a beautiful story

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harry potter and the deathly hallows (part one) will be officially released at midnight tonight.

it's the end of an era, a generational love for something. not gonna lie, i'm pretty sad; it's amazing how something can just encompass your life and your whole generations' lives, really.

honestly, i've never read the books. and just didn't want to until after all the films are done. for two reasons of that i'm afraid it will mess up my vision and view of the films and two, i honestly just never felt the need to, like a lot of people.

the films, really, are just so beautiful to me. it sounds odd, if you don't care for them, haven't seen them or just think they are a waste of time. (trust me, i've known all three.) but the story, cinematography, acting and costumes are all so wonderful and amazing; i do think they are 'films' and not just automatically filtered into the 'fantasy-comic-book-action-adventure-blockbuster' genre.

just the fact that this boy was saved, able to live because of all the love his mother had for him; and that harry puts up with so much, sacrifices so much, deals with such loss, amongst so many other things, makes him a wonderful character to me. the films show so many great aspects of life and the things that happen in it, that i think kids might not ever fully grasp without it. not just harry potter, but other books with storylines like it as well.

and i love the fact that it also shows great friendships and how they should work. the connection and love that harry, ron and hermoine have for one another is so strong and just...lovely, really; to see, watch and witness that i also think it's a great example and role model (the characters and storylines) for kids and teens to look at and know that THAT is what real friendship is like and how we should treat one another.

and it's quite funny and adorable throughout all of the movies (especially the first couple) to see them bicker and tease one another, i must say. one of my favorite moments of the entire series is in goblet of fire where they're studying and talking about the ball, where snape keeps smacking ron and harry on the head because they're not concentrating.

"hermoine, you're a girl."

"yes, spot on."

think about it, without harry potter (or any other phenomena book or book series, really) would kids even READ, read-read anymore? i don't think they would. there would, offfff couurrrrsssee be those exception to the rules, but really, i don't think that the passion to read or wanting to continue to read after all seven books would exist for people between 8 and 18 if j.k. rowling & harry potter didn't exist.

so, just be kind and know that while i may not be a super-fan, that it has affected me and it is a big part of my life, in a small way. i know some just do not get it, mostly because i just think some don't give it a chance or have issues against it, for whatever reason that could be. but for those of us who have loved it for so long, whether it be the books only, the films only, or both, tomorrow is somewhat of a big deal. just like it was when the book came out in 2007. it's the end of something that has been a part of our lives for TEN years. and it will most certainly feel odd come next summer when it's officially all over.

harry potter, i love you and your story and can't wait to witness the beginning of the end tonight.

boo boo bee do

this weekend: 'Some Like It Hot'

written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond

directed by Billy Wilder

some like it hot is my favorite marilyn monroe film; but it definitely goes without saying that tony curtis and jack lemmon steal the show. both of them are such amazing actors and comedians and i fell in love with the two of them after seeing this for the first time.

curtis and lemmon play two musicians who witness a mass shooting and have to go into hiding, away from the mob. in order to disguise themselves, they join an all-girl band who is traveling to florida. where, they meet monroe's character and a whole mess of hilarity ensues.

my favorite scene is in the beginning of the film where they're all coming in and out of each others' bunks with liquor and cigarettes, curtis' character all upset that they'll get found out and lemmon just enjoying being around all the women...just hilarious. and monroe is so perfect with every line delivered and every little wink and shoulder shake she does.

if you've never heard this before, you must. it's one of my favorite 'behind the scenes'-like moments i've ever heard of from old-hollywood:

(from wikipedia)
"Tony Curtis is quoted frequently as saying that kissing Marilyn Monroe was like "kissing Hitler". During a 2001 interview with Leonard Maltin, Curtis stated that he never made this claim. In his 2008 autobiography, Curtis notes that he did make the statement to the film crew, but it was meant in a joking manner.[2] During his appearance at the Jules Verne Festival in France (2008), Curtis revealed on the set of Laurent Ruquier's TV show that he and Marilyn were lovers in the late 1940s when they were first struggling for recognition in films."

now, this isn't my most favorite 'old' movie, but it definitely is my favorite film of monroe's and curtis'. it's so funny and so endearing and one of the best classic films; email me if you watch it and don't enjoy it, i'll want to know why! haha or just shoot me a message telling me why you loved it! (just like letter-writing, i think no one ever emails anymore as well, don't you think?)

lovelovelove!

- L

who, me?

^lauren nicole love (view more here)

realizing the other day that i rarely speak about my interests outside of mail and movies, i thought that i would write up a few random facts about my loves and not-so-loves lately. that is, if you're interested..it's cool if you're not, :P.

ONE - the longest time i've lived anywhere was for five years in atlanta. once the two-year mark of living somewhere rolls around, i start to get an itch for a new atmosphere and new air.

TWO - about a year ago, i made a decision never to speak about politics or social issues with good company because of the set fact that some great relationships got stomped upon whilst discussing those topics.

THREE - first concert i ever went to was the dixie chicks when i was seven. and i've never, ever, turned my back on them since then. their songs move me and inspire me in ways i won't ever be able to explain. their last album, 'taking the long way', is like a love letter to my soul. and that's all i have to say about that...

FOUR - every time i look at taylor lautner, i swear, all i see is shark boy with man boobs, sorry.

FIVE - probably not an unknown fact, but i love to dissect and analyze films. i mean, watch them with and without the commentaries and read interviews with DP's and set designers dissecting. it's not as obsessive as it could be, thank God, but it is to a point where i could determine your movie-going fate with just a simple conversation. this summer? see inception (really, no! haha) & despicable me and skip salt, trust me. i will never get those two hours of my life back.

SIX - music is becoming more and more a big part of my life. it used to fall by the wayside of films and my dying love for them and that art, but now i am really loving finding new music and letting it succumb my mind into different memories and dreams; mumford and sons, florence and the machine, the runaways, suzi quatro, (renewed loves) paramore and kings of leon.

SEVEN - mostly, i watch old tv shows and could care less about the latest teen drama, but over the summer i have fallen in love with how i met your mother. dear bambi, that is an amazing show; but i won't go on, because this could be a three hour conversation. (another blog post possibly, though.)

EIGHT - while i don't have road rage, i do talk a lot to my dashboard and say things that i feel might have possibly offended her...

NINE - i want to be in a glee club. like, now. someone send me my own personal mr. shuester.

TEN - music before the year i was born is the majority of what i listen to. i would rather dance to 'splish splash' by bobby darin and 'twist and shout' by the beatles than a song by the latest hip hop songstress.


hope it wasn't too boring! i honestly couldn't think of too many things for awhile, so, sorry a lot of them are relatively media centered, haha.

once again, you guys rock! i'm working on more things for this little blog including a giveaway and trying to incorporate more mail and creative-like things back into my weekly posts. speaking of, a mail one should be up before the end of the week with some AWESOME incoming missives; so be on the lookout!

lovelove,
- L

repeat the sounding joy

there are some films that touch your heart and just MOVE your soul emmensely, you have to watch it again, immediately. i don't know how to explain it, but there are just those certain films that move and restore you and you need to get the effect again, just to lock in that power and amazement. the first time i saw 'the family stone' was not in a theater or on dvd, but on tv, about two years ago. it played at about nine o'clock and then again at eleven thirty. how do i remember this? because it's a film, a story, that stuck and i remember the moment in time i witnessed it for the first time. i got lucky that night, in that a film i knew i had to see again, NOW, was replaying right afterwards the first showing. it must sound weird, what i'm telling you, but really, it does make a difference to see certain films a second time, immediately after the first view.

so run down to your nearest target and purchase this film for a mere five dollars and watch it a couple times, on a rainy afternoon. let it sink in, keep the characters and moments in the room with you for some time. this movie doesn't change your life, it gets your beloved ones in your life, in perspective as well as yourself.

are you living to the full extent of your being?

are you with the right person?

do you really love that person?

what is your relationship like with your family as a whole?

do you like it or want to change it and become more connected?

who are you?

what do you really need and want?

i love this movie, more and more with every single view of it's moving story. get a good couple viewings in for yourself to see what each of these images mean and feel like; you will be moved, touched and swept away by the simple beauty of it all.

- L

number one

this weekend: 'Across The Universe'

written by Julie Taymor, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais

directed by Julie Taymor

this film...is perfect. there isn't one thing i would add or take out of it. to say that, is a lot for me; even some of my other favorite films i would change a few things, but not Across The Universe. no way, no how.

it goes without mentioning, that this is my utmost favorite film. ever.

Across The Universe is so wonderful in the fact that the film's story is based off of The Beatles' songs and music. literally. every character is named after a song or line of a song, the structure to how things occur comes from lyrics and beats and takes place during The Beatles' reign between 1965 and 1969.

this film is what made me fall in love with the greatest band of all time and The Beatles are now my most favorite musical artist as well.

some background info on the beginning of the film, courtesy of wikipedia -

'The story begins in Liverpool, England with a young shipyard worker named Jude (Jim Sturgess), who asks the camera if "anyone wants to hear his story all about the girl who came to stay." ("Girl"). Against the wishes of both his mother and his girlfriend, Jude enlists in the merchant navy and travels by ship to the United States of America ("All My Loving"). He jumps ship in New Jersey to search for his American G.I. father, whom he has never met and who does not know Jude exists.

He befriends a Princeton student, Max (Joe Anderson), a rebellious and eccentric young man from a privileged background. When Max goes home for Thanksgiving, bringing Jude with him, Jude meets Max's younger sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) ("I've Just Seen A Face"). After a heated argument with his parents about his future, Max drops out of college and moves to New York City, accompanied by Jude. They become roommates in a bohemian enclave in Greenwich Village, where they share an apartment with others, most notably Sadie (Dana Fuchs), their landlady, who is an aspiring singer. Other residents include Jojo (Martin Luther McCoy), who arrives from Detroit, Michigan after the death of his younger brother during the 12th Street Riot ("Let It Be") ("Come Together"); and Prudence (T. V. Carpio) a young woman who has hitchhiked to New York City from Dayton, Ohio, and recently escaped an abusive boyfriend who lives in a nearby apartment.

After Lucy's boyfriend, Daniel (Spencer Liff), is killed in Vietnam, she goes to New York City to visit Max before she starts college. Romantic relationships develop between Lucy and Jude ("If I Fell"), and between Sadie and Jojo, while Max visits the Army draft board and cannot avoid recruitment ("I Want You (She's So Heavy)").'


again, i don't want to give TOO much away if you haven't seen this - but when it came to writing my own views about this, i'd come up with way too many uses of words like amazing, beautiful, wonderful, lovely, brilliant, stunning, colorful and inspirational. it's so hard not to overuse those words. so instead, i think i'll keep it as simple and basic as i can; just showing you images in order of how the film progresses and as simple of a commentary as i can.

^this is one of my favorite scenes; jim sturgess is so endearing.

^'let it be' taking place during some of the riots right before the vietnam war begun. i can never watch this scene without weeping; the voices are SO powerful and just break your heartstrings.

^*swoons*

^where you first get introduced to prudence, singing an acoustic, more slow version of 'i want to hold your hand', which i honestly like more than the original.

^this scene is just before the madness of the anti-war movement started.

^ATU is beyond visually stunning, it needs it's own word for beautiful. the symbolisim of the drafted soldiers carrying the statue of liberty, on their backs, is brilliant. that image, to me, is something every american should see and think about for a good long moment.

^'dear prudence', one of my favorite Beatles' songs.

^where drugs really start to set in into the lives of the main characters and they go on an acid trip with Dr. Robert whom is the film's referance to Ken Kesey. (read more on the ever-interesting Kesey HERE.)

^after their trip into the rural countryside with Dr. Robert, they take a visit to Mr. Kite, played wonderfully by Eddie Izzard. i love how everything Mr. Kite says is going to happen - in his song - happens at the end of the scene (when you watch a movie over twenty times, you notice these odd little things, haha.)

^lovelovelove this moment in the film. julie taymor said that if she'd had her way and the studio wasn't vying for a PG-13 rating, that when all of the characters were laying in the field, she would've had them all be naked. she grew up in that time and said that a lot of things, like that simple little moment, could've been more accurate if it were rated R.

^as jude become more and more obsessed with his relationship with lucy and drawing different versions of her. jim sturgess didn't draw any of the art featured in the film, they hired one, but still, i love the beauty of it all. especially the one above of 'passing through' representing lucy's slow dissapearance into the anti-war movement and out of jude's life. and the strawberry art, oh my goodness...

^just..so gorgeous and it's so simple, yet speaks so much when you watch the film.

^like here, when both jude and max sing 'strawberry fields forever'; in my opinion, representing all the bodies max saw while in vietnam and how a lot of americans were 'living is easy with eyes closed' at the time. i think this took place around '67/'68 when the anti-vietnam-war rallies just started. in the behind the scenes videos, taymor tells of how they shot joe anderson on a green screen and actually projected jim sturgesss' face onto anderson's, live; which is pretty cool, haha.

^helter skelter; i could care less about manson and so on and so forth - i love this song.

^all you need is love; symbolizing The Beatles' rooftop performance, by yes, in a cliche way, doing a rooftop performance at the end of the film - like in the end of The Beatles' career. Still, the last moments of Jude and Lucy just looking at each other, just looking with tears and true emotion in their eyes is so beautiful, my heart actually skips a beat when i think about it.

while the film didn't gross much or get a TON of critical acclaim, it'll always be my favorite, the number one on my best films list. it's just...one of those movies you never get tired of and want to tell everyone about and get hit with so much inspiration every time you watch it and and and and...

IT'S PERFECT AND AMAZING AND WONDERFUL and you should watch it this week. you won't regret it.

(watch the special features too, they're so great and give you more detail and info on some things that might have been not as important or vague when you first saw it.)

lots of love,
- L