adventureland (3/5) 22/08/10
80. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (5/5) 25/08/10
81. Derailed (3/5) 28/08/10
82. Atonement (4/5) 29/08/10
83. Sky High (2/5) 30/08/10
84. The Final Destination (1/5) 03/09/10
85. Mesrine: Killer Instinct (4/5) 05/09/10
86. Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (4/5) 05/08/10

Strangely enough, since becoming a web designer by day, I’ve not had my own site project since I created Rachel Elbaz Couture. That was over two years ago and not really a project of my own, rather another job.

In the last couple of weeks I’ve been itching to start something new and really try something new – challenge myself with a design I’ve not done before. I think I’m stuck in a rut. I stick to the ‘safe’ designs I know how to design, code and get working. Designs which are more or less templates of one another consisting of a header, footer and a space for your navigation and main body. I’m getting bored with that and I think I’m ready to finally do something about that boredom!

I’m planning on completely redoing my parent’s website – CountryVilla-Algarve.com. No, it’s not a completely brand new site, but it’s the way I’m approaching the project. Why? The site itself is very old. All of the content needs a massive overhaul and some proper thought needs to go into the structure and content of the site. Rather than me fudging the site and creating a very generic looking, if clean, site.

I looked at it and realised it’s got no personality. Nothing to really stand it out from anything else I’ve done or similarly themed sites. It’s the perfect site where I can really play with my own skill set and put myself to the test to try something new. Show myself I’m not suited to just one kind of site.

This afternoon I’ve done a bit of brainstorming – ideas for the layout, how the content will fit in, how I’m going to be changing the content and structure of the site. I’m getting excited! I’m actually getting excited about web design again! It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve been looking forward to get working on a web project and I think it’s exactly the kind of thing I need to do at the moment to get me excited about the work I do.

I’m going to try to document this project of mine properly – use it as a some sort of case study that I can go back on and look at.

Wish me luck!

Why? I signed up for the twice a month photo capsule. So, twice a month I get an email with a few photos from my Flickr that were taken approximately a year ago. It’s a nice reminder as to what I was up to a year ago!

Here’s a link to my most recent time capsule. This one makes me a little depressed only because approximately a year ago I wasn’t here but in Portugal enjoying myself!

Be interesting to see my time capsules that I start receiving from the beginning of next year, as those will cover my 365 of this year, so will be a bit more accurate as to what I was up to. If anything interesting at all. I’m wondering whether I’ll be able to see any improvement in my photos – I hope there will be. I’m trying!

Also there are loads of little things I’m so tempted by in the Photojojo store! Must restrain myself.

I can’t believe it’s August and I’ve not missed a day of my 365 project this year! Well, technically I did miss one day, but I have a photo for said day. That day was a tad too painful for me to record it through a photo. But I didn’t think I’d last this long – now I can’t imagine not doing a photo a day.

So August, what happened in August? Nothing all that groundbreaking. A few changes went on at my work place, I watched an awful lot of movies (16 in a month!) and had a few trips to the theatre. Other than that, I think I struggled with the normal day-to-day 365 photos. Didn’t get much inspiration from anything.

Here are my top five personal favourite photos of the month:

Head on over to flickr to see all the photos for August.

Wonder what September’s going to turn out like. With all the things I’ve got planned every weekend, there’s going to be at least one interesting thing per week of the month.

Atonement (29/08/10)
Another DVD that’s been just sitting on my shelf, being unwatched for far too long. Very good film beautifully made. I loved the scene at Dunkirk, on the beach. Just amazing! The ending makes it all worthwhile. Great film.
Rating: 5/5

Sky High (30/08/10)
This film was an accidental watch. It’s a Bank Holiday, you’ve just come back from spending the morning shopping and feeling a little bit tired. Slumped on the sofa, not wanting to do much but watch some mindless TV. This was what was on and it was entertaining enough. Bit more than Derailed – there was a little bit too much typical teen stuff going on for me. Think I’m getting old! Only ‘young’ face I recognised was Mary Elizabeth Winstead! Hello Ramona Flowers! Oh and Bruce Campbell probably gives it one more point than it should do.
Rating: 2/5

I had plans on having a French-ish film weekend. That didn’t quite work – maybe next weekend!

Though talking of French films, I’ve just found out that the French film I saw the other weekend – Pour Elle has been remade as an American film starring Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks and is titled The Next Three Days. I feel like I need to see the remake, just so I can compare.

Read on to see all the movies I’ve seen so far this year.

83 movies so far this year

1. Three Kings (4/5) 04/01/10
2. Defiance (5/5) 06/01/10
3. Frost/Nixon (4/5) 06/01/10
4. Dreamgirls (4/5) 07/01/10
5. Munich (2/5) 08/01/10
6. Ray (4/5) 09/01/10
7. Max Payne (1/5) 09/01/10
8. Mirrors (2/5) 09/01/10
9. Ali (5/5) 10/01/10
10. Slumdog Millionaire (4/5) 16/01/10
11. Australia (2/5) 16/01/10
12. Yes Man (2/5) 17/01/10
13. Shrooms (1/5) 23/01/10
14. Valkyrie (4/5) 30/01/10
15. Love the Beast (3/5) 30/01/10
16. Brick (4/5) 31/01/10
17. My Bloody Valentine (2/5) 06/02/10
18. Fantastic Mr. Fox (3/5) 06/02/10
19. Children of Men (4/5) 13/02/10
20. We Own the Night (3/5) 14/02/10
21. Outpost (1/5) 20/02/10
22. Push (4/5) 21/02/10
23. Revolutionary Road (5/5) 24/02/10
24. Milk (5/5) 26/02/10
25. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (3/5) 27/02/10
26. Rendition (3/5) 27/02/10
27. The Reader (4/5) 28/02/10
28. Flags of Our Fathers (4/5) 03/03/10
29. A History of Violence (4/5) 03/03/10
30. Office Space (5/5) 04/03/10
31. The Eye (2/5) 04/03/10
32. Alice in Wonderland (4/5) 05/03/10
33. Bolt (4/5) 06/03/10
34. Gran Torino (5/5) 06/03/10
35. Franklyn (2/5) 07/03/10
36. Green Zone (4/5) 11/03/10
37. Whip It (4/5) 12/03/10
38. Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (0/5) 12/03/10
39. Shutter Island (3/5) 13/03/10
40. Triangle (4/5) 27/03/10
41. Kick Ass (5/5) 01/04/10
42. Clash of the Titans (3/5) 02/04/10
43. Fast & Furious (4/5) 02/04/10
44. Silent Hill (2/5) 03/04/10
45. Final Destination 3 (1/5) 03/04/10
46. Lilo & Stitch (3/5) 11/04/10
47. Lord of War (3/5) 17/04/10
48. The Core (2/5) 25/04/10
49. Iron Man 2 (4/5) 02/05/10
50. Drones (3/5) 03/05/10
51. The Orphanage (4/5) 08/05/10
52. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (4/5) 09/05/10
53. Robin Hood (4/5) 15/05/10
54. Underdog (1/5) May
55. Dan in Real Life (3/5) May
56. In the Loop (3/5) May
57. State of Play (4/5) 19/06/10
58. Pride and Glory (2/5) 19/06/10
59. The Losers (3/5) 20/06/10
60. [REC] (4/5) 09/07/10
61. Inception (5/5) 17/07/10
62. Moon (5/5) 18/07/10
63. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (1/5) 23/07/10
64. Mars Attacks! (3/5) 24/07/10
65. Inside Man (4/5) 25/07/10
66. Splice (3/5) 27/07/10
67. Made of Honor (1/5) 29/07/10
68. Funny People (3/5) 01/08/10
69. Toy Story 3 (5/5) 03/08/10
70. The A-Team (4/5) 05/08/10
71. The Children (2/5) 07/08/10
72. The Expendables (4/5) 13/08/10
73. Gamer (2/5) 14/08/10
74. Dead Like Me: Life After Death (2/5) 14/08/10
75. Pour Elle (Anything for Her) (3/5) 15/08/10
76. In Bruges (5/5) 15/08/10
77. Salt (4/5) 20/08/10
78. Piranha 3D (4/5) 21/08/10
79. Adventureland (3/5) 22/08/10
80. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (5/5) 25/08/10
81. Derailed (3/5) 28/08/10
82. Atonement (4/5) 29/08/10
83. Sky High (2/5) 30/08/10

The intention was meant to be going to see Whoopi Goldberg as Mother Superior but unfortunately she had to go back to America as her mother had a stroke. So I was a bit disappointed, though wishing Whoppi’s mother all the best!

Despite no Whoopi, I’d been wanting to see Sister Act for a while. I love the movie and it’s hard not to start humming ‘Follow Him’ just thinking about the film. Sadly that, nor any of the movie songs, are in the musical. Didn’t stop it from being a fun show! Think my favourite bit was the chasing at the end of the musical – made me laugh!

Shame about Whoopi, but still plenty of laughs. Even with each funny line being repeated by the person behind me, about a second after it’s been said on stage.

Any who… It was awesome! Or should I say epic? Brilliant movie. I think having read the comic books didn’t necessarily make me enjoy it more, just enjoy it in a slightly different way to how the everyday Joe public would enjoy the movie.

It did follow the comics very closely. Well as closely as I can remember considering I’ve only read the books once through. It was all very close up until the final volume. But it was nice how the story of the film diverged from the comic and then towards the end, headed back to where the comics went.

The music was awesome. I’ve been listening to the soundtracks today on Spotify and will be buying them very soon. The score OST’s a very different one to what I’m used to listening to, but there are some really beautiful score pieces, like Love me some walking.

Great cast. Amazing action sequences – the fight scenes were just awesome! Just go see Scott Pilgrim today!
Rating: 5/5

Side note: This was my 80th movie of the year and my 13th this month!

Click below to see all the movies I’ve seen so far this year.

80 movies so far this year

1. Three Kings (4/5) 04/01/10
2. Defiance (5/5) 06/01/10
3. Frost/Nixon (4/5) 06/01/10
4. Dreamgirls (4/5) 07/01/10
5. Munich (2/5) 08/01/10
6. Ray (4/5) 09/01/10
7. Max Payne (1/5) 09/01/10
8. Mirrors (2/5) 09/01/10
9. Ali (5/5) 10/01/10
10. Slumdog Millionaire (4/5) 16/01/10
11. Australia (2/5) 16/01/10
12. Yes Man (2/5) 17/01/10
13. Shrooms (1/5) 23/01/10
14. Valkyrie (4/5) 30/01/10
15. Love the Beast (3/5) 30/01/10
16. Brick (4/5) 31/01/10
17. My Bloody Valentine (2/5) 06/02/10
18. Fantastic Mr. Fox (3/5) 06/02/10
19. Children of Men (4/5) 13/02/10
20. We Own the Night (3/5) 14/02/10
21. Outpost (1/5) 20/02/10
22. Push (4/5) 21/02/10
23. Revolutionary Road (5/5) 24/02/10
24. Milk (5/5) 26/02/10
25. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (3/5) 27/02/10
26. Rendition (3/5) 27/02/10
27. The Reader (4/5) 28/02/10
28. Flags of Our Fathers (4/5) 03/03/10
29. A History of Violence (4/5) 03/03/10
30. Office Space (5/5) 04/03/10
31. The Eye (2/5) 04/03/10
32. Alice in Wonderland (4/5) 05/03/10
33. Bolt (4/5) 06/03/10
34. Gran Torino (5/5) 06/03/10
35. Franklyn (2/5) 07/03/10
36. Green Zone (4/5) 11/03/10
37. Whip It (4/5) 12/03/10
38. Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (0/5) 12/03/10
39. Shutter Island (3/5) 13/03/10
40. Triangle (4/5) 27/03/10
41. Kick Ass (5/5) 01/04/10
42. Clash of the Titans (3/5) 02/04/10
43. Fast & Furious (4/5) 02/04/10
44. Silent Hill (2/5) 03/04/10
45. Final Destination 3 (1/5) 03/04/10
46. Lilo & Stitch (3/5) 11/04/10
47. Lord of War (3/5) 17/04/10
48. The Core (2/5) 25/04/10
49. Iron Man 2 (4/5) 02/05/10
50. Drones (3/5) 03/05/10
51. The Orphanage (4/5) 08/05/10
52. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (4/5) 09/05/10
53. Robin Hood (4/5) 15/05/10
54. Underdog (1/5) May
55. Dan in Real Life (3/5) May
56. In the Loop (3/5) May
57. State of Play (4/5) 19/06/10
58. Pride and Glory (2/5) 19/06/10
59. The Losers (3/5) 20/06/10
60. [REC] (4/5) 09/07/10
61. Inception (5/5) 17/07/10
62. Moon (5/5) 18/07/10
63. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (1/5) 23/07/10
64. Mars Attacks! (3/5) 24/07/10
65. Inside Man (4/5) 25/07/10
66. Splice (3/5) 27/07/10
67. Made of Honor (1/5) 29/07/10
68. Funny People (3/5) 01/08/10
69. Toy Story 3 (5/5) 03/08/10
70. The A-Team (4/5) 05/08/10
71. The Children (2/5) 07/08/10
72. The Expendables (4/5) 13/08/10
73. Gamer (2/5) 14/08/10
74. Dead Like Me: Life After Death (2/5) 14/08/10
75. Pour Elle (Anything for Her) (3/5) 15/08/10
76. In Bruges (5/5) 15/08/10
77. Salt (4/5) 20/08/10
78. Piranha 3D (4/5) 21/08/10
79. Adventureland (3/5) 22/08/10
80. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (5/5) 25/08/10

As you can see it features a pineapple and a lovely quote from one of newest favourite TV shows, as of this year – Psych!

I think the quote’s ambiguous enough for it to be attractive for people who don’t necessarily know of Psych. I hope. I tried to make it a bit grungy/retro – not sure if that was totally successful, but I think it’s given it a bit more depth, rather than just using flat colours. I always like a bit of texture.

I’ve tried to do as many designs for all the different items as I can, but if I’ve missed one out you think I should add, let me know!

I think I need to read them all again (Which will entail me buying the books as I was lent/forced to read/borrowed them.) to just get everything to soak in a bit better. But after a one time read through I really, really enjoyed them. I think you could tell I was getting more into it; as I finished each novel I think I subconsciously found Scott Pilgrim trailers and found something new in it to see. Which in turn made me a tad more excited about the film.

So next step – buy the books for myself, watch the film and re-read the books. Maybe not in that order. Well, I’ll have to buy the books before I re-read them, so in that vague order.