Yes I said it, run, don’t walk to see Inception, the new Christopher Nolan movie. It opened on Friday July 16 and is probably one of the very very best movies I have ever [yes EVER] seen.

It’s a mindbending, espionage-laced thrill ride through the dream-state. It will cause you to question [...]]]> Three words. RUN DON’T WALK.

Yes I said it, run, don’t walk to see Inception, the new Christopher Nolan movie. It opened on Friday July 16 and is probably one of the very very best movies I have ever [yes EVER] seen.

It’s a mindbending, espionage-laced thrill ride through the dream-state. It will cause you to question the movie, the characters and your very own “dream-state”.

The special effects are AUTHENTIC, old-school Hollywood [think scale hallways that turn 180 degrees 8 times per minute and tilting rooms on giant hydraulic lifts] since Nolan really dislikes the overuse of CGI in newer action/adventure/thriller movies. The acting is exceptional. The screenplay though provoking and original. The cinematography breathtaking. The film concept massive and layered and executed brilliantly. It is Nolan’s finest work.

To say I’m a fan is an understatement. I have been for years and even more so since the Dark Knight and Heath Ledger’s award-winning Joker performance.

The thing that strikes me about this film though is not just the look and atmosphere of it, or even the thinking person’s concept of reality vs. the dream-state, but it’s the emotional thread that is picked up and held, tightly, throughout what for all intents and purposes is an action/thriller. That is very unusual. An emotional thread in any action movie is startling, much less having that thread ultimately be the catalyst and literal string that binds the entire movie together. It is almost unheard of! and that it was executed so beautifully, thoughtfully and successfully is gratifying and a pleasure to see.

An interesting point about casting is that Nolan tends to work with not only the same CREWS and PRODUCTION company in all his movies [his team is one of the best in the business by all accounts], but he also works with the same actors over and over, much like Tim Burton. Case in point – Cillian Murphy was in Memento, Batman, Dark Knight and Michael Caine was in both Batman/Dark Knight movies and the Prestige; seems to beg the question: If the next villian in the Batman/Dark Knight saga is to be the Riddler, has he [Nolan] been hazing Joseph Gordon-Levitt for that role? Rumor has him as a candidate for the part for a while now, along with Johnny Depp and a few others; however, having just finished Inception with Nolan, JGL seems to have the inside track on the part. Hmmm… if history is to reveal anything, I would put my money of JGL as the Riddler in the next Batman installment.

Christopher Nolan is surely one of the best, if not THE best, directors of his era and with this opus of a movie, he has proved his chops once again. And proved it with gusto and incredible vision. Bravo… Bring on the next installment of the Dark Knight, we can hardly wait.

After years of visiting Paris in the spring and years of tantalizing her home-bound friends in Canada and the USA with tidbits on her blog about her favorite city, my dear friend Carmi has FINALLY written an [...]]]> The title alone illicts intrigue doesn’t it? Well, I’m happy to say that the intrigue is worth the read…

After years of visiting Paris in the spring and years of tantalizing her home-bound friends in Canada and the USA with tidbits on her blog about her favorite city, my dear friend Carmi has FINALLY written an Artgirl’s Guide to Paris, literally.

It’s a well written and visually beautiful guide book for us arty chicks to all the wonderful haunts and spaces that every art-inclined girl should visit in Paris. The book gives you exactly what you want to know – where to shop for arty things, where to eat lightly and well, where to stay and how to get around. It’s a great companion travel book to any existing Fodor’s, or other ‘official’ Paris travel guides. It picks up where the big travel books leave off and give you an insider’s look at Paris – the Paris WE arty chicks want to know…

I’m lucky enough to have received a personal copy from my art-girl-friend and I have to say that it is a beautiful and inspiring book. It makes me want to jump on a plane to Paris right this second! BUT… I’m waiting until the Spring when I will finally haul my Vancouver butt across the Canada and then across the Atlantic to the City of Lights.

I’ve torn through the book, voraciously eating up all the gorgeous photographs and I confess that I’m dying a little that I can’t leave today to shoot the summer streets of Paris. BUT, I can, and will wait, until Spring when the tulips are blooming – after all that it Carmi’s favorite time over there and let’s be honest, she knows the City best =)

I highly recommend this little gem of a book. You can purchase it here.

Here is a preview of the book…

For years, the downstairs studio sliding glass [...]]]> So in the last 7 years that we’ve lived in our house, we have had a cavalcade of neighbourhood cats and raccoons wandering through our yard and since we have cats [that are strictly indoor due to raccoons and nearby traffic] they are fiercely, FIERCELY protective of their house.

For years, the downstairs studio sliding glass doors have been victimized by pounding and posturing from all of our kitties, including the deceased MackMack, old-fart Kodiak and the Lulu. They basically howl and hiss at the intruders – raccoon and neighbour cat alike – and beat the crap out of the glass sliders in an effort to assert their dominance.

About 2 weeks ago, I came home from work [hubs was off on a vacation week] and after walking through the back door I was greeted with the following phrase: “Honey, NEVER underestimate the power of The Lulu.”

I’m like, “Um, Ok. What did she do?” All T says is go look in the studio. So I go in, stand in the doorway and everything looks ok at first glance and again I ask, “What did she do?”

All he says is look at the glass door. HOLY CRAP! The entire inside panel of the left slider is shattered. I mean TOTALLY shattered! From the bottom to the top. Every square inch. Thank god its tempered glass and it stayed intact… I have horrible visions of what could have happened.

Anyways, it seems that the Lulu was intent on scaring off one of the MANY local raccoons and basically about a foot up from the bottom of the door there was an impact mark, with the shattered glass radiating up from that location. We assume that she pounded on the glass one too many times. It blows me away because if you could see her, she’s tiny for an adult cat and looks completely harmless. Clearly we have been educated to think otherwise, as have the local raccoons. Here are a few photos of the Lulu damaged door… Good job huh?

Five words sum it all up…
“Don’t mess with the Lulu!”

I LOVE Vegas. It has the perfect mix of quick holiday that I love. Here’s why…

This Vegas trip we’re [...]]]> yep… 5 more sleeps until Vegas.

I LOVE Vegas. It has the perfect mix of quick holiday that I love. Here’s why…

• Great hotels, 4+ stars at REASONABLE prices
• Warm, sunny weather = pool time
• Great shopping
• Great dining
• Great GAMBLING
• loads of walking to be done = good workout for the butt, hips, abs and of course, legs!

This Vegas trip we’re gonna do something a little different. We’ve been hooked on the TLC reality show ‘Pawn Stars’ for a while now and just finished watching 4 back-to-back episode of the series. It’s a show about a real-life, working pawn shop in Vegas and yup, you guessed it, we’re going to go and see what’s what in the pawn shop. The shop is located on LV Blvd and is just a bit north of the Stratosphere hotel, so we’ll be hopping on the Vegas public transit to check it out.

The cast of the show [Old Man, Rick, Big Hoss - Rick's son Corey & Chumlee] have owned and operated the pawn shop for over 20 years and the stuff they have there for sale is crazy! Everything from the $10K Ormolu gold ‘Death Clock’  to cars, jewelry and antique documents. T is considering bringing a StarWars toy just to see what the value of the collectible is in a place like that. I’m looking forward to this. I hope that at least one of the main guys [either Old Man, Rick or Chum] are there. I’d love to take a pic with one or all of them if they are available. These guys are HUGE and would make me look teeny tiny nex to them =)

Anyways… 5 more sleeps. I CAN NOT WAIT!!!

All of my new pieces are [...]]]> Hello all…
Just a quick note to let you know that all my new giclees are now available exclusively at the Velvet Room Boutique in Vancouver, on 41st Ave between Yew and Vine. I delivered them myself yesterday and are currently being hung in this exceptional, Canadian oriented designer clothing store.

All of my new pieces are based either on my botanical photography or on antique 1950s imagery from 1950 Vogues and Officiel fashion magazines. The Botanika Series is based on hand-altered photography in combination with 1890s ledger book sheets and the new retro fashion collages are timeless, elegant and beautiful – perfect for any young woman’s bedroom, a powder room, or anywhere you want a little bit of Audrey Hepburn style. The 1950s collection are 24×36 and the Botanika pieces are 12×18 archival, museum quality giclees on canvas respectively. The giclees are gorgeously printed and have a minimum expected lifespan of 100 years!

Here is an example of the artwork you’ll find at the Velvet Room Boutique:

The store location is:  2248 West 41st Ave Vancouver – Kerrisdale 604-264-8664
HOURS: 10am-6pm Mon – Sat and Sunday 12-4pm

It was great overall… BUT if I have to give my honest opinion there are a few things that did stick out as not quite on par with the first Ironman [Note: the first Ironman is tough to beat. RDJ as IM was fun, revealing [...]]]> So we went to late/early show of Ironman 2 last night.

It was great overall… BUT if I have to give my honest opinion there are a few things that did stick out as not quite on par with the first Ironman [Note: the first Ironman is tough to beat. RDJ as IM was fun, revealing and he embodies this character perfectly. The surprise and fun of the first movie is going to be tough to match much less beat...].

First the good stuff:

1. RDJ is at his best. Smart, funny, charismatic and looking fiiiiiiiiiine!
2. The ’suits’ were wicked cool
3. Mickey Rourke as Whiplash was great.  I’ve always liked him as an actor, even if he’s screwed with his face to the point of ‘beyond recognition’.
4. LOVED Sam Jackson. Some of the best one-liners in the movie. I want an eye-patch like Nick Fury…
5. Sam Rockwell as a bumbling nemesis. Great casting and allows for him to segway into the 3rd installment of Ironman. Wonder if he’ll be back…
6. Impeccable costuming – I want Gwenyth’s shoes and dresses.
7. SHIELD agent who threatens to taser Stark until he’s left drooling on the carpet. AWESOME!
8. Scarlett Johansson was good as Black Widow. She kicked some bad-guy ass
9. The cars. Oh the cars. Particularly the Audi. Yummy ride.
10. RDJ. RDJ. RDJ.

The ‘meh’ stuff:

1. A little too much focus on the ’suits’
2. Could have built on the Pepper and Tony storyline a little bit more BUT this is an action/comic book flick, so love storylines are quickly dealt with and squished outta the plot
3. Don Cheadle as ‘Rhodey’. I like Cheadle as an actor, but that special chemistry between Terrance Howard and RDJ was missing from the performance. He did well under the circumstances, coming in after Howard had placed his character stamp on Rhodey.  This time however, Rhodey was a more ‘business-like’ character in  sequel, and while I did miss the relationship chemistry between Rhodey and Tony Stark a little bit, I think it was handled decently. Let’s hope for more development in IM3…
4. Not enough of Mickey and Stark together.

Overall, if I had to give a rating on the movie – I’d give this Ironman a B+.

It kicks ass just enough, but stops  shy of being fricken awesome. It’s a great, fun movie for those into the comic-book-movie-genre and for those who love a RDJ movie vehicle.  Go see it in IMAX, just try not to sit in row 4 like we got stuck in… you can get real dizzy really fast.

We’re seeing it in IMAX and will be lining up for the big show at 10:30pm to [...]]]> Ironman 2 with my beloved RDJ opens tonight [ok technically TOMORROW morning] at 12:01am and after some discussion about working tomorrow, late night, etc… T and I  just bought tickets online! I’m so excited I can hardly wait ;^)

We’re seeing it in IMAX and will be lining up for the big show at 10:30pm to get decent seats.

RDJ as Tony Stark

And for those of you who haven’t yet seen the trailer, here you go…

I’ll report back tomorrow ;^)