It’s that time of the year!  

This is my 6th year attending the festival.  

So far, I have 11 films that I am scheduled to see this year.

1) Much Ado About Nothing

Director: Joss Whedon

Principal Cast: Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Clark Gregg, Nathon Fillion, Reed Diamond, Fran Kranz, Sean Maher, Jillian Morgese

Thoughts:  Although it was a small production, I really enjoyed it.  All the cast was great and Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof were amazing together!  It was fun that the movie was film at Joss Whedon’s house! Definitely a must see!

 

2) Out of Print (documentary)

Director: Vivienne Roumani

Principal Cast: Narrated by: Meryl Streep

Thoughts: It made me think about how much our attention span has decreased over the years.  This is especially true for the younger generation.  It also gave me another perspective to think about who and what things are affected with decrease in book sales and increased use of electronic books and media.  Although, I would have love to see more of the director’s opinion on this matter.

 

3) Populaire (France)

Director: Régis Roinsard

Principal Cast: Romain Duris, Déborah François, Bérénice Bejo, Shaun Benson, Mélanie Bernier, Miou-Miou

Thoughts: It was fun and cute movie.  The main heroine was very cute and enduring! It made me want a vintage typewriter badly!  Great costume!

 

4) Ernest & Celestine (France)

Director: Stephane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner

Principal Cast: Pauline Brunner, Anne-Marie Loop, Lambert Wilson

Thoughts: Most people know that I don’t really like animation… even if it is an adult content.  But this was super cute and anything in French is enduring.  

 

5) ¡Atraco! (Spain)

Director: Eduard Cortes

Principal Cast: Guillermo Francella, Nicolás Cabré, Amaia Salamanca, Óscar Jaenada, Jordi Martínez

 

Thoughts:  It was a fun movie.  The story was interesting that it was based on real news at that time. 

 

More to come!

Sometimes I forget that I have only experienced just a fraction of what makes up Seattle… I lived in this city since summer of 2004, now I finally feel like a “local”.  I remember the first time some called me a “local” about several years ago and I was like… “what??? no way!”  But now I think about it, at that time, I was one and I didn’t even realize it!  It’s a weird feeling that a place you are living in a independent adult life is not the city you grow up.  The the nostalgia of emotions and memories of your childhood is not here. However, I have new memories and experiences in this city.  A friend suggested blogging some of the things I love about the city and I thought… why not?  It’s my humble (formal mid-westerner) opinion!

I think my first up is my neighborhood.  Eastlake.

I am enjoying my life in Eastlake.  My current place is just few blocks from Lake Union.  I absolutely love the water.  I think my whole life, I have never lived more than 30 minutes from some sort of body of water.  I lived in Busan, north Chicago suburbs, Jacksonville (FL), and now Seattle… Although, South Lake Union is not the biggest body of water, but it is lovely.  During the summers, there are lots of sail boats floating on the lake no different than downtown traffic jam.  You can hear the roaring water planes landing on the lake.  In 2010, the South Lake Union park opened and that was when I had moved into the area.  The addition of the park brought improvement in the area with lots of seating, water feature, pond for miniature boat launches, and boats!  I try to run few times a week along the lake and I love it!  My favorite is the wooden boat festival!  I think a stroll along the lake on a sunny day is great.  During the summer there is a Farm Boat which is a famer’s market on a historic boat!  If you have a day off during the summer and/or visiting, I think it’s worth your time.  On Sundays, there is 40 minute boat ride around the Lake Union called Sunday Ice Cream Cruise (used to be at Fremont).  Be sure go on a nice sunny day as it gets a little cold on the water.  They sell ice cream, hot cocoa, and enduring narration from an old ferry captain.  The cruise is $11 and a nice little tour of Lake Union sites.  I feel the restaurants along the lake is a little stale, but with rotating food trucks there, it’s getting better.

      

I have 2 trouble making cats… Haley and Casey.  Although I do not have any children, they come close to making me feel that I have difficult toddlers… ugh!  

Its every day cleaning the urine on the couch and cleaning up after their vomit!  Due to Casey having diabetes and requiring special diet, I have to hire a cat sitter to feed them twice daily while I am out of town… They are becoming higher maintenance than a dog!   

I love them to death… but I sometimes wish they will disappear from my life too… sigh…

But… how can I hate these cute little fury beings???

 

Wow, I can’t believe that it’s been a year already!  This year, I am sad to say that I missed the opening night.  But these are the movies I caught this year.

The Eye of the Storm

Director: Fred Schepisi

Cast: Charlotte Rampling, Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis

King Curling

Director: Ole Endresen

Cast: Atle Antonsen, Jon Øigarden, Steinar Sagen, Jan Sælid, Ingar Helge Gimle, Ane Dahl Torp, Linn Skåber, Kåre Conradi, Anne Marit Jacobsen

 

Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines

Director: Kristy Guevara-Flanagan 

Cast: Featuring: Lynda Carter, Lindsay Wagner, Gloria Steinem, Kathleen Hanna, Jen Stuller

 

360

Director: Fernando Meirelles 

Cast: Rachel Weisz, Jude Law, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Ben Foster, Moritz Bleibtrau

 

The Revisionaries

Director: Scott Thurman

 

Price Check

Director: Michael Walker 

Cast: Parker Posey, Eric Mabius Josh Pias, Cheyanne Jackson, Annie Parisse

 

6 Points About Emma

Director: Roberto Pérez Toledo

Cast: Verónica Echegui, Álex García, Fernando Tielve, Nacho Aldeguer

 

Coteau Rouge

Director: André Forcier

Cast: Roy Dupuis, Céline Bonnier, Paolo Noël, Mario Saint-Amand, Gaston Lepage, Maxime Desjardins-Tremblay

 

I Wish

Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda

Principal Cast: Koki Maeda, Ohshirô Maeda, Joe Odagiri, Nene Ohtsuka, Kirin Kiki, Isao Hashizume

 

People Like Us

Director: Alex Kurtzman 

Cast: Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Michael Hall D’Addario, Philip Baker Hall, Mark Duplass, Michelle Pfeiffer

 

My Dad is  Baryshnikov

Director: Mark Drugoi, Dmitry Povolotski

Cast: Dmitri Viskubenko, Anna Mikhalkova, Vladimir Kasputin, Ilya Rutberg, Marina Politseimako, Lyudmilla Titova

 

I can’t believe 2011 just flew by!  I think I am getting old. I keep saying that time is flying. I use to think that’s what all old people used to say…

 

Time for my reflection of the year and highlights!

1) Meeting my nephew!  Brandon you are so cute!

   

 

2) My niece turning ONE!  Boy talk about time flying!

  

 

3) Finally… a new laptop!  My ENVY is compact and with full of power/beauty.

 

4) Finally realizing that my online shopping addiction will never cease… especially with nephew and niece in the picture.  Why are there so many cute baby clothes??? 

5) This was the year of me finally “kinda” like jogging.  It’s still a love-hate relationship, but new pair of serious running shoes is the evidence.  No more $20 gym shoes on sale!

6) Falling in love with scarfs!  I am especially happy to find this video on how to wear scarfs! 

http://www.youtube.com/embed/5LYAEz777AU

7) Jacksonville residency reunion.  I love my girls and it was a blast to get some quality time in with the 3 of them.  It was like we never separated from each other for years!  

  

   

  

8) I learned that when cats get old… they start to get really difficult… high maintenance… super demanding… DAMN IT!  But at the same time I have a fear that they will leave me!

  

 

9) I have SKYPE!  Yay to video conferencing!  This was helped by getting an updated computer.

 

10) I learn this every year.  My family is the most important thing in life and everything else comes second.  I miss them everyday and wish I was sitting next to each of them laughing together.

   

 

 

… Also… this has to be the cutest picture of 2011 (my coworker and her daughter for halloween-Mary had a little lamb)

 

A white Samsung Galaxy S II phone…are you $529.99 worthy? Maybe… just maybe…

 

Mag Table by Eric Pfeiffer.. RED!  So cute!

Orla Kiely Laptop Bag… cute!  Love the colors and patterns

 

 EVOKE Mio Radio by Orla Kiely… cutest radio/speakers ever!  Come to the US please!

 

       

Pare*Umbrella… I love these new ones… My obsession with umbrellas continue!

 

    

EmersonMade – Olive Day Wool Coat… I don’t think this will fit me… but gorgeous!

 

            

Prada- GAUFRE’ NAPPA LEATHER WALLET.  Beautiful. But… $570… 

 

I am sooo excited for SIFF!  I really do look forward to it every year.  There are not many times I go to theaters and watch movies… But to me that makes me excited about film festival is that it’s such an excitement in the air about the creativeness of film making.  I am not a film expert by any means… but I definitely get in the hype of interesting/indy films!  I also love the Q&A with actors/directions/producers that sometimes happens.  Plus, it is SOOOO accessible!  I can take the bus or walk to the participating theaters!  I love it!  My first few movies of the festival so far.

Opening Night:

The First Grader

*MUST SEE*

Director: Justin Chadwick

Actors: Naomie Harris, Oliver Litondo, Vusi Kunene, Tony Kgoroge

An inspirational story of a 84 yo Kenyan man who starts attending the first free public primary school in Kenya.  There are oppositions from the public and parents of other students.  He is determined to learn to read so that one day he can read an important letter on his own and comprehend it.  So many tears flowing during the showing… [i do cry in most movies though...]  Very sweet… inspirational… and makes me feel totally ashamed that I hated school and homework!

 

 

The Trip

Directior: Michael Winterbottom 

Actors: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon

*Funny!*

Steve Coogan (a british movie star) invites his comedian friend (Rob Brydon) on a northern England restaurant tour.  It is hilarious adventure with the men.  Funny conversations and awesome impersonations!  I loved it!  Great scenery of northern England and food porn!

Michael Cain impression clip from the movie… sooo funny!

 

Perfect Sense

Director: David Mackenzie 

Actors: Ewan McGregor, Eva Green

A story of a scientist and a chef who fall in love.  The scientist is trying to figure out the cause of epidemic that is plaguing the world that is eliminating people’s senses…  It is thought provoking… It made me think… is there anything more important than the people you love in life?

 

Beginners

Director: Mike Mills

Actors: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic

 

This about Oliver (Ewan McGregor) budding relationship with a girl.  He flashes back to his father (Christopher Plummer) who recently died from cancer.  The interesting twist is that his father came out of the closet (at 75 years old) when Oliver’s mother died 5 years prior.  The memory flashes of his father living a openly gay life at his old age is funny and interesting.  His flashback of his dad dying of cancer very sad. Very thoughtfully done movie.  The dog in the movie is SOOOOO CUTE!  I want to kidnap the dog!

 

I don’t think I say this enough… I love you… I miss you…

  

     

I decided recently that I need to be more regular about blogging… just for fun.  I feel like I don’t know how to write a complete sentence any longer and texting is completely ruining me!  The saddest thing is that I think I am a pretty terrible texter (I’m actually not sure if this is the right word)… anyways… I thought instead of watching more TV and surfing the web, I should write!  I’ve never been a great writer, but I feel that it will keep my mind healthier.  Plus, I am super jealous of these beautiful and amazing blogs that I read daily…  I need to match their awesomeness!

One of goals by this fall is to regularly run 6 miles(10K) about 3-4 times… which happens to be the distance around Lake Union just outside my place.  I am doing this slowly… so I hope i can do it!  I really hope I can do it!  I just need to make sure that my knees and ankles are healthy enough do this as well.  I want to be able to run with other people in the future!  Right now.. it’s a mess.  I am so disgusting!  I am breathing very heavily and spitting by accident every 2 minutes or something… So, this tells me that my endurance is pretty pathetic… I really have a long way to to!

Couple of my friends are getting married!  I am so happy for them!  I have been obsessively sending them links on things I find super cute or cool inspirations… I hope they actually like it and not think of my being totally a pain.

 

Here is a recent picture of my adorable, yet destructive and messy cats!

 

 

 

I was listening to the radio and they were talking about what birth numbers tell you about your personality… checked it out!

Numerology – What Your Birth Date Reveals About You! | Inspirado

It turns out my number is: 1

#1 The Originator
1′s are originals. Coming up with new ideas and executing them is natural. Having things their own way is another trait that gets them labeled as being stubborn and arrogant. 1′s are extremely honest and do well to learn some diplomacy skills. They like to take the initiative and are often leaders or bosses, as they like to be the best. Being self-employed is definitely helpful for them. Lesson to learn: Others’ ideas might be just as good or better and to stay open minded.

Famous 1′s: Tom Hanks July 9, 1956, Robert Redford Aug 18, 1937, Hulk Hogan Aug 11, 1953, Carol Burnett April 26, 1933, Wynona Judd May 30, 1964, Raquel Welch Sep 5, 1940, Della Reese July 6, 1932.

I think it is mostly true… kinda scary… and interesting…  Wait… does this mean I am a diva?