Anastasia

Cinema vs Theatre

If you ask me which I prefer, I'd definitely say the theatre. No matter how often I go to the cinema, a visit to the theatre is still something special.  Seeing a play is something quite different from popping into the local cinema for a couple of hours. It's a matter of  direct communication between the audience and the actors. 

Theatro Skala - The Chairs by Eugene Ionesco

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Most cinemas nowadays surpass a theatre in luxury. Even in small villages, cinemas are spacious, well-lit and well-ventilated places where one can sit in comfort. The lights are dimmed slowly to give the audience time to prepare themselves for the film they are to see.  Talk drops to a whisper and then fades out altogether.  However much the cinema tries to simulate the conditions in a theatre - and it does it very well - it's never the same effect!  Nothing can really equal the awe and sense of hushed expectation which is felt by a theatre audience as the curtain is slowly raised.

 
Theatro Scala - Confidences Trop Intimes (Intimate Strangers)  by Jerôme Tonnerre 

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 A poor film is often far better than a bad play. The actors on the screen are always celluloid, remote and a bit unreal.. In a theatre, however, the actors  have direct contact with their audience. Each performance they give is unique and it is this that, in the final count,, makes the theatre so superior to the cinema. 

Have you seen an interesting play, recently?

 

Cinephiles

The cinema is one of my greatest passions. In my childhood, I loved comedies and musicals such as "The Sound of Music", which I still love today, "Mary Poppins", "My Fair Lady", "Funny Girl", "Breakfast at Tiffany's". In my teens, I loved "The Godfather",. "Ryan's Daughter", "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and as an adult I fell in love with The Love Story,  "Gone With the Wind", "The Silence of the Lamb", "Home Alone", "Dancing with Wolves", "Pretty Woman", "Wild at Heart" and so many other great movies.  I also loved the Greek cinema and never missed one single film of Aliki Vouyiouglaki.

Aliki Vouyiouglaki

The cinema is an art form that is accessible to most people., and it is one that most people enjoy.  Are you one of them? Do you follow the movie world?

Premonitions

A great thriller starring my favourite actress - Sandra Bullock

According to the Cambridge Paranormal Research Society, premonitions or its scientific term precognition is the apparent ability to predict future events beyond the normal expectations of chance. Maybe you have had a sense that someone was about to call or a bad feeling that something is going to happen to you or somebody or maybe you have had a dream that comes true at a future date.

From a scientific point of view precognition can be simply attributed to coincidence. How many times have we had a bad feeling or have been thinking about somebody when nothing at all has occurred. If nothing takes place then we simply dismiss it from our minds but if the phone rings as we are thinking about someone we put it down to a premonition. On the other hand there is also the chance that you may have a precognitive dream but, as the event does not take place for a few weeks after the dream then you may simply not connect the dream with the event when it occurs.

I don't think I've had any precognitive dreams - the truth is I can hardly ever remember my dreams- but about eight years ago, I had a premonition that something bad was going to happen. It was end of June, the first day of the summer break for us teachers. To celebrate the end of yet another school year, I went out with Alkis. He had arranged dinner for two at my favourite restaurant and I was really having a great time. By 10:00 pm, we had finished dinner. I was beginning to feel a bit worried and uneasy. Alkis asked me if there was anything wrong. I smiled at him and dismissed the thought. I told him that it was nothing but the stress and fatigue soon after the final exams. After dinner, he suggested going to a music bar, but I said I was a bit tired and wanted to go back home. No sooner had he parked the car in the garage than my mobile phone rang. It was my mother. She told me in tears that dad had just passed away - at exactly 10:00 pm.

Have you ever had visions of future events - great or small - but you didn't know how to report them or who to tell?

 

Sexiest Couple Ever?

 

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Is there any couple more physically perfect, more staggeringly sexy than Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson? Thanks to the nation's magazines, we now have a definitive answer to that question: no.

This morning, People Magazine named Ryan Reynolds its 2010 "Sexiest Man Alive." And just two days ago, Johansson was anointed GQ's "Babe of the Year." In addition to these honors, Johansson hosted SNL last weekend and Reynolds' Green Lantern trailer hit the 'net Tuesday night: Not a bad week in the Reynolds-Johansson household.

While most couples are bracing for the stress of the upcoming holidays this week -- hoping to hit the gym a few extra times, eating one less scoop of low-fat ice cream after dinner perhaps -- one assumes Johansson and Reynolds are just floating through their spacious loft, their skin emanating with a bright glow as doves sing hymns to them. The faucet of their sink probably runs with champagne.

via omg.yahoo.com

Well, I'm not a gossip (only occasionally) but when I read the above article on Yahoo!, I truly thought that was most unfair! To me, Earth's sexiest couple ever is Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.( I know, some of you will laugh at me!).  I can't forget Guess Who's Coming To Dinner directed by Stanley Kramer and starring Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and my beloved Sidney Poitier.

If I ask you to ...think hard - movies, pop stars or celebrities in general -  who's the sexiest couple ever in your opinion? And to you ladies, who's the sexiest man ever?

The Island by Victoria Hislop

via www.youtube.com

l  am profoundly touched and grateful to Victoria Hislop who decided to trust the TV series based on her book "The Island" to a Greek TV channel - Mega Channel. I had read the book while on holiday in Kefallonia 2 years ago and was hooked on it. I finished it in two days. As Louise France says in her review in The Observer: "Her message seems as relevant today as it would have been a century ago. Same prejudice, different disease."  The first episode of the TV series on Monday filled me with awe. Excellent casting and amazing photography. More importantly, I felt that the series conveys all those wonderful messages of love, strength and encouragement that Victoria Hislop communicates through her book. "The Island" is not just another beach book. It's a masterpiece!

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TV Ratings were impressive: 45% in Cyprus and about 72% in Greece. No other TV show or series has ever beaten these ratings before in Greece and Cyprus.

Have you read Victoria Hislop's "The Island?"  Your opinion matters.

Heat Wave And Letters To Juliet

On the island of Venus, Aphrodite is being ruthless! Since the beginning of August, the sun has been burning hot and , as a result, the beaches are packed at this time of year when 75% of the citizens of this republic are off on holiday...which means that almost everything is closed - supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and some shops excepted - department stores in particular. Humidity has dropped, though, which makes candlelit dinners on the veranda a real pleasure - especially if you have a fan or air-conditioner for outdoor use! I don't mind hot weather, really, as I'm lucky enough to live near the beach. Nothing can be more invigorating than a good swim in the sea early in the morning and a good film at the cinema in the evening.

 

I've recently seen Letters To Juliet directed by  Gary Winick and loved it!When Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a young American, travels to Verona, Italy- the romantic city where Romeo first met Juliet- she meets a group of volunteers who respond to letters written to Juliet seeking romantic advice. Sophie finds and answers a letter that has been lost for 50 years, and is stunned when its author Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) arrives in Italy with her handsome but overprotective grandson to find the fiance she left decades before. Fascinated by Claire’s quest, Sophie joins them on an adventure through the beautiful hills of Tuscany searching for Claire’s long lost Lorenzo. The journey will change their lives forever, as they discover it’s never too late to find true love.

Love does wonders! My most favourite plants - basil, mint and parsley - have survived the heat wave! And their divine smell mingles with that of perfumed candles.

Sea Thoughts

i saw the sea

in high pressure
or in low pressure
moderation she knows not

i saw the sea
weeping its heart out
pity, none to notice
her pain or tears

i saw the sea
stretching its parched
tongue for a dropp of water
to quench her thirst

i saw the sea
looking longingly
at the dark clouds
passing by...

i saw the sea
raising beyond her
desperate to touch
the moon beyond

i saw the sea
caressing the sky
the sky bloomed
the sea smiled

i saw the sea
in my palm
i saw the sea
in my heart
i saw the sea
in your eyes

how i wish to
be one with the sea

28sep2009
22.34hrs

By indira babbellapati

via www.poemhunter.com

I'd sit hours on end just contemplating the sea - I do feel so lucky I live only a short walk away from her. The Venerable Lady as Mrs Claire Angelides describes her. So, when I talk to her, I always call her "My Lady". In her own, unique way, Her Ladyship always provides me with soothingly invigorating answers when I'm sad, and with a gay laughter when I'm happy. Some people call her "ocean" but to me she's nothing like the ocean. She is the sea - thalassa in greek.

Seagulls

On the pier the seagulls

at sunrise

flew around playfully

hurriedly moving their beaks.

They dived into the water one by one

like soldiers,

and sailed on the early-woken sea

that longed for day'

Seagulls always travel

like dreams.

Claire Angelides - Venerable Lady : The Sea
Thessaloniki, June 1997

Translated by Constantinos E. Evaggelides  

How very true! "Seagulls always travel like dreams." This is also the impression I got when I first saw at the cinema "Jonathan Livington - The Seagull." What a superb film that was! And Neil Diamond is simply divine!

THE WEDDING CRASHERS

You will never look at "Weddings" the same way again after this film!. Finally, we seem to be getting back to 'Raw Comedy' after this Politically Correct era!. I Propose a Toast! to "Wedding Crashers"- starring 2 great guys and 2 hot ladies who made this comedy work!.

The premise is simple. Two divorce mediators, John and Jeremy, have mastered the art of seduction and all they have to do is bring their fake stories and an empty box. They get fed, boozed, and ladies from total strangers at weddings and in return....they are the life of every one they attend..

First, I think Vince Vaughn (Jeremy) should be made a 'Priest' in the church or Male Comedy!. While when he plays it straight quite well it's when he has to play "uncomfortable" he really sells the laughs. Guys will dig his bravado but, he might have met his match in Aussie born actress Isla Fisher (Gloria). She's his anti-thesis in this film and every cad's worst nightmare. Where Vince is the cool cat who take's his lovin' and escapes into the night like Cassanova, Fisher is a grade A praying mantis of seemingly stalkerish dependency and "clingyness".

Owen Wilson (John) is just as adept as Vaughn here but, in a passive way that sneaks up on the ladies (he can fake tears and sincerity in second- LOL). However, it's Rachel McAdams (Clair) who's on the fast track to stardom and the "belle" of this ball who steals Owen's heart and unbalences the natural order in his life. She's got the smile of Jennifer Garner, the Moxie of Kate Bosworth and the regal natural beauty of Kate Beckensale...

  This film is almost a drunked bash in some areas and trying to be 'sensitive' in others and it's got a few quirks in the 3rd act but- it's still a unique comedy trip!. Not since the over the top antics of "Bad Santa" have I enjoyed such blunt, sex-driven, an profanity laced comedy. Forget, your 'touchy-feely' fruity "Fockers" and Kate Hudson - these are Men!. You've got to be be bold and bawdy sometimes...You know how loose, free, and drunkenly euphroic people that are blitzed at Wedding's act?. It's a release!...just like this film is.

Chicks will like how the Rachel and Isla play with out heroes and the men will enjoy the male humor and tips on how to appear to care...(did I say that?).

Film Review by idolmasher_99

Anyway ,  Alkis and I loved it. we had such a good laugh tonight at Cineplex, Larnaca. Fortunately enough, there are some really good films on at the cinema these days.