I'd Jump Down The Rabbit Hole...

If I could just have this make up palette!

Brought to us by Urban Decay (and available for £28.00 from Debenhams) 16 eyeshadows, each with a fabulous Alice inspired name (such as Jabberwocky or White Rabbit) 2 eye pencils and and eyeliner primer potion... this is like my make up fantasy box, and it's getting exceedingly hard not to just buy it right now, as it's sure to sell out really fast.

It looks even better with its 'secret' drawer closed...

It's the Skins.. Have You Seen Them...

FUR.
A word, that when brought up in conversation (at least within my circle of friends) generally causes an argument. You either love it, or you hate it. Fur is quite the taboo when it's not faux.
Or if you're me, you go completely split personality about it. I harbor a love/hate for fur.
On the one side, I see that killing something just to wear it is wrong. I will not dispute that with you. Fur is quite the taboo when it's not faux.
But on the other hand... I find fur to be luxurious, I love touching furs when I see them in shops or at markets (I know I shouldn't, I can't afford them) I just find it to be so... I can't even express it. I think if I wore a fur, it would make me feel special. Decadent. I would want to sleep in it, just to see if it was as warm as it looks.
I've stopped arguing with myself about fur of late, because my resolution is, if I would eat it, I can wear it. I can't have mink, because noone eats that, BUT I can have rabbit, because I would eat it (and have in the past). Because if you're going to eat it, it would be a shame to waste its fur... Don't look at me like that! Surely you see my point? You eat beef and wear leather don't you?
What got this little pondering started however, was seeing men wearing fur in The Wolfman. It really seemed strange to me, as other than tacky pimp coats, I can't remember seeing men in fur before. And yet here they are, both Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, wearing fur:

Intriguing, no?
I decided to have a little delve into the world that is the fur wearing man, and I found that Gianfranco Ferre has been showing various leather and fur incarnations for men, at the recent menswear shows in Milan, take a little peek:




So.. is men in fur just plain weird or a good look? Personally, I quite like it. Especially the black number in the last photo, although it probably isn't rabbit, is it? Darn it.

LY..CAN...THROPY

As you will probably get to know by reading this- I am a huge movie addict.
And what hasn't been done in a long time, is a good werewolf film. You can argue with me about this all you like, I would probably find something wrong with whatever werewolf film you suggested, for example:
Underworld- Lets face it they're vampire films. The werewolves are just kind of there. (although I love all of them)
Dog Soldiers- It's kind of too black comedy (although I like this too)
And don't even get me started on the so-called-werewolves/shapeshifters/whatever in Twilight.
When I heard about the remake of 1940s classic The Wolfman, I was understandably apprehensive. The 1940s film being the original (and probably best) werewolf film going. Also I kind of have a certain disdain for all these remakes the film industry is pumping out.
I finally (after weeks of trying to find the time) got round to seeing The Wolfman yesterday-
I WAS BLOWN AWAY.
I'm not even exaggerating, I am still trying to find something about it I dislike. I've been trying all last night and most of today. It was, in the terms of werewolf films, flawless.
So where to start?
Well I won't talk about the story (I'm no spoiler!) so I'll start with the setting. Blackmoor, 1881.
Mist on the moors, flickering candle light, a looming grey stone building rising from the fog. Eerie and beautiful all the same time, with just the right amount of foreboding.
And what a cast!

Anthony Hopkins- maybe it's just me, but the man can do no wrong. He's a fantastic actor and is delightfully sinister as Benicio Del Toro's Father.

Emily Blunt- I have to admit, I don't remember anything else I've seen her in, but she was fantastic. And beautiful too- that always helps for a leading lady!

And last but certainly not least- the leading man- Benicio Del Toro.
Where to begin? He portrays the wolfman beautifully, dark and brooding, with a sense of the disturbed. And what's particularly wonderful about him, is that he's NOT fantastically good looking. You don't get all pent up on how hunky he is- you focus on his acting. Brilliant.
The Wolfman itself, as an entity, was the best I've ever seen, we've come a long way with special effects!!! But what is even better is knowing that it is more good make up than computer wizardry. The transformation scene itself is particularly good, as we see his fingers break and twist while his teeth quite literally rearrange themselves. Disgusting, but in a way that you feel you have to look!
Another highlight for me, was the sounds the wolfman makes. It annoys me when werewolves bark-they''re supposed to be monsters, not dogs! The noises he makes are so much more than a bark or a howl- they're so much more hoarse, more guttural, more bestial... A werewolf's howl should be throaty and frightening. NOT high pitched and whiny.
Thank you Mr. Joe Johnston (the Director), for restoring the werewolf to how it should always have been.

Lost But Never Forgotten

Yesterday, fashion lost a titan.
He will be sorely missed, but the designs he created in his life will never be forgotten.








Lee Alexander McQueen CBE 16 March 1969 – 11 February 2010
R.I.P

Feur Frei...

So I disappeared for like a week (sorry about that) and the only excuse I can really come up with is that exactly a week ago I went to see Rammstein! I was actually blown away.
Indoor fireworks, and more pyrotechnics than you could shake a barrel of gunpowder at...
Here are some pictures of the highlights....Enjoy ;)

The stage was on fire!





Flaming Angel wings=One hell of a finale!

Yummy yummy yummy I've Got Love In My Tummy....

If you're feeling a bit skint this Valentines, or want to make something yourself just for the pure fun of it, how about trying this recipe? After all, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach....

Valentines Cookies

You Will Need:
170g Plain flour (plus a tiny bit extra for dusting and such)
170g Butter (at room temperature)
55g Icing Sugar
55g Cornflour

And For Decorating:
Seedless Jam
Icing
Sprinkles/Cherries/Smarties or whatever else tickles your fancy!!!

How To:
First preheat your oven to 190 degrees and sprinkle a large baking tray with flour.
Then, put all your ingredients (except your decorating bits!!!) in a mixing bowl and mix it with your hands (a mixing spoon is NOT an option, time to get messy!!!!) until it forms together as a soft dough. Then, flour your surface and roll the dough out to about 1cm thick an cut out heart shapes. The hearts are a lot easier to cut out if you have a cutter, but if like me you don't cut one out of card and slice around it. Try to get an even number, otherwise you'll have random biscuits left over (on second thoughts that's not a bad idea...)
Pop them on the baking tray and bake them in the oven 10-12 minutes until pale golden brown and slightly firm, then leave them on a wire rack to cool down.
Now for the fun part!!
Spread a biscuit with jam, and pop another one on top so you get a lovely, biscuity jam sandwich. When you've done that, you can go nuts decorating them!!
I put icing on mine and covered them in hundreds and thousands, but the possibilities are endless! Like... you could put icing on and cover them in jelly tots or smarties, or use writing icing to put names on. Why stop there though? You could use chocolate spread or peanut butter instead of the jam, or add a little food colouring to your dough to make pink cookies!
Heres some I made earlier:

HAVE FUN!!! XOXO

"But We're All Mad Here..."

I'm going as mad as a march hare (if you'll excuse a bad pun) about the 5th of March!
Tim Burton is a man who in my eyes can do no wrong, and to see his reimagining of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland is pretty exciting stuff...


But what got my nerdy, hoarding, likes-to-play-with-dolls side almost to equal excitement, was Mezco's decision to bring out four Alice in Wonderland themed dolls, so without further ado, let me introduce:
Inferno as The Queen of Hearts:



The Eggzorcist as The White Rabbit:


My personal favourite Sybil as The Mad Hatter:


And of course, Sadie as the one and only Alice:


All four are available from Play.com at £24.99 each... I don't know about anyone else but I want them!

Ten Must-Sees You Probably Haven't Seen

I've been sorting out my DVDs, which trust me is a gargantuan task. I'm kind of surprised that I'm not lost in some kind of netherworld following an avalanche because I moved the wrong one.
But anyway, it got me thinking. A lot of the films I have hardly anyones seen. So I've picked ten genres and picked a film from each one that more people need to see. Here goes...

The Romance


The Fountain.
Whenever I mention this film everyone's always like "what?" and when I went to see it at the cinema, I think there were only about six people in there. It's strange really considering Hugh Jackman is in it, and he's pretty famous. But anyway. I argued about whether this was a romance or a fantasy, but at it's center it's a love story. A lovely one at that. I sob uncontrollably every time, because it's such a stunningly beautiful film, and yet I know no-one that has seen it. It's a little bit hard to follow, but I would highly recommend it to anyone, and with Valentines just around the corner, it's a nice one to snuggle up to.

The Horror


Martyrs
This is not a film I talk about a lot. Partly because I'm sure I'll never forget it, and that frightens me a little bit more than the fact I watched it in the first place. Essentially, it's about a group of people trying to find out what women see when they are martyred... you can imagine. It's really not one for the weak of stomach, but definitely worth a watch for its message at the end. But I'm not going to tell you that, because its left me a little bit disturbed, and I want someone else to feel like I do. It's also worth a mention that this is a French film.

The Sci-Fi


Outlander
This film, is really hard to explain without giving too much away. I suppose all I really have to say about it is that if you thought vikings and aliens was a bizarre mix, you'd be right. But if you thought that mix wouldn't work, you couldn't be more wrong.

Animated


Grave of the Fireflies

This film kind of does everything you don't expect an animated movie to do. It's both immensely heartwarming and harrowingly sad. When I think about animated films, I normally expected something cute and cuddly with a happy ending, but the more I watch asian animation, the more I realise there can be a lot more too it. This film really does prove that point.

Adventure

Apocalypto
One of those films everyone's heard of but most people haven't bothered to watch. WHY NOT? I'll admit I never watched Passion of the Christ, but that's partly because I don't do religion. Apocalypto however, I've watched so much I'm not even sure the disc still works. It essentially follows one mans journey to save his family, a typical story but done in a really interesting way. It really helps that it's visually stunning too. It might be subtitled, but you don't really need to read them to understand its message.

The Epic

Curse of the Golden Flower
Yes, I know. Another subtitled film on the list. But this is the last one I promise. And lets face it, western epics just aren't as good as eastern ones. This one has everything you could possibly want. More dysfunctional family relationships than Albert Square, lust, betrayal and some amazingly choreographed fight scenes. It also features the beautiful Gong Li (Hatsumomo in Memoirs of a Geisha) and Chow Yun Fat (who is an amazing actor when he isn't speaking english). And... it's really pretty. Just the whole film. Costumes, the palace, everything. A massive feast for the eyes.
Watch it.

The Fantasy


Nightwatch
Kind of a hard one to put in a genre, I'm placing it in fantasy purely for the fact you see an owl turn into a lady (pretty gross as it turns out). It would also turn out I lied about the subtitles, this one's russian. Another one of those films that's a teensy bit hard to follow, but well worth figuring out. And it would be silly of me to write this without saying you should watch the sequel 'Daywatch'. Worth watching because it's dark and it's brooding, and has some truly trippy moments.

The Comedy


Something's Gotta Give
What can I say about this. Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves for starters! Jack Nicholson features as the man who only dates younger women (art imitates life as they say) only to end up trapped in a beach house with his younger girlfriends mother following a heart attack. Intensely funny, with real feel good vibes. One of those films that's great for sticking on when you've just has enough and need cheering up. I'm not even sure why no-ones seen this.
The Drama
The Wrestler
Yes, I know. You've heard of it, but have you watched it? No you say? Wrestling isn't you're thing you say? That's, quite frankly, no excuse. The film isn't so much about the wrestling, that's just what Micky Rourke does in it. And "Man who lost everything and needs to face own mortality" Isn't much of a title. I cried watching this film when he tries to reconcile with his daughter and I'm still not sure why. A brilliant film, especially when you see big manly Micky Rourke having his hair bleached and using spray tan.

The Independant


Black Snake Moan
Ah, the independant film. I guess that's just my way of saying I can't place it in a genre but you should definitely watch it. Featuring Christina Ricci playing a right royal trollop who'll pretty much sleep with anything that moves. And lets be honest that never turns out well for women, in films or otherwise. She goes on to be found in a ditch by Samuel L Jackson who decides she has 'the consumption' and her only hope of a cure is to live chained to his radiator away from temptation. This film is both brilliantly executed and controversial, and yet disappeared into the realms of obscurity. Plus, it's good to see Samuel L Jackson in a role where he's not shouting 'Motherfucker' a lot.