What a beautiful piece of cinema...

"Revolutionary Road" is a brilliant film, beautifully shot by director Sam Mendes, the husband of the leading actress Kate Winslet. The English actress plays April Wheeler, the wife of Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio), and the plot follows the breakdown of the couple's marriage, to heartbreaking effect. The film is set in 1950's Connecticut, a picturesque suburb in New York.

Emotions are up and down throughout the movie - some scenes are romantic, and show how much Frank and April care for each other, whilst others are filled with poisonous insults, arguments and bitterness. Underneath it all, it seems that their love for each other is deeply-rooted, but there are several expressions of apparent hate between them that make you wonder otherwise. Could it all just be sticking together for the sake of their kids?

Frank's shitty, soulless job as a computer salesman clearly annoys the hell out of him, so April suggests a new start in Paris, where she plans to work and support her husband's ambitions of finding his true meaning in life. Hesitant, Frank eventually agrees and falls in love with the idea, but when April falls pregnant with their third child, the cracks in their marriage widen so far that things spiral a little out of control. Frank decides to take an offer of promotion at work, shattering the plans to re-root to France and breaking April's heart, as her dreams of a happy new life for the family go down the plug.

With a tragic ending, the film hits hard, and the acting is truly spectacular. Having starred together in "Titanic" over a decade ago, it is clear that DiCaprio and Winslet's close friendship has a brilliant effect on their work. At moments the characters are a picture together, both extremely attractive and almost perfect as a pair, yet at other times they are each other's undoing, and this can be quite painful to witness as a viewer.

If you appreciate true drama and fantastic acting with some excellent camera-work, watch this film.

History sticks to your feet...

Well it has been a rather eventful past week or so, that's for sure. Last Monday I went on a camping trip with friends, which was a nice little excursion. We went to the Lakes, and despite camping right next to a road (what the fuck were we thinking?) we had a laugh. Me and Ben took the roles of "Explorers" and spent the evening chasing sheep and drinking on a hill, and during this we found an advantageous way to get into the small Lake we'd found in order to avoid being engulfed by the swampy terrain surrounding it.

Dodging countless piles of sheep shit and muddy puddles, we found a little rocky area that we could use to walk into the freezing lake, so we returned there the next day for a swim, as it was way too windy and cold to jump in that night.

The next day we mooched around a few caves and then the whole group walked to the "pool entrance", at which point me and Ben stripped to our skivvies and bravely endured the cold water, which was actually not that bad at all when we were up to our necks in it. We wanted to swim to a little island on the other side of the lake but when we thought of the prospect of cramping up due to the cold and drowning, the idea was quickly forgotten.

Overall a nice outing. When I'm in a place like that, I've gotta say I'm in my element. I go all David Attenborough whenever I'm surrounded by nature. Bless.

Went back to Manchester with Ben to get my fill of his and Adam's luxury apartment for another few nights, which meant me wearing Ben's clothes due to mine being dirty/not suitable for the ultra-fashionable Northern Quarter. Had a fun two days with those guys and then returned home.

Next came a trip to beautiful York with my Mum and li'l Bro, which was a nice day as the sun was out. Highlights included visiting Dick Turpin's grave, walking around the York Dungeons and strolling around the ancient walls built years ago in the Medieval city, and getting some tasty treats from Jim Garrahy's Fudge Kitchen (damn that fudge is amazing).

A funny moment was later in the day when we were sat on a bench, and were suddenly flung into a moment from "The Animals of Farthing Wood". Thanks to a few crisps, we were surrounded by pigeons, squirrels, mice and rats, all aiming to get their share of the grub on offer. It was hilarious watching them all eyeing each other, well the pigeons weren't, they were scoffing their faces off the fat cunts.

But the squirrels were definitely on guard, making sure they weren't ambushed by any birds while they were having their tea. The rats and the mice were gone if you even moved your little finger, they really were fast as fuck. The squirrel got a whole chocolate marshmallow thing to himself in the end, so cute watching him eat it. Victory!

So we went home, me with my baddass Golly doll that I'd purchased earlier in the day, a knackered and happy trio. Now I am going to spend time listening to the Strokes' entire discography because they're that fucking good. Ciao for now.

What goes on...

Being the lazy bastard that I am, my blog hasn't been updated in over a week. So here I am to change this. As I type, I am listening to The Velvet Underground Live at Max's Kansas City 1970, and recovering from a difficult two days of work that took place straight off the back of a short stay in Manchester.

It was great to be back in the best city in England, and its surprising how much it feels like home now, whenever I go back there for a few days. So it will be nice in September when I go back for Uni. The weather was really nice, and the train journey there was pleasant, even though I just spent it reading this month's Empire (how fucking ace does Depp look as the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland?!)

When I landed at Salford Crescent, my good friend Rich was there to greet me with a hug and a joint, and we took a nice stroll through the campus, staying at the students' shop to get lunch. Rich was delighted with his new iPhone, so we sat on the bench while he showed me all its wonderful features. He was clearly a very happy boy.

So off we went to Rich's new pad, a nifty house on Strawberry Hill that he shares with 4 other lads, only 1 of the 4 having moved in so far (Marc, who was clearly loving days of just chilling in his sexy new home). The house is awesome, with a nice kitchen and lounge, and Rich's attic room is class, perfect for his DJing. Rich treated me to a loud progressive live set, just like the old days of Bramall. Which means very fucking loud music, just as we like it. This prompted Rich to ask Marc later: "Was it too loud earlier by the way?" Marc replied: "Er, yeah, was fair loud". Basically, the whole house shook to the sounds of Daft Punk etc. Later Ross came round and we had an amusing evening in front of the television together, like a young, good-looking version of The Royle Family.

The next day came, and after a visit from Baxter and Cia, we all went our separate ways. For me, this meant a trip to Burger King at Picadilly to meet my other comrades Adam and Ben, who led me to their new penthouse apartment in the Northern Quarter. Two words: lucky cunts.
If Patrick Bateman's place had been designed by someone from Emmerdale, this is what it would have looked like. Its stylish and modern, but with a cosy, countryside feel to it, mainly because of the huge wooden panels in the ceiling. Like something out of The Enchanted Wood, we climbed the bunk bed-style ladders into Ben's attic room, then with a little help from his chair (propped onto his bed) we continued to climb, this time through a window in the roof. This brought us to the rooftops of the apartments, and a little area that the guys call their rooftop garden. The view from here is brilliant, and I ate my Burger King whilst the cool summer breeze blew by, the other two sitting there with smug grins. BASTARDS.

Off we went for drinks in the Northern Quarter, then a messy session in The Venue, minus Ben. Me and Adam consumed a lot of vodka/red bulls, so getting back to the flat was funny.
In the morning, Cheerios, a brew, and a screening of the excellent documentary "DIG!" before a train home for work at 2. Work was tough, as I was in need of a decent sleep...
Tomorrow brings more excitement as me and some friends will depart on a trip to the Lakes for a few nights. OO I wonder what we'll get up to! Watch this space...