.: so comes snow after fire :.

Guess what? It's movie review time! Yesterday I was feeling so much better my uncle decided to take us all to the local cinema to watch Spectre. Two weeks ago, before chemio, my back hurt too much to even consider staying in a sitting position for more than ten minutes at a time. Yesterday I managed to watch the whole movie, and today I even went out shopping with my aunt and bought a new pair of shoes! The second appointment is on friday, and I have to say I can't wait: if this is how I feel after 1/8 of this cure, I'm excited to see what the second dose will do!

Sorry, back to the movie. As some of you may recall, I'm not a Bond fan. I watched most of the classics, but I didn't like them. Not my kind of humour, I guess. Then I watched Casino Royale, and I loved it. And when I watched Skyfall, I fell head-over-heels madly in love with that movie, watched it four times in the cinema, and countless times at home. Needless to say, I was very excited about a sequel from the same team. As it turns out, I found Spectre to be deeply disappointing.

Spoilers to follow because I want to rant a bit, and I'm the last one to see this movie anyway.

Sure, there are things that I liked, like the locations, the London team, the cast. But the plot was all over the place. Daniel Craig and Léa Seydoux have zero chemistry, and the villain's motivations were ridicolous. We're supposed to believe that James Bond leaves his job for a woman he met two days before, had almost no dialogues with, but for one rushed sex scene because they were high on endorphins from a recent brush with death. I get it that they wanted to retire this incarnation of 007, but this was a very messy way to do it. There are a lot of movie couples who fall in love in the span of a few hours and are perfectly believable (Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese, anyone?), but by god this was not the case.

Waltz's character was so petty and ridicolous I was shocked it was written by the same guys who gave us Silva. Apparently "for a couple of years when we were kids my dad liked spending time with you more than with me" is a villain origin story now. And this is supposed to be the guy who controlled all the previous villains - and cursed Bond's dick too. His words, not mine. :D Plus the only thing that was fascinating about him was his Terminator ability to survive death in the most absurd ways. Not really what I was expecting from the boss of Spectre.

The whole villains' plan was rushed and messy, and the way the good guys won made zero sense. By killing the guy who proposed the law, it would seem that law would be automatically made null and void. They crashed a chopper into downtown London, and yet the double-O program is supposed to be safe by the end of the movie? Shouldn't their actions convince the public even more that they need that surveillance program? I know it's a spy movie and everything, but things need to make a bit of sense, or the whole thing crumbles down like a house of cards.

I loved seeing more scenes with Q, but I was so sad they wasted the character of Moneypenny: she followed M around and googled things for Bond when he was busy. They could have done so much more with her.

I'm so going to watch Skyfall again in the next few days, and remind myself of how much I love these characters.

What a lovely day! My mouth isn't hurting anymore, my aunt is back home from her parents, so she can have a bit of rest, it's less than 24 hours until the new Cabin Pressure season, this afternoon I went to the cinema to watch Wreck-It Ralph and I adored it! Again, what an amazing year for animated movies! And what an adult storyline too, there were a couple of very strong scenes that I wouldn't have expected in a kids movie (not since 1989, at least), and the final boss was the right mixture of terrifying and disgusting, loved it! A strong plot with characters who don't have to be likable but have their flaws, thus being real. It's a new golden age for animated movies, at last. *_____*

Today was also a day of great mail! First, TEAS. So many teas.


I actually own only half of those, 007, Quartermaster and Reichenbach Reunion, while Tati bought Dean, Castiel and Destiel. My good padawan. I'll never stop reminding her that *I* got her into Supernatural. *_____* Anyway, I still haven't tried any of them, and yes, I still have tons of old teas in my tea cabinet but you should all know by now that new teas make me happy and I'm a weak person. :D


More than a month ago I bought a few stickers from Red Bubble, whose only flaw is their incredibly slow delivery times. Anyway they are so pretty I'll forgive them anything. I bought them for my desk, there's a cabinet I'm turning into an Altar To The Gods of Fandom or something of the sort. ^^


Saving the best for last, it's lovely stardust_made's christmas gift to me, she's so wonderful! Look at all the cute Sherlock adorableness, AND the incredibly appropriate pin for the day. :D

Off to bed for me then, it's been a lovely but very long day, and tomorrow I have therapy in the morning. ^^

What a week! I had some bad news about a friend, some good news regarding myself (got the results for the blood tests, they're perfect), a fruitful but very exhausting therapy session on wednesday, and a movie night yesterday that was very much deserved. Tati and I went to the cinema to watch Rise of the Guardians and we absolutely loved it. This has been such a great year for animation, what with Brave, Paranorman, and this one.

Here in Italy tomorrow is a holiday, and it's one my family usually reserved for decorating the christmas tree. That means, embarassing pictures of Sakura wearing festive bows and murderous expressions. I can't wait. :D

In the meanwhile, my first xmas gift arrived in the mail today, thanks to ebay proving very useful when Amazon failed:


I finally found it, the Wild & Wolf Scrabble Mug used by Q in Skyfall! And at a normal price for a mug too, as some prices elsewhere were absolutely crazy. Also pictured, an Earl Grey teabag, the last one left of the package I bought in London back in March. I had to literally tackle my aunt one morning to stop her from using it, because I needed it for this picture when the mug arrived. Obsessed? Who said I was obsessed?


It also says it's dishwasher and microwave safe, but I'm not going to risk it.

In other news, I finished reading Cold Days, and it was brilliant (not that that's a surprise), and for the first time ever I managed to see what was coming a couple of pages before Harry Dresden did. Go me. And now it's another year at least until the next one. *sobs hugging her new mug*

I'm going to quote junior Mussolini again (and it's from Cabin Pressure, just in case), 'obsessed' is just a word the disorganized use for the focused. And I'm so focused on this movie! So crazily focused, you have no idea. :D


It's the first time in... fifteen years, I'd say, that I bought one of those single cds, back before mp3s existed. It had to be Adele. *______* Then there's the official soundtrack, the booklet is beautiful, even if I don't like the cover that much. And then, there's the artbook. I still have to get used to the idea that now everything has an artbook. For me it started with manga, and mom and I loved those, and then it was cartoons, videogames, and now movies! This is one of those things that make a flailing Muppet out of poor old me.


The quality of the images is stunning, and there are excerpts from the script here and there.


It is mouthwatering amazing!

Therapy is going great, we are talking a lot about my recent nightmares - which are less nightmares and more memories, but they are a nuisance all the same, especially when I wake up screaming. At mom's hospital they also told me they'd like to organize the next reunion of doctors and relatives when my aunt can come, so they'll wait for her to get the days from work. That was so nice of them, I was very touched! ♥

And now, cup of tea and back to drooling over my new artbook! I'm a mature, responsible adult, yes yes. :D

Just came back from watching Skyfall. This will be my spoiler-free review, because I hate spoilers and if there ever was a movie you don't want to know anything about before watching it, it's this one.

It was GREAT. So, so beautiful. Melanchonic and clever, delicate and at the same time cruel. I loved every minute of it. The music, the acting, the cinematography, everything was perfect. I'll even forgive them for going for the same ol' "gay villain" trope, because I loved the villain too. Go watch it, it's so very, very beautiful. And the opening sequence with the Adele song is stunning.

I arrived early at the cinema, and spent a good ten minutes outside chatting with an old couple who were there for the same movie. The husband was worried because he feared a mass of teenagers would arrive to fill the room, crunch on popcorn and spoil the whole movie for "us adults". He even called me "lady" and opened the door for me. All this while I was wearing my Avengers skirt. Golly, I'm finally in the Adults Club. I can wear superheroes clothes, and they still recognize me as a grown-up. Jolly good. :D

In the end, there weren't any teenagers, the room was almost empty (after all it was four in the afternoon on a friday), only a few couples here and there. They showed the Hobbit trailer, which made me squee out loud, even if I already know it scene by scene, and the Argo trailer, that I must see the very day they release it because it looks awesome. *______*

How many months until the bluray? I hope we'll get a dvd screener before that! I must watch it again and again and again...