MovieRave(s); 'An Education'/'Pirate Radio'

It's probably become clear from reading this blog, but I vastly prefer 'films' over 'movies'. It's just how I role, people.

There's an artsy, independent kind of theater in Vancouver's Chinatown that I frequent called Tinseltown.
Don't judge the name, I think it's cute.
Anyway, yesterday, two friends and I decided to see the matinee showing of 'An Education'; though I'd read the review, none of us had a very clear idea about the movie, one of my friends had never even heard of it, but wanted to come anyway. All we knew was that it was getting rave reviews, and that I'd hit Peter Sarsgaard.

If you go to Tinseltown you have to visit T And T first to buy snacks for the movie; it's a chain of Asian grocery stores that get stuff imported directly from Asia.
I don't know if any of you had Asian friends as kids, but if you did, you'll know that they always had the best candy.

Strawberry Pocky is my life. The chocolate ones are OK, I guess, but strawberry's where it's at.
I got nine packets for $5.00. I ate five of them v.v

My friend made us all get this Tao Ti Apple Green Tea; basically, it's green tea mixed with apple juice, but it's so much more than that.



I can't describe the taste, just try a bottle of it.
Just FYI, this picture of the bottle is the Americanized version, but the writing on the bottle I had was in Chinese.

After we were perused the candy aisles, we headed up to the theater to see 'An Education'.


The three of us unanimously loved it; 'An Education' is the story of a sixteen year old girl, Jenny, living in London in the 1960s. Her father presses his narrow minded views on the rest of the family, which causes Jenny to rebel by living anything French, and fantasizing about living in Paris, going to concerts, smoking, wearing black, etc. She is currently studying at a girls school to get into Oxford so she can study English, then basically meet an educated man to marry her. One day she meets David, a cultured older man. he takes her to concerts, on trips, and introduces her to his glamorous friends and his glamorous lifestyle.They fall in love, and Jenny begins to think that there may be no point in her going to Oxford if she stays with David. Obviously, things aren't what they seem and Jenny gets an education in life.

So much could have gone wrong with this movie; the plot line of an older man falling for a sixteen year old girl is creepy, point black, but Peter Sarsgaard is a fantastic actor; he never falls into the 'creepy older man zone;, but remains charming throughout the entire film. Not gonna lie, I'd get in his car if he'd take me to Paris.
The protagonist, Carey Mulligan, is extremely talented; again, the plot could have gone array if Jenny would have been a whiny, 'woe is me', type of character, but Mulligan never let's her slip into that mode. She keeps Jenny strong throughout the entire film.


This is an awesome movie, and I normally hate 'coming of age' stories; it could have been so cliché, but the actors and storytelling never falter. It made me laugh, it made me want to cry, and it made me want to bang Peter Sarsgaard.
Basically, see this movie.

Afterwards, one of my friends had a kind of date (Oooooohhhhh) and had to leave. My other friend and I, having nothing else to do except homework on her part, decided to sneak into 'Pirate Radio'.
Fact; I'd never snuck into a movie before.
I'd never had wanted to see two movies at once, or if I did, no one else had wanted to. Plus, my birthday's at the beginning of the year, so I turned eighteen before everyone else, and if I had wanted to see an 18A (Canada's version of an R) movie, my mom would have just taken me.

But we both wanted to see another movie. The problem?
We had to loiter outside the bathroom for almost an hour, since the showing times were so far apart. Luckily, not much goes on at Tinseltown, so no one was really suspicious.
We did the old 'have a conversation while walking into the new theater' technique so as to arose no suspicions.
And it worked. I'm very proud of myself.

Anyway, the theater for 'Pirate Radio' was packed.

And we were the youngest in attendance, though we probably were for 'An Education' too, I just hadn't noticed.


'Pirate Radio' is set in the 1960s, and about 'pirate' radio station that floated just off the coast of the UK and broadcasted rock music twenty-four hours a day. Apparently it was illegal to play more than one hour of rock a day in Britain at the time, I don't know why. Irregardless, the pirate's weren't really breaking the law, since they were off British soil, and 25 million British people were listening to rock everyday.

But obviously, the British government was not happy about said boats, and Kenneth Branagh hires Jack Davenport to stop them.
The movie doesn't have a concrete plot, but consists of showing the British government trying to take down the stations, and the tomfoolery aboard Radio Rock, the biggest pirate radio station.

I wanted to see this movie because I love Bill Nighy, Rhys Darby, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman; the ensemble cast in this film in incredibly strong. it's basically every British comedic actor come together in a flurry of accents.


I laughed out loud in this film, and the middle-aged men and women around me were in stitches multiple times throughout the film. It is really all ages, with the exception of Phillip Seymour Hoffman saying 'fuck' in every sentence.

SideNote;
This movie was rated PG, and there was lots of fucks and a naked Nick Frost, which surprised me; way to have an awesome rating system, Canada.
For those of you who don't know, the average R rating in the USA gets a 14A here in Canada. For something to get an 18A in Canada, it has to be pretty graphic (I'm looking at you, 'Young People Fucking').

It's so rare that I find a comedy I actually like, I mean besides 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', and I really enjoyed 'Pirate Radio'. It had British humour, but it wasn't 'Monty Python', if that makes sense.
And everyone in the theater enjoyed themselves.

Afterwards, we got sushi ($5.95 for three rolls and miso soup!) and ice cream (Hazelnut ice cream, shaped like a pear, and dipped in chocolate), and called it a night.


Haul time! Since I am now employed, I decided to celebrate by buying myself an early Christmas present.


I'd been looking at this rong since the summer, and I finally bougt it. It's by Rings Eclectic; it looks a but like a compass head.
I love cocktail rings, and I'm super excited for this one.

QuestionOfTheDay;
'Twilight: New Moon'. Did you see it? Did you like it?
Discuss.


Love.