Tuesday, January 31, 2012

New Film: Miss Bala & Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Premiering in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and released on a very limited basis in one of the leanest month on the U.S. theatrical schedule, Gerard Naranjo's Miss Bala bears witness both to the formal experimentation characteristic of the former and to the semi-exploitation orientation of the latter. Naranjo and cinematographer Mátyás Erdély bring an exceedingly fluid long-take aesthetic to Miss Bala's border world of Narco wars and beauty pageants, staging the film's on-going flow of action and the frequently disrobed body of the film's ex-model lead, Stephanie Sigman, in a graceful choreography of contiguous on and off-camera spaces.

Among the most memorable of Naranjo and Erdély's one-take tours de force is an early, off-balance composition in a nightclub powder-room that commences with Miss Baja hopeful Laura Guerrero (Sigman) standing alone in the right half of a static, divided frame. Suddenly, a para-military hit crew repels down the wall that splits the image, filling the empty middle distance in the left half; as the assassins check the toilet stalls on the same side of the composition, Laura crouches down into a nearby corner with the camera accordingly following, reframing the female lead in a far more constricted full. As Laura cowers, exposed to the gang against the wall, the spectator is made to focus (along with the protagonist) on the off-camera field, cued in not only to Laura's frightened reactions directed toward the previously visible space, but also to the sounds that inscribe the continuous, out-of-the-frame action.

Within this exemplary passage, Miss Bala's navigation of objective and subjective states emerges, with Laura's point-of-view ultimately articulated in the tight re-framing that occurs along with her attempt to escape view. Earlier, when she first arrives at that same Millennium night spot, the filmmakers' camera moves independent of character motivation, only joining Laura consequently as the apparatus propels forward in the same direction as the striding lead. In so doing, Naranjo provides an approximation but not a literalization of Laura's phenomenological experience. Though the camera is outside Laura, it effectively doubles here perception.

Elsewhere, to return to the economy of revelation and concealment that defines Miss Bala's registration of spaces, Laura's later escape from the bathroom occurs at the moment of her sudden reappearance in the upper recesses of the re-framed interior, climbing through a distant window. In so doing, Naranjo retroactively calls attention to the fact that Laura's dramatic act has been occurring off-screen all along, with the particularities of this mobile framing a matter of authorial imposition. The camera's point-of-view in this passage is that of an author who willfully leaves his heroine and her subjective experience only to treat her dramatic exit as an unexpected visual punctum moments later.

While Miss Bala's achievement might just be most conspicuously formal ultimately, it does still effectively inscribe the personal toll of the War on Drugs on the film's unwitting protagonist, providing a harrowing narrative of the variety of abuses she experiences - both on and off-camera, with the latter no less moving than the former - as well as a plausible account of how the under-class Tijuana native becomes a getaway driver and mule for the narcotics syndicate. Miss Bala is indeed her fundamentally tragic and contemporary story, even when Naranjo's exceptional visual set-pieces momentarily obscure this fact.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), master animator Brad Bird's live-action debut, from a screenplay by Josh Applebaum and André Nemec, dispels any questions of its director's facility for or fitness to the composited photographic medium with a work that not only plays to the form's visceral strengths - this is the so-called action thrill ride at its, well, most thrilling; Ghost Protocol is one of the few comparatively deserving films at the top of the domestic box office charts - but also one that manages to reflexively incorporate the new-to-the-director technology back into the tension-filled set-pieces themselves. With respect to the latter, Ethan (Tom Cruise) and Benji's (Simon Pegg) manipulation of a screen inside the Kremlin in an effort to provide the photo-real illusion of a space, rather than the space itself, crisply encapsulates the film's composited CGI form in a manner that partially recalls Ratatouille's (2007) allegorization of computer animation in its non-human creator. Ever the auteur, Bird again showcases his self-consciousness in producing an analogy to the specific medium of his production.

Bird's authorship is even more prominent in Ethan's superhuman feats, running up and down the world's tallest building - obsessed with numbing heights, Ghost Protocol gets the most out of the composite digital form's ability to make these moments photo-real - or simply punching his way out of a Russian prison without a moment to spare. The more obvious and fruitful point-of-reference for Ghost Protocol accordingly is Bird's Pixar masterpiece The Incredibles (2004), with which it likewise shares its relatively corny and occasionally topical sense of humor - Cruise's failed marriage and Jeremy Renner's homosexuality both receive narrative cameos - a sidekick in Benji who seems to suggest a partial re-imagining of pre-Syndrome Buddy Pine or perhaps Dash, and most notably, an acknowledgement of global terrorism, which thanks to Ethan's persistent unwillingness to give in, is ultimately curtailed - though not at the precise moment that Ethan declares the "Mission Accomplished!" In Bird's world, as in our own, the threat will only later be neutralized.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup: 2012

I had a wonderful time at the Canadian Design bloggers meetup this past weekend, and it's hard to believe that after so many years of blogging this is the first time I was actually able to attend one of these great events! And get this... not only did I get to meet some fabulous bloggers and catch up with some old blogging friends but I also won an amazing Delta faucet!! WOO HOO!!

me and Chanele Cote from designBLISSinc

My winning moment :)

and my prize

Can't wait for the next one!!
images via 12

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Trump Hotel: Toronto

I stumbled upon the Trump International  Hotel website for an event I am attending and was completely wowed by the fabulous design, have a look:






this campaign style washroom vanity has got to be my favourite!





all images via

Monday, January 23, 2012

Star Wallpaper

Tiger Woods Wallpapers - Pictures of a great man
According to T Dugan

You walk into the room a young man, and you see plastered on his wall paintings is impressive wall of paper their favorite stars. The attitude has always been that if you have a room with posters Jenipher Lopez and Beyonce to form sets. The women, Jay Z and more like Brad Pitt. Others prefer to sports legends such as David Beckham, the current star, Christiano Ronaldo and the Brazilian Kaka. But then add to the list of Tiger Woods posters, and there will be a decor that beat the rest, as the background that combines perfectly with his handsomeness and his star status.

I think when you think Tiger Woods is, and how far the game of golf, it is unavoidable, you will begin a deep inspiration for his paintings sense. His mixed ancestry and his mother, all the Thai and American blood and his father is black African and Latin American blood, Tiger Woods is the unique combination of love, even in the walls of their posters, all the supporters of the wallpapers is for true reflection of the joy and fight, even disappointments all the PGA Tour, Asian Tour and the U. S. Open that Tiger himself involved over the years.

Star Wallpaper
Star Wallpaper
Star Wallpaper
Tiger Woods has a baby, within the options, sizes and resolutions, which may have cheaper prices around the world: They are provided with a very savvy and very attractive form of artistic infusion of color, and very picturesque delivery to Tiger Woods as an expert, the main topic of many other desired wallpaper formats: My Wallpapers Tell a story of his victories and losses, and you can even Tiger perfect golf swing is just one of Wallpapers.

But in addition to his victory, Wallpapers also said his family, his wife and daughter, and it can be a collector, and a complete package of incredible images T Woods: The Tiger Woods wallpaper, thus, can be good all the tools inspiring your young son or daughter, a reflection of greatness can receive in a world where mentors, role models and people look up to the second heat. Without a doubt, very stately Tiger Woods makes the whole world is your answer, and if you were to Wallpapers o both your decor and you will be renewed.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Hungry

I'm so hungry ;3; feed me please! 3am and I want tweaaaaats!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Britney Jean Spears

Britney Jean Spears (Born December 2, 1981) is an American singer and entertainer. Raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears first appeared on national television in 1992 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The New Mickey Mouse Club from 1993 to 1994. In 1997, Spears signed a recording contract with Jive, releasing her debut album ...Baby One More Time in 1999. The album established her as a pop icon and "bona fide pop phenomenon", credited for influencing the revival of teen pop in the late 1990s. Spears released her sixth studio album Circus on her 27th birthday in December 2008.
Britney Spears has some Kabbalah symbols on the back of her neck. It is suppose to translate to "healing". But there has been many reports claiming that the three symbols are out of order so her tattoo doesn't really mean anything. She has a fairy on her lower back, a small daisy circling her second toe on right foot, a butterfly leaving a vine on left foot, and a flower with Chinese symbol for mystery in middle on lower stomach. Spears has three Hebrew characters on the back of her neck - her Kabala connection - and a pair of pink dice inside left wrist, in addition to a small star on her right hand. During her recent meltdown she added two more tattoos, red and pink lips on her wrist, and a black, white and pink cross on lower hip. Other body modifications include a pierced belly button and right nipple.







Eva Longoria

Eva Jacqueline Longoria (born March 15, 1975)[3] is an American actress, best known for portraying Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Longoria received a nomination for the 2006 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance on Desperate Housewives.

Longoria first became famous on television in the soap opera The Young and the Restless. She became nationally recognized in the 2000s after appearing in several high-profile advertising campaigns and numerous men's magazines, reaching #14 in the FHM "Sexiest Women 2008" poll, and having appeared on the cover of various international women's magazines including Vogue, Marie Claire and Harper's Bazaar.

Eva Longoria, March 2009
Born Eva Jacqueline Longoria
March 15, 1975 (age 36)
Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
Other names Eva Longoria
Eva Longoria Parker
Occupation Actress/Model
Years active 2000–present
Height 5 ft 0.25 in (153 cm)[1]
Spouse Tyler Christopher (2002–2004)
Tony Parker (2007–2011
Read more on wikipedia



Emma Watson with fake tatto

Emma Watson continued on with her crusade to corrupt children by getting a large tattoo on her arm. After spending most of her life trying to make magic and devil worship “cool” to kids with her Harry Potter movies, Emma Watson is now focusing her sick child corrupting instincts on getting kids hooked on tattoos. As you can see in the picture above Emma Watson just got a large tattoo on her shoulder, and she looks pretty pleased about it. I can not say for sure what the tattoo is of, but I am willing to wager that it is some form of satanic symbol.
Anyway Emma is clearly hoping that children will see this photo and steal money from their parents, sneak out of the house, and go to a back alley tattoo artist to get one of their own. Parents must protect their children from Emma Watson’s corrupting influence. I suggest fiercely beating your child if you find that he/she shows any interest in Emma Watson or the Harry Potter movies.


That''s a fake tattoo for a music video she was in genius. But, oh yeah she''s corrupting kids by keeping her life private and doing kids movies that were written years ago. Forgot the female celebrities showing their crotches, posing nude, songs/movies depicting murder, and sleeping around, she is really what''s corrupting kids.

Charlize Theron - actress

Name: Charlize Theron
Birth place: Benoni, Joahannesburg South Africa
Birth date: 7 August 1975
Parents: Charles Jacobus Theron and Gerda Jacoba Aletta
Nationality: American
Ethnicity: White
Husband: Stuart Townsend
Occupation: Actress, producer, director
Studies: National School Of The Arts in Johannesburg





Alyssa Milano

Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress and former singer. Her childhood role as Samantha Micelli in the sitcom Who's the Boss? made her famous, and an eight-year stint as Phoebe Halliwell on the supernatural series Charmed brought her a new round of fame. She was also a series regular on the original Melrose Place portraying the role of Jennifer Mancini. Milano has a female sports apparel line, Touch.

Born Alyssa Jayne Milano
December 19, 1972 (age 38)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation Actress, singer, producer
Years active 1984–present
Spouse Cinjun Tate (m. 1999–1999)
David Bugliari (m. 2009–present)
Website: alyssa.com



Johnny Depp

Born John Christopher Depp II
June 9, 1963 (age 47)
Owensboro, Kentucky, U.S.
Occupation Actor, screenwriter, director, producer, musician
Years active 1984–present
Spouse Lori Anne Allison (1983–86)
Partner Sherilyn Fenn (1985–88)
Winona Ryder (1989–93)
Kate Moss (1994–98)
Vanessa Paradis (1998–present)




Victoria Beckham - wife of famous football player David Beckham

Background information
Birth name Victoria Caroline Adams
Also known as Posh, Posh Spice
Born 17 April 1974 (age 36)
Harlow, Essex, England
Origin Goffs Oak, Hertfordshire, England
Genres Pop, R&B
Occupations Singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, fashion designer, businesswoman
Years active 1994–present
Labels Virgin (1996–present)
19/Telstar (2002–04)
Associated acts Spice Girls
Website victoriabeckham.com

Read more on wikipedia.



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