Author: BRWC

How To Get Prepared For The Year Ahead

If you are determined to make this year the best that you’ve seen, you will need to start planning ahead. This will help you to get the most out of every day and to achieve your goals. Planning ahead will also give you a chance to focus on the positives instead of being weighed down by the demands of daily life. Before are four ways that you can start thinking about 2018 and all of the incredible memories that you are going to create.

Plan for all of your favourite entertainment

If you are someone who loves movies, music, and television, you will need to get prepared for all of this year’s upcoming releases. This is a brilliant way for you to get through any tough times and to break up your year into manageable sections. Planning well in advance will also give you the chance to make an occasion of these exciting releases. For instance, you could start a film club in your local community centre. Alternatively, you could invite your friends round for a night of listening to music. Or, you could set up a themed party to celebrate the return of your favourite TV show. The most important thing is that you get creative with your plans and find like-minded individuals to share in the fun.

Plan for all of your important dates

Another great idea is to make plans for all of this year’s important dates. If you are constantly being caught out by someone’s birthday or anniversary, this is the year to take control. Why not find a space in your home to store all of your gifts? Then, you can purchase them well in advance. You could also take the time to create your own cards. You could even get really prepared and have fun making custom Christmas cards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XubM62q9nlw

Plan for an exciting trip

You should also think about planning for an exciting trip. Instead of going on lots of smaller vacations, you should try saving up for one big adventure. This is the perfect chance for you to push your boundaries and to try something new. Just make sure that you do plenty of research beforehand. This will help you to settle on the right location and to get excited about your journey. Then, you should create a packing list, a budget, and an itinerary. You could even think about inviting one of your loved one along for the ride.

Plan for an organised and positive life

There is no better time than the start of the year to plan for an organised and positive life. You never know, this could be the year that everything starts going your way. This will be much more likely if you are spending your time in an environment that you love. Why not sort through your possessions and have a major clear out? You should then fill your home with positive affirmations, uplifting images, and meaningful mementos. This will help you to start every day off on the right foot.

11th January 2018
Movies To Look Forward To In 2018

Will 2018 be a vintage year for great movies? Here are a number of movies I’m looking forward to seeing in the New Year.

Proud Mary

I want to catch this film from the power of the trailer where Taraji P. Henson, in leather and heels isn’t taking any shit, and has a weapons closet that would make 007 cry. Proud Mary’s life is completely turned around when she meets a young boy whose path she crosses when a professional hit goes bad.

The cast is stellar. Billy Brown, Jahi Di’Allo Winston and Danny Glover. This female-centric action film should push Taraji P.Henson to the very top. I’m in.

God Particle

This film follows a squad of astronauts aboard an international space station who are adrift in the cosmos after a particle accelerator experiment causes the Earth to vanish. VANISH! When a space shuttle appears, the crew fight for survival after a crazy and horrifying discovery. An impressive cast in this one too: Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O’Dowd and David Oyelowo. Out some time in February I think.

A Wrinkle In Time

This film has the power change Hollywood for the better. 2018 is populated with a raft of films by, for and about women. A Wrinkle In Time led by Ava DuVernay’s adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s influential fantasy novel, the cast of otherworldly characters includes Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling and Oprah Winfrey. We’ll be in for a visual feast. You’ll fall in love with Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which and Mrs. Whatsit.

Ocean’s 8

Danny Ocean’s sister Debbie (Sandra Bullock) has her own gang (Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Rihanna and Sarah Paulson) and slick heist in mind, at New York’s Met Gala, rather the usual settings of the casino, where you can find most of the top ten betting sites for sports games.

Solo: A Star Wars Story

So, how did Star Wars’ Han Solo meet that Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian? Ron Howard will provide us with the answer this question (and many others I’m sure) in yet another Star Wars money making movie.

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Alden Eisenreich, who was great in Hail, Caesar! is the man playing the young Harrison Ford while Donald Glover is Billy Dee Williams, which I cannot wait to experience.

Alita: Battle Angel

James Cameron has been on about this film for about ten years, working on an adaptation of Yukito Kishiro’s manga Battle Angel Alita, before moving it to Robert Rodriguez to helm. Set in the 26th century, a female cyborg, Alita (played by Maze Runner: The Death Cure’s Rosa Salazar), is rescued and repaired by Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz).

7th January 2018
A Woman’s Life: 10 Classic Literature Film Adaptations

To celebrate the release of A Womans Life in UK cinemas on 12th January, adapted from Guy De Maupassant’s 1883 novel of the same name, we’ve taken a look back at the big screen adaptations of classic literature that have been made over the last century.

It has never been an easy road to love and happiness for some of our favourite literary characters, while Elizabeth Bennet may have found Mr Darcy, the same fate was not always destined for Heathcliffe, it’s the journey rather than the destination that draws us in to their world.

Below is a list of films to help explore some memorable moments from the page to life on the big screen:

A Woman’s Life (2018)

A fragmented account of the life of Jeanne as she sets out on the path of adult life and gradually experiences the harsh realities of a woman’s life in the 19th-century.

Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)

In Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor.

Anna Karenina (2012)

In late-19th-century Russian high society, St. Petersburg aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the dashing Count Alexei Vronsky.

Jane Eyre (2011)

A mousy governess who softens the heart of her employer soon discovers that he’s hiding a terrible secret.

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Sparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?

Little Women (1994)

The March sisters live and grow in post-Civil War America.

Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

A scheming widow and her manipulative ex-lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman.

Oliver Twist (1948)

An orphan named Oliver Twist meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. From there, he joins a household of boys who are trained to steal for their master.

Great Expectations (1946)

A humble orphan suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.

Wuthering Heights (1939)

A servant in the house of Wuthering Heights tells a traveller the unfortunate tale of lovers Cathy and Heathcliff.

A WOMAN’S LIFE has received critical acclaim ahead of its highly anticipated release with Tom Dawson from TOTAL FILM calling the film, “A masterful adaptation, ★★★★”. The film follows Jeanne, a young woman in Normandy, 1819, full of childish dreams and innocence when she returns home after finishing her schooling in a convent. She marries a local Viscount, Julien de Lamare, who soon reveals himself to be a miserly and unfaithful man. Little by little Jeanne’s illusions are stripped away.

A WOMAN’S LIFE is in UK cinemas 12th January.

6th January 2018
Review: Perfect Bid (The Contestant Who Knew Too Much)

By Orla Smith.

Documentarian CJ Wallis’ Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much is a short, sharp, and focused examination of one man: ‘The Price is Right’ super-fan Ted Slauson.

To no purpose other than personal fulfilment, he dedicated his life to memorising the show’s prices until he could ace each question, often guessing exactly to the penny. He has attended live shows for decades, participating once, and later helping another contestant pull off a perfect bid.

Listening to Slauson speak about his experiences, observing his expressions, and picking up on his speech patterns offers enough potential for psychological analysis to sustain 70 minutes. In the interview that frames the entire documentary, Slauson explains, “it’s fun to watch people win!”. There isn’t a hint of irony in his voice, or in his unwavering gaze — as with everything he says. The documentary allows him to speak for himself, narrating his own story without interruption.

Wallis’ unquestioning approach has its limitations, though. You may watch the film and wonder what toll it must take on someone’s life, to be so fully invested in something so finite. There’s a moment of subdued silence when Slauson talks us through the time he was finally picked as a contestant on the show; he recounts realising, after having won his prize, that you’re not allowed to be a contestant twice — this thing he had worked towards for most of his life is now finished. What to do now?

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsfVCH7uEc4

Wallis, however, is determined to finish the film on a cleanly optimistic note.

Perhaps this is because he is hewing so close to Slauson’s version of events, using Slauson’s interview as the film’s only narration. When people tell their own stories, they are always inclined to look on the bright side in attempt to convince others, and themselves, that they’re OK. Wallis indulges this impulse of Slauson’s, and seems too happy to believe Slauson’s final assurance that his all-consuming obsession with ‘The Price is Right’ has brought nothing but positivity to his life. In reality, there’s a grey area there that Wallis neglects to explore

Perfect Bid is, however, a compelling and addictive watch. The film launches into its opening narration without giving its audience even a second’s breathing room; we are placed into Slauson’s unusual headspace from the get go. Then comes bright, animated opening credits, and music that matches those colours in energy. The film zips by — a testament to Wallis’ slick craft and knack for pacing. He doesn’t break much from conventional documentary form, but he works slickly within that form, taking a story that could easily be summed up briefly on a Wikipedia page, and making it worth 70 minutes of on screen investment.

1st January 2018
Rise Of A Star: Review

By Jake Skudder.

‘Rise of a Star’ is the directorial debut from James Bort, this short is based around aspiring ballerina Emma Gauthier (played by Dorothee Gilbert) and her “secret capable of undermining the achievement of her lifelong dream”. Now, I am no ballet expert and I am unable to interpret at this film in any sort of dance/technical way, however the themes are so well portrayed through Bort’s direction that they’re easy to digest.

Dorothee Gilbert’s portrayal of the confliction and secrecy Emma faces throughout the film are as elegant as they are subtle. Emma carries a weight of expectation from her ‘ballet master’ Youri (Pierre Deladonchamps) who demands “perfection” from his dancers, in particular Emma who he demands is “better than perfect” in the film’s climax. The secrecy that Emma is carrying is that of her 3 month pregnancy, which gives the film a conflicting tone between career and the idea of impending parenthood, a theme so common in the real world yet difficult to portray in a meaningful way. Director Bort’s utilisation of space and shadow to hide Emma’s stomach are impactful from the opening scene, a table on a darkened stage covering Emma from the waist down as her facial expression shows that she is not fully in the moment. The most delicate moment of the film follows this when Emma is alone in her dressing room, she caresses her stomach subtly bringing her ‘condition’ to the viewer’s attention.

Bort’s use of space to mirror Emma’s attempts of secrecy are brought to the forefront during a rehearsal scene. The camera focuses solely on the protagonist’s upper body and face until she moves back to a ‘safe’ space further back in the room where her physical appearance may not be so readily apparent, although of course at such an early stage of pregnancy her attempts to hide what is happening to her body only cast more light on the situation. This scene also introduces Mlle Jean, the owner of the ballet production and the antithesis to Youri. Her’s is the most powerful influence of the film as she realises Emma’s plight and explains that she still intends to allow her to perform. The core message of the piece dispels the idea that you must choose between the path of motherhood or a successful career, the strength of the final shot showing Emma with her arms by the side proudly displaying her full frame leaves a powerful final thought with the viewer, subverting the idea that career “perfection” cannot be attained alongside motherhood.

27th December 2017