Memory Lane: The Best of Mcfly

 

Warning: This blog post contains bias towards Mcfly and a lot of 'fan girling'.

 

So who would have guessed that I would have done a post on this? Well, pretty much everybody right?

 

Memory Lane: The Best of Mcfly was released today and I just had to go out and get it. I was going to get it tomorrow when I have plans to go shopping but I seriously couldn't wait! Yes it is basically just made up of songs which I already have on iTunes and know all the lyrics, and chords in some cases, to, but it was the prospect of BRAND NEW songs on here which made me need this album in my life. And obviously I bought the deluxe edition, but at £3 more for an extra CD including tracks you've never heard, why wouldn't you?

 

I have already run out of words to say. It's just an amazing album (especially being a huuuuge Mcfly fan anyway) which does contain the best of Mcfly. There's some demos, unreleased tracks and b-sides, alongside the classics which we know and love. The demos from 2003, when the band were just starting out, sound so different to the actual album versions. The Obviously demo is probably my favourite, it's so cute! (If a song can be cute...) Having read the first few chapter of Unsaid Things: Our Story (Mcfly's autobiography) and learning how they got together, it's amazing to hear the sounds they were talking about. The unreleased tracks and demos are amazing too! These include Do Watcha, which they played on their Keep Calm and Play Louder (KCAPL) tour in March/April this year, Cherry Cola, and on the deluxe version, Down Down and Mess Around You. Down Down is an amazing new song/demo and probably been my favourite so far (I haven't listened to the whole album yet because 70% of it is what I've heard a million times already) although I do really love Do Whatcha and the Obviously 2003 demo.

 

I'm trying to hold back from keyboard spamming. It's an amazing album and if you like Mcfly (like being the smallest proportion of interest in Mcfly) then go an buy this album! Even if you don't, go and buy it, I promise you that you'll love them after you've listened.

 

Memory Lane is out now in stores or online.

My Christmas List + PLEASE VOTE!

Purse - Converse - Glasses Case - Guitar Case - Headphones

 

Just thought I'd share some of the things I've asked for, for Christmas! Kind of a wishlist that I know I'm going to receive on the 25th December!

 

I love Cath Kidston things and I've been after a new purse for ages.

 

I've been really stuck as to what to ask for this Christmas, I already have everything I need/want! But I've managed to scrape these things together :P

 

 

One more thing: Those of you who know me may already know that I'm totally obsessed/in love with Mcfly. those of you who don't, do now! They're having a competition called 'Battle of the Fans' to win meet and greets on their tour in spring. All you have to do is click on the link, sign in with Facebook and click 'Like' next to the video to be able to vote. Being able to meet them (again) and winning this competition would mean the world to me! So pleaasseee just take a minute of your life to vote for me! You don't even have to watch the video if you don't want to, just click like! I'll love you forever!

CLICK HERE!

 

Hope you've all had a great weekend!

My Weekend at Leeds Film Festival #2 + A Few Messages

So another exciting weekend, volunteering at the film festival has gone by!

I only did 2 shifts this weekend (Friday 9th & Saturday 10th) so slightly short ramblings today (aren't you lucky) although I feel like I'm having a mental block at the minute so please bare with!

 

I'm not sure if I mentioned in my other festival post, but the festival favourites are repeated again so keep checking the festival website for the latest news and showings!

 

The first 2 films I watched this weekend, on Friday, were Seven Psychopaths and Sightseers, both are top rated films at the festival and 'black comedies' and in Victoria Hall in the Town Hall.

Seven Psychopaths; I thought that this was very funny, and I'm quite a fan of Christopher Walkin anyway. The film as a whole was 'okay', I think the ending ruined it a bit as it seemed like the writers had just run out of ideas; it didn't really go anywhere. Also, being a dog lover, and the dogs which they mainly featured, also looked like my dog, Scooby, it was a bit sad to see them being captured and threatened to be killed (SPOILERS! :P). The film was a bit gruesome in places too, and I don't do gore at all! Overall, I did enjoy the film, but it wasn't my favourite. I do recommend to go see it though, as I know quite a lot of people really enjoyed it, it was more to my personal preferences why I didn't. Seven Psychopaths is released in cinemas on 5th December 2012 (UK).

I was really looking forward to Sightseers after hearing it was really good and missing the first showing. It was also filmed in Yorkshire and in a caravan, and I love caravans! Basically, the only thing I really have to say, is that this is a black comedy! It was very gory and horrific. The ending was also a bit of a downer too, I won't say what happens incase anyone wants to go and see it, but it's a bit like "oh shit!" I came out feeling a bit depressed and sickly, again, like Seven Psychopaths, I just can't handle gore. It was really funny though and I had to stand outside the doors for 15 minutes incase of late comers (my job) and I found myself giggling even though I couldn't actually see what was happening. If you don't mind gore and a bit of "what were you actually thinking you crazy, psycho lunatic!" then go and see it! You can see Sightseers in cinemas 30th November 2012 (UK).

 

On Saturday I was at the VUE in Leeds. I thought it'd be really surreal volunteering here as it's an actual cinema with VUE customers and staff around, but it's been one of my favourite shifts! I saw The Shine of Day and Wrinkles.

 

Looking back I quite enjoyed The Shine of Day, and I didn't think I would because I watched the trailer and it seemed quite slow (check my review on Aaltra for my view on 'slow' films). I don't know what to say really other than it was quite interesting, but at some points, I was confused as to why things happened. The ending also just ended and I sat there thinking "what? Is that it?" I would have thought there would be a sequel, but I don't know whether there will be or not. It's quite a cute film but it didn't resolve anywhere.

Okay, story time! As I came out of The Shine of Day, I was told that there was a problem with the projector in the cinema and there was going to be a slight delay with the showing of Wrinkles, hopefully about 10-15 minutes. So as time went on, us volunteers and other members of the festival staff were starting to get worried about the film not actually showing, and we would have had a lot of angry and upset festival goers on our hands. 30 minutes had past and the projectionist finally got the film going and all was well, although we did lose a few people who didn't want to wait.

Please note: There may be a few spoilers in this as I need to explain some of the plot to express my opinions...

The film was a Spanish animation, set in an old folks home, and it started off being quite funny and a genuinely heart warming (ish) film. Then we meet Miguel who turns out to be a bit of a crook, and several elderly who have Alzheimer's who he takes advantage of, we find out about 'upstairs' and we hear residents, who have serious illnesses, shouting things like "get your hands off me, you're trying to kill me", and the main character develops Alzheimer's. So the first thing I have to say is it really upset me, like seriously. I considered walking out at several points. There are a few reasons to this, and they're quite personal, so I don't want to be explaining them all over my blog and the public internet. If you wish to know, contact me and I may explain:

1. I get really disheartened at things like abuse and neglect in places like an old folk's home. They're just vulnerable old people who need care and support as they can't look after themselves anymore and they rely and trust these people who were supposed to look after them. Now I know the shouts from upstairs were only because the residents have mental illnesses, but it still upset me.

2. The Alzheimer's issue. This is what upset me most as, lets just say, it's very close to home (and heart). The events related to this just almost made me cry, because I can relate to them. It was really horrible to watch.

I know it's only an animation, and not really real at all, but it was a kind of cartoon for adults and I guess it was easier to show things this way. If you're not as sensitive as me, then go and see it because it is a good film, it was just a bit too personal for me.

 

I only have one shift left at the festival, which includes a talk from the creator of War Horse (more info) which I won't be sitting in on, so I guess this is it for the festival posts! I hope they've been helpful and insightful and not bored you to tears! I may do another on the festival as a whole... We'll see! It won't be the end of my posts though; I'm going to try and keep uploading regularly, and I have my last essay deadline until after Christmas so I'll have some more free time hopefully now!

 

Final thing: I'm going to take this opportunity to tell you all about a charity concert I'm performing in on 1st December. It is being set up by my old singing teacher, Alison Eastwood, inspired by her mum and her Alzheimer's. Alison is doing some amazing stuff to raise money for this cause and I'm honoured that she's asked me to take part in her concert because of the issue being so close to me too. Details on the event are still to be confirmed, but if you're interested in coming along to support, feel free to contact me and I'll keep you updated. You can visit Alison's page here.

I've also created a new Flickr now I'm taking photography more seriously and have my DSLR :D
So yeah, check it out!

Thanks for reading! Have a great amount of time between now and my next post... (I'm so smooth)

 Toodlepip!

My weekend at Leeds Film Festival!

So Thursday saw the official opening of the 26th Film Festival here in Leeds, and although I missed the opening gala, I heard it was amazing!

This year, if you don't already know, I have the opportunity to volunteer at the festival and see some amazing films which I wouldn't usually go and watch! I've worked 3 shifts so far (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) and seen 6 films, which have all been so good in their own little ways, some more than others!

I thought I'd use the advantages of my blog to tell you all about some of the things I've seen over the weekend and recommend what you should go watch!

 

So on Friday (2nd November), I had my first shift of the festival at Hyde Park Picture House, which is an incredible, amazing venue and I just recommend going there at some point in your lives, whether it's to watch a film I recommend or not! It's an old style cinema, nearly 100 years old, and is the only cinema in the UK to still use gas lighting! It's beautiful!

At Hyde Park I saw Aaltra and The Art of Negative Thinking.

 

Aaltra was a little bit slow for me, it reminds me of La Haine; It's really slow, nothing much happens but it did make me laugh, especially towards the end. If you like that kind of thing, then you should definitely go see it but for me, it was a bit slow and I was just thinking 'when is this finishing again?'

The Art of Negative Thinking was miles better than Aaltra! (and we had better feedback too!) It was a quicker pace for a start! I can't seem to pin point why I enjoyed this more... I think it was just because it wasn't as slow and it was really funny too! I recommend going to see this film if you ever get the chance, it's just really entertaining!

 

Saturday (3rd) I was in Leeds Town Hall, working in Victoria Hall (the big, main one). I watched Reality and Argo.

 

I walked in 10-15 minutes after Reality had started (we have to wait for late comers) and I couldn't really understand what was going on or who the 'main' person/people were. I eventually managed to grasp it, but it's a kind of weird story... I don't want to give it away, but if you're interested click on the link up there ^. It was an 'okay' film but it seemed to drag on for ages. I read what the film was about online before my shift and I gathered that it was about this Dad who auditions for the Italian Big Brother so you'd expect to see him in the Big Brother house throughout at least a good 30-45 minutes of the film. But you don't. I'm trying not give away the plot too much, but basically, he sneaks into the house at the end of the film and just wanders about and sits there as the film ends. It was really strange and I though 'how could you even do that?' A couple who were in gave it 0 stars and I think they were a bit harsh, but it definitely wasn't worth 5!

Argo was the film shown at the opening gala and it filled a slot for the 'festival faourites' and I was really glad that they decided to show it again because after I'd heard about the opening gala, I really wanted to see it! Again, I walked in after 10 minutes or so and it was fairly easy to grasp, I don't think I missed too much. I thought that it was a really really good film (I'm so good at describing what I thought about it). It was really tense and gripping and I was really getting in to it! I kept screaming to myself in my head 'no no, go go go! Get out of there!!' I don't really know what to say without giving too much away, but just go and see it! It's released 7th November in the UK, this  Wednesday, so just go and see it on Orange Wednesdays with a friend!

I also bumped into Victoria (vipxo) whilst I was working (small world right!) which was always nice :D

 

Yesterday (Sunday) I was at the Town Hall again, but in the Albert Room, which is a beautiful room with 'light bulb disco balls' as I referred to them! The Albert Room shows mostly short films and documentaries, including Beauty is Embarrassing and Grandma Lo-Fi:The Basement Tapes of Sigríður Níelsdóttir.

Beauty is Embarrassing has definitely been my favourite of the festival so far! It's about this wacky artist, Wayne White, and his career. He's just hilarious! It was inspiring in a way; he just does whatever he wants, no matter what anyone thinks and he said this quote at the end which was amazing! Again, I have no words! If you ever see a showing of this, just go an see it! I never would have seen this if I wasn't volunteering, I wasn't even going to watch it, it's not really my kind of thing, but I'm so glad I did!

The second documentary, Grandma Lo-Fi was a bit surreal. It was about this 70 year old woman who recorded her own songs in her house and never played in front of people, she did it just because she loved to, and could! I felt like some of the things in there just appeared to be mocking her and made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I also don't understand why someone made this; it was made in Iceland, where she's from, and maybe I didn't get it because I like in the UK. Apparently she's a big star over there but she's not exactly Su Bo! I thought this would interest me, as it was music based, but it didn't really! The guy who I was working with gave it 5 stars, so I think this one's just down to personal opinion. I think it's the only film though that I thought I would enjoy and didn't. I saw the trailer for it a few weeks back at a launch thingymabob and to be honest, it didn't seem that good then. It just wasn't for me I'm afraid!

 

So that's it! We come to the end of my film watching, volunteering weekend, and if you've made it this far, you need a hi-five! Sorry for the looooooong blog post, but I'm always too busy nowadays to write anything of meaning so I guess I'm kind of making up for that! I should be doing some work right now actually but I thought I'd be nice and write this for you all :D

Hope it was useful anyway and you enjoyed reading my ramblings! Oh, and I hope to see some of you at the festival soon! Check out http://www.leedsfilm.com/ to check out all the film and events that are happening at the festival! Ciou for now!