SWEENEY TODD

Sweeney Todd. WHOOOO!!!!!! Love it!

Me & Actor agreed that this has got to be our favorite musical now. Grease is still one of my favorites, but this movie just took musicals to a whole 'notha level. And plus Johnny Depp is the shiznit. Did I mention that by the way?...

Depp plays Benjamin Barker, a happily married barber who is unjustly exiled & sent to prison by a jealous & greedy judge who wanted his wife. He comes back years later, changing his name to Sweeney Todd & vowing revenge. The only person that recognizes him is Mrs. Lovett, a meat pie shop owner who's store is right below his. Lovett, who's been secretly in love with Sweeney forever, becomes his accomplice in the quest. He reopens his shop & vows to give people the closest shave they'll ever have. A shave that they never come back from again...

Filled with banging songs, lyrics & melodies, Sweeney Todd is magnificently crafted. I mean, I can remember most of the songs even now and I saw it a while back. Most of the movie was dark but splashes of colors were beautifully thrown in & made you appreciate it. The story line was... exciting, breathtaking, scary, thrilling, moving, overwhelming... it's just freaking awesome!!!

Helena Bonham Carter (Lovett) was a great match for Depp (you know they've done movies together before. Look it up.) She's a great actress & singer. Everyone else in the movie were great singer & actors too, hence the all-around great musical.

Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) made a cameo appearance as Signor Adolpho Pirelli, a former apprentice of Sweeney (before he went to prison) and is now a self-proclaimed barber of the town. lol. He is a trip!

Alan Rickman (Judge Turpin) is the one responsible for Sweeney's miserable life & has Sweeney's daughter in captivity. He's also the bad guy in PERFUME. He's a great actor; definitely makes you scared of & despise him.

I definitely gotta give props to Depp for singing throughout the WHOLE ENTIRE movie. He was really nervous about it but he did his thang! Refer to the "he is the shiznit" comment above...

I also gotta give props to Jayne Wisener (Johanna; Sweeney's daughter.) Her voice was so pure & enchanting. Her song was one of my favorites.

Now mind you, some people didn't know that Sweeney Todd was a musical. A couple of people left the theater after the opening scene & the ones who stayed were very annoying. They kept commenting & making fun of the singing and you KNOW me & Actor were blowed! This chick behind Actor kept kicking his seat when Sweeney killed people in the barber shop... Yea. Pretty bad... But guess what? The movie got soooo good & captivating that everyone, EVERYONE, in the theater were still & quiet & taking it all in. It was a great thing to experience for me. I'm such a big Depp supporter.

Speaking of, I want him to win the Oscar. He deserved it a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGG time ago. I'm all for Depp winning "Actor in a Leading Role" this year. He better freaking win is all I'm saying. It is not a request!

I like all the other contenders in the category too (Clooney, Day-Lewis, T. Lee Jones & Viggo Mortensen) They're all great actors but I'm all for Depp this year. Sorry guys! You'll get one another time...

In conclusion, here's a recap:

1) Sweeney Todd is THE musical. Watch it.
2) Sacha B. Cohen is still the truth.
3) Depp better win the Oscar this year.
4) Remind me to tell you about "Eastern Promises." That was a good movie too.
5) Depp better win the Oscar this year.
6) Win the Oscar this year Depp better.


~ Akanke

SWEENEY TODD

"This is the tale of an ordinary man, who had everything... Benjamin Barker. Until a man of power stole his freedom, destroyed his family and banished him... for life. And in his sorrow a new man was born."


"No! Not Barker. That man is dead. It's Todd, now. Sweeney Todd. And he shall have his revenge..."



At last! My arm is complete again!

"I can guarantee the closest shave you'll ever know."




"There's a hole in the world like a great black pit, and it's filled with people who are filled of shit, and the vermin of the world inhabit it..."

"I want the bleeders"

"YOU DON'T WANNA GO THERE CUZ I WILL RING MY BITCH BELL SO LOUD..."

The past month have been the most busy & fun month as of yet. Of this year anyway, since it's the 1st month so doesn't have any competition. lol


* My birthday party was on Jan. 12th at Hooters. It was great! Started off kind of rocky but ended really well. We were supposed to go to the Atlanta location & I called & told them like 10 times but 20 minutes before we were supposed to be there they told me that they didn't have any tables available for me. Some sorry service... So we changed it to the one near where we lived instead. It was way across town so some people couldn't find a ride/ make it so I lost about half of my party but alot of people still showed up. (The real, true, ride or die friends. lol. Boo everybody else! Still love you though :-p) We had a blast! I got great gifts :-D

* My friend Cali's birthday was this past weekend. We had an all girl's dinner on Friday (well, all girls plus one gay guy, same difference) at F.R.O.G.S. I've never been there before but we ended up having to go there because Loca Luna (I hate you guys by the way) was a horrible horrible stupid idiotic place with the worst customer service EVERRRR. We got there at 8:30pm & waited until 10:30pm and left. Mind you there was no waiting area so we sat/stood by the door where people were coming in & out & it was the freaking coldest night of the week & I gotta freaking cold as we speak. And they said that we couldn't make reservations until 10pm but people were coming in in herds & got tables immediately, cuz they, of course, had reservations. WTF man??!!!!!!

When we 1st got there they claimed that the wait was an hour. We called around & every restaurant in the vicinity was about the same so we decided to wait. An hour later it was "Oh, your table's coming up. Give us 15-20 minutes." Half an hour later it was "Oh yea, 15-20 more minutes." Half an hour more... well, you get the picture.

F.R.O.G.S was ok. I'm just not into hispanic foods like that so... ehh. Just went there cuz the birthday girl wanted to.

But yea. Boyyy. Alot of people almost got stabbed that night. By my purple suede stilettos. For realll. But none of us made a big fuss cuz we were all starving & had no energy to. In the words of our fab gay friend "You don't wanna go there cuz I will ring my bitch bell so loud... honeyyyyy"


* We went to Bazaar for our friends' mixtape release party after dinner. They brought her a chocolate cake and all. It was delish! And thennnnn.... dun dun dun... a fight breaks out! Apparently 2 guys started fighting over lord knows what & our guys had to break them up. Turns out they were on the same team. They were both our friends. Crazy I tell ya.

Actor was mad because he met us there & had only been there for half an hour & we got kicked out. lol. They kicked our 2 guys that were breaking the fight out too & the party was for their mixtape. lol. Talk about ironic.

* We spent the night at Cali's house & went to Red Robin for lunch the next day. It was greattt. One of my favorite burger joints now. They're hugeeee. lol. Our friend Meth got a monster burger & by the time he (barely) finished it he was breathing heavy & face was a little flushed. hahahaha. It was funny. And their freckled lemonades? Whew! I had like 5 of 'em. The best ever! It's lemonade with real strawberries in it. *drools*

* Me & Actor have been going shopping crazyyyy. One of the things we said that we were gonna do this year (we don't believe in NY resolutions, you should try to do better all the time, not just on a list once a year. But anyways...) was get more stuff. And indeed we did. I swear I've literally acquired 5 pairs of shoes in like 3 weeks. Including some ridiculously banging Coach shoes for a ridiculously low price. hahaha. Yayyy. :-D

That's all I can remember as of the moment. I shall write more shortly.

Toodles.

Love,
Akanke

A PLEASANT SURPRISE

"Can you imagine? Right now God's up there going *head down, scratching his head with both hands* 'These freaking dandruffs!'"

lol






I'm sure everyone in Atlanta blogged about this yesterday, but...

IT SNOWED!!!!!!!!

It freaking snowed. In Atlanta. In like 8 trillions years. lol. I swear I haven't seen snow here since I was a little girl (and that was quite a while ago. Yes I just had a birthday. And yes I'm getting up there)

It was beautifulllllll. Me & Actor just got off work & it started to flurry then snowed full blast by the time we got home. We got out of the car & stuck our tongues & hands out to catch some of the snow. Great times :-D It was like the world stopped for 5 minutes & the snow healed everything & everyone...

I went inside, changed into my jeans, timbs & sweater then we went back out to WalMart for food.

By the way did I mention that Atlantans are crazy???!!! They already DRIVE LIKE IDIOTS and they get even worse when it rains, so imagine snow, if you will... Yea... And everyone & their mama was at WalMart (it's always packed, but today to the 9th degree cuz people were stocking up "in case they get snowed in") Are you serious?! Call me a pessimist but I barely believed that it was gonna snow! lol. And you really think we're gonna get snowed in? Rightttt... Well, I guess anything is possible since I didn't believe it was gonna snow in the 1st place.

Once we got home we stayed in the car for like 20 minutes to enjoy the snow. We closed our eyes & listen to it pitter patter on the windshield. Actor smiled from ear to ear. Apparently he loves snow too. It made me happy to see him gleam...

We finally got out of the car & I was attacked by a snowball as I was getting groceries out of the car. lol. "What the hell?! When did you even pick that up?" "The art of war baby. Art of war." I couldn't pick any snow up cuz my hands were full so I settled to kick him instead.

We got in the house & opened the blinds to watch the snow fall some more. After a while it turned into freezing rain & we closed it back. Hey, it was great while it lasted.

I love pleasant surprises...

PERFUME

Ok. Let me tell you about Perfume. We saw the trailer for it in a dvd's bonus features (can't remember which one) but me & Actor was like "Yooo, we gotta get it!" So we did... And it's as good as it looks, if not better.

Whoo! I mean, wow. First of all, the idea & concept is soooo original. Well, to me anyway. I'm sure there's similar movies out there but I've never personally seen a story like this. The closest thing that I can think of is Sweeney Todd (which isn't really that close once you think about it; I just happen to be thinking about it right now & I'm gonna definitely post about that next, so... *finally takes a breath*

But anyways, in a nutshell, Perfume is about Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (played by Ben Whishaw,) an orphan who grows up with an unbelievably, out-of-this-world heightened sense of smell. I mean, he can smell the maggots eating the insides of a dead rat. Yea. And he can smell someone throwing an apple at him. And ducks. Yea. He's that good... So he grows up fascinated with the smell of everything. And over time he literally knows the smell of EVERYTHING. One day in town he crosses path with a woman with the best scent in the world. Captivated by euphoria, he follows & smells her intently. As she gets startled, he covers her mouth out of instinct & kills her. Her smell keeps a lasting impression on him & he lives the rest of his life trying to preserve scents because he never wants to lose that euphoria again.

Dustin Hoffman is Giuseppe Baldini, an out of touch (and smell) perfume maker whos business is revived after meeting & recruiting Jean-Baptiste to work for him. He teaches Jean-Baptiste the basics of perfume making & in time JB goes to another city to better develop his art.

Did I mention that this movie is the greatest? Yea, ok, just making sure. The cast, lighting, narrative, characters... everything is up to par. And did I mention that the story is freaking awesome? Whew!

There's a sex scene in there that knocks all sex scenes that you've ever seen off of the map. You'll see... And the ending? I couldn't guess it. Can you believe it? I had no clue how the movie was gonna end. It's so incredible. I just love these movies with unguessable endings. Pure delight!

Should I even tell you to go rent this movie? I mean, come on! Do it or else!

PERFUME






Jean-Baptiste Grenouille: I can make Amour and Psyche for you. Now.
Giuseppe Baldini: And you think I'd just let you sop around in my laboratory? With essential oils that are worth are fortune?
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille: Yes.


Whatever his insane scheme is... it will surely be incomplete without you

Antoine Richis: Why did you kill my daughter?
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille: I just needed her.

Antoine Richis:Very well, but remember this... I'll be looking at you when you're laid on the cross and the twelve blows are crashing down on your limbs. When the crowd is finally tired of your screams and wandered home, I will climb up through your blood and sit beside you. I will look deep into your eyes... and drop by drop I will trickle my disgust into them like burning acid until... finally... you perish.

UNNAMED

Some disturbing news to me:
1) A family in Cali said they found maggots in Gerber baby food. Gross. They just asked for their money back. What?! I would've sued the hell out of Gerber. Cuz they found 2, not one but TWOOO bottles with maggots in it. That's disgusting! I wonder if the baby actually ate any of them.

2) A father threw his 4 kids off a bridge in Alabama. WHATTTT?????? I've heard millions of disturbing news in my life & time but this shocks me. And he's Vietnamese (which is what I am.) That doesn't have anything to do with anything except for the fact that Vietnamese people never really get that much press. Especially in the news. For murder! I can only imagine how his family & friends feel. They're so embarassed right now. More on culture exposure later.

3) The Golden Globes are cancelled. ARE YOU F&*$&%* KIDDING ME??!!! That blows. I hope the writer's strike ends soon cuz this is going too far. I want them to get what they deserve & I want to see things other than re freaking runs on tv. K thanks!

*sexy voice* In other news...

My birthday party is this Saturday bitches!!!!!!!!! It's gonna be on & popping!!!!!!!!!!!

BIRTHDAY GIRL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

YAY!!!

Oh yea, in an addendum to my HOLIDAY HIGHLIGHTS are two very very crucial things:

1) Chrisette Michele's new/debut album is vital to your cd collection. It's all I've been listening to for like, 3 weeks.

2) Assassin's Creed= my new favorite game. I've been watching the guys play it since Christmas. It's rawww. Think I'm gonna start my own file in a minute...

Will blog more later...

~ Akanke

I'M BACKKKKKK

Wowwww. Long time no talk. I didn't realize that I've been gone that long. Whew! I've been on vacation from work since 12/21 & been chillaxing the wholeeee entire time. It's been a fantastical 2 weeks I tell you that much...

:-D

MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!!!

I've got lots & lots & lotsss to tell you, but since I'm pressed for time today I'll hit the highlights. Don't forget to remind me to tell you!

1) Sweeney Todd = oscar worthy. Whew! One of my favoritestestest musical/movie now.

2) I am Legend. I saw that when it came out but forgot to mention.

3) Untouchables. Another movie that I've seen that I failed to mention.

4) I cooked Ham, yams & baked mac & cheese for the first time this Christmas. lol. It turned out great!!! Very proud of myself :-)

5) I got lots of goodies for Christmas. Notably a new cd player for my car, some red pots & pans that I wanted & lots of hot clothes.

6) I got something very exciting that I'm going to/doing tomorrow & can't tell. Maybe I'll never tell *raises eyebrow*

7) New Year was a blast. I love hanging out with my fam & friends.

8) I just saw my life-long friends again for the 1st time last night in what? 2 or 3 years? It was great! Just like old times. We were finishing each other's sentences, looking at old school pix (oh my goddd. haha) & just talking & laughing like we never left each other's presence for a second.

9) My birthday is Monday the 7th. Yayyyy. How old am I gonna be? Go read my archived blogs & figure it out :-) Or you can just read my profile & find out... eh. Easy way out.

10) Here are the stores that I frequent. Gift cards are very much appreciated *wink wink*
- Bebe
- Wet Seal
- Coach
- Target
- Victoria's Secret
- Linens & Things
- QuickTrip (hey, I can always use some gas. holla)
- Bakers
- 579

That's all I can think of right now. Cash is good too :-D

11) I'm having me birthday party on the 12th. Haven't decided where yet so I'll keep you posted. Everybody's invited! By invitation only that is.

That is all for ze moment. I'll check back soon.

Love you all,
Akanke