missprint

It's been a while since I've done a survey and this appeals to the listmaniac in me.

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own facebook account, paste this as a note. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun!


( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
( x) Airplane
Total: 6

( ) The Princess Bride
(x) Anchorman
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
(x) Saw
( ) Saw II
(x) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 11

(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
(x) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 18

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
(x) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 25

(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
( ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
(x) Robots
Total so far: 32

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(x) King Kong
Total so far: 39

(x) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
(x) The Ring
(x) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber
Total so far: 46

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
( )Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 49

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
(x) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
(x) Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 55

(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
(x) Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 64

(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
( ) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 69

( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
(x) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
( ) The Terminator
( ) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 76

(x) X-Men
(x) X2
(x) X3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 87

( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old-virgin
Total so far: 90

(x) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 96

( ) BASEketball
(x) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
( ) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 98

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
(x) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x)Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 103

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
(x) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 Days Later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
Total so far: 108

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 110

( ) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
( ) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
( ) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
( ) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
( ) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 110

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Total so far: 114

Now Add them up and......apparently, I am devoid of a life.

Completely ridiculous. Who in their lifetime has not seen more than 85 films? I've probably watched about half of those films more than once. Also, I'm a little confused as to why they were in little groups. Was it to aid the counting because as far as I can see, most of them don't have anything in common with each other.

Anyway, I'm feeling lazy so this is going to be a bit of a show and tell entry.

I've been on a bit of a baking frenzy this week. I keep on buying bunches of bananas and not eating them, so what's a girl to do on a Sunday afternoon but bake Nigella's banana bread? Not only is it idiotically easy to make but the call for rum in the recipe provides the perfect excuse for you to swan around your kitchen in your apron and pyjamas muttering: "But why the rum?"

Then yesterday, as I was going to see Hot Fuzz for a second time with a friend, I also managed to make good on a bet I won with him. A few weeks ago, we made our predictions for the Brits and we agreed that the winner with the most correct predictions would be entitled to a homemade cake from the loser. So, I skipped home with a belated Christmas present and lovely fruit cake with some sort of cream cheese icing (I'm guessing).

And today, I decided to wade into the murky waters of savoury baking with Delia's buttermilk cheese and chive scones. I was trying to recreate the scones which are served at the Pump Rooms in Bath. Unless you are venturing there for breakfast anytime soon, you will have to take my word that they are light, moist, crumbly bites of a particularly cheesy heaven. Behold:

I must admit, I cannot resist a recipe which calls for me to use all the shiny baking accoutrements that I have amassed (in this case, a rolling pin, cookie cutters and my faux-Cath Kidston cake tins). The sense of accomplishment that accompanies a successful bake is doubly enhanced if you have, at some point, wielded a floury rolling pin.

Finally, I bid goodbye to my lovely electric blue iPod mini this week. As much as I love it, it was proving a little inadequate for my record collection. (My Girls Aloud back catalogue was taking up at least half the memory...) Say hello to my new iPod:

Dishy, isn't it?

Altogether now: No! No! No!

Last night, I found myself in the midst of a pop sandwich (a popwich, if you will). But let me start from the beginning dear readers. After much badgering of my friends, I have yet to persuade them to attend a Popjustice night with me. So when Popjustice Live was announced with Siobhan Donaghy DJing as part of the bill, I managed to rope a friend and fellow Siobhan fan into going. To be honest, we were both a little grumpy and very tired and it was Wednesday which meant that we were missing a solid 4 hours of good television, so we weren't really in the mood for electropop (Canadian or not).

Being my rather shambolic self as usual, I turned up late which meant we missed all but half a song of Trademark's set. I was thoroughly enjoying the Stefy set when I made the mistake of striking up conversation with a drunken suit with a severe saliva regulation impediment. Thankfully it was after Stefy performed Chelsea but I would have rather not have had to answer the same question three times ("So, what kind of music is this?") I think that The Suit got the wrong end of the stick when I told him that I was there for the DJ and he started a monologue about electro and house (no, me neither). I stopped listening about halfway because I started staring at a man seated nearby because I was fairly convinced that it was Aled from the Chris Moyles Show.

Despite Martina Dragonette's highly entertaining stage banter re: rubberised pants (or something like that, I was very tired and a little gin-soaked), I didn't enjoy their set so much. So it was halfway through that we decided to decamp to the toilets and search for a seat. As I was coming out of my cubicle, who was standing before me but Siobhan in a lovely spangly green dress? Ohmigod! I decided that it was best not to engage a popstrel in conversation whilst she was making a beeline for a toilet cubicle. Walking out of the toilets, who did I bump into but Stefy (of Stefy, naturellment) in a lovely spangly black dress? Ohmigod! For those of you readers who are lacking in imagination, I have reconstructed this popwhich in JPEG form with the aid of Google:

AMAZING.

(N.B. Sadly, Siobhan didn't have a bird on her head or neither did I go dressed as Joan of Arc. Stefy does really have the fantastic hair as the photo suggests though.)

And even more A to the Mazing, when we emerged from the toilet and found a sofa by the DJ booth, Dragonette struck up their cover of Lil' Chris's Gettin' Enough. I would type AMAZING again here but I think my head might start spinning around and explode in the manner of a Cyberman.

So, all in all, a rather poptastic evening which was marred somewhat by my going home early and downloading the Music & Lyrics soundtrack. (That will explain the presence of Hugh Grant in my last.fm chart next week)

Another thing that makes me sad was to be found in my inbox this evening:

OK, so I'm a little late in coming around to the charms of Robyn but she is officially my new favourite pop star after seeing this video. In homage to the costumetasticness of Konichiwa Bitches, I present to you a series of self-portraits entitled Hats Ahoy!. This is what a week without your boss or your friends at work will drive you to:

l-r: my best impressions of Minnie Mouse; scary Mardi Gras person (or a raven); Fagin; a crusader and a saucy carnival lady.

I went to see Music & Lyrics last night which was somewhat underwhelming. As it is rather late considering it's a school night and I've already spent two hours of my life on this film I shall condense my thoughts: no plot to speak of; terrible dialogue and even ropier lyrics; it's a sign that the funniest part of the film is right at the beginning and also in the line "My face is in the butter"; the poor, half-hearted pop parodies only serve to display the writer's passing acquaintance with advances in pop music since the split of Wham!; Hugh Grant's dancing hasn't really improved since his crab dance in Love Actually.

It seems that my Pictionary skills aren't quite up to scratch yet (judging from the guesses so far). Anyway, the landmarks of pop culture that I was trying to reproduce through the magic of biro and paper were: Toy Story, Angel and Love Machine by Girls Aloud. (No sniggering at the back please.)

11:22pm on a Saturday and I have spent the last hour quite happily bellowing along to my new favourite mix of Patrick Wolf, Siobhan Donaghy, The Cure and All Saints whilst cleaning. It seems that I have metamorphosed into Nicky Wire circa This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours. Fear not, I shan't spend the remainder of this entry waxing lyrical upon the subject of Dyson vacuums but it does seem that I find cleaning and organising somewhat relaxing.

Ah, many a happy hour has been spent catagorising my vast collection of cosmetics into themed bags. The library assistant in me revels in catagorising my possessions for easy access. Thus, when I bought a lovely new faux-antique chest of drawers from IKEA, I decided that it would be rather a stroke of genius to split all my products into two separate drawers: face and hair. Imagine my horror when I emptied my hair drawer to find this (warning: not for the faint of heart):



Eww.

Anyway, armed with a bumper pack of baby wipes and Mr Sheen, this is what my hair and face drawers look like now:

So, rather excitingly we had snow in London this week and it actually managed to settle. Sadly no snowcapades for me as by the time I made it out of the door some pesky schoolkids had scraped all the snow off my car. Surely there is some legislation regarding the ownership of the snow on your car? Snow isn't as fun when you have to go to work. How I long to be a student again so that I can make a Snow Sarah Jessica Parker like I did last year. Le sigh. Anyway, here are some generic snow pictures:

I read in one of those free London rags that the leisure activity du jour for young, hip gunslingers nowadays is to go to Cargo and play board games. I must say, as terribly organic-raspberry-flavoured-beer as this concept sounds, I'm rather intrigued. Ever since myself and my friends have taken up poker, we have branched out into board games and our current favourite is Pictionary. Before I got around to buying a Pictionary board, we just improvised with good old fashioned tree pulp and ink. So, quick quiz for you gentle readers - what am I trying to portray through the medium of biro and A4 medium lined paper?

Nouvelle Année Heureuse! OK, it's a little belated but I do mean it wholeheartedly gentle readers. My seemingly callous abandonment of this blog can partly be blamed on the technological tempest that I weathered in between July and October of last year but also because I have foolishly taken on a 40-hour working week. I know this sounds terribly naive of me but where do people get the time to live a full and varied cultural and social life (read: television watching and blogging) whilst working full-time?? I shall level with you dear readers, I am struggling. I currently am behind on Desperate Housewives by two episodes, The O.C. by one and I completely missed the pantaloon-a-thon that was Torchwood...quelle horreur!

Fear not, I am working my way through Torchwood from my Amazon rental list and BBC3 repeats. Preliminary verdict: My! Russell T. Davies clearly worships at the temple of Whedon, doesn't he? If he hadn't stated it before, he very obviously intends Torchwood to be the Angel to Doctor Who's Buffy. Everything from the (admittedly gorgeous) noir-ish shots of Cardiff's roadways lit by the sulfurous glow of the streetlamps to a "Mr. Billowy-Coat King of Pain" He even stole the trick of killing off a supposed regular cast member in the first episode! (Remember Jesse anyone?) Anyway, Buffyverse comparisons aside, it was a promising concept which was all too quickly ruined with gratuitous lesbianism and the revelation that Captain Jack is impervious to any blade, bullet or other blunt object you care to hurl at him, thus sucking any suspense out of the whole show. Also, apparently period military = gay. Huh. Who knew? Certainly not Donny Tourette, Pete Doherty or any other pavement-licking Camden urchin I can think of.

I despair of the state of music in Space Year 2007 if all it takes is a tattered straw boater and skinny jeans is all it takes to become a chart sensation. (Yes, The Kooks, I am talking to you. And don't even get me started on The View who seem to be shamlessly plundering the back catalogue of The Proclaimers.) All this is more reason to turn to the bright side of pop. Reasons to be cheerful:

- Patrick Wolf - I am new to the charms of the ruddy-haired one but how can anyone not be won over by the Technicolour charms of The Magic Position? And I don't mean Technicolour in the giddy-E-number-rush of the like that Mika is peddling. Which is not to say that I am not fond of the love child of Elton John and Freddie Mercury who was adopted by Jake Shears but there is so much more density and lushness to be found in The Magic Position. You have to love a pop urchin who is beloved by both the Popjustice and Pitchfork readership. You also have to love a boy who looks like the love child of David Bowie and a matador:



More reasons to love Patrick Wolf: he has hair the colour of Nicola Roberts and Siobhan Donaghy (which as we well know equals a precious and underrated pop talent); he's an precocious electro-folk multi-instrumentalist who has a widescreen pop vision and the second single, The Magic Position is a joyous, churchy Motown stomp which is just on the right side of twee (think bluebirds, lemonade and crayons). Oh, it also has the cheeriest ending to a pop song...EVER. Listen

- Sophie Ellis-Bextor is back, hurrah! Not only does the Blondie-tastic comeback single Catch You slot neatly into the All Time Top Five Songs About Stalking but the video also pays homage to Venice's finest celluloid moments (namely, Like A Virgin and Don't Look Now):

More reasons to love this video: the starring role of the coffee cup; the faux-sailor tattoo that Mrs. One-of-The-Feeling is sporting; the abundance of puposeful pointing and especially the amazing bit at 1:18 where Sophie does a nifty bow and arrow gesture. It'll become a dance sensation, mark my words.

The album is called Trip The Light Fantastic and thus hopefully is, in the grand tradition of all things pop, a paen to the joys of dance. (See Madonna, Britney, the Girls of Allowedness etc etc). If you thought that Catch Me was good wait until you hear releases Me & My Imagination which reunites SEB and disco strings. Hoorah!

- Dame Lily of Allen is releasing Alfie which doesn't make sense as a single (hence the double A-side with the far superior Shame For You) until you see the AMAZING video:

Not since Bender and Futurama has cartoon porn been used so well.

Lily seems to be doing well in the US (in no small part due to the hype generated by bloggers) and her album was released there last week. It seems that all the clearence issues that Parlophone had with Nan, You're A Window Shopper at the time of Alright, Still's British release have been resolved for the US release and it is included after Alfie along with Mark Ronson's saccharine-soul remix of Smile which is currently sneaking its way up my last.fm charts.

- Mutya Buena Fierce as she may be, the material that was premiered on her myspace was dreary paint-by-numbers r'n'b balladry that sounded like a 90s throwback produced by Babyface. That was until Paperbag surfaced recently which is infinately more interesting. Try to imagine if you will, a pop gem that combines the zing and sweetness of Overload and the sass of Freak Like Me (arguably two of the finest points of the Sugababes' career) and you will find Paperbag. Not only is it a contender for All Time Top Five Break-Up Songs but it also manages to employ a metaphor previously unknown in pop: the paper bag as a failed relationship. Sample lyric: "I don't know how it can fit / Cos it's all we were / It's all we ever had / (Memories) / Sitting all alone in a paper bag / Maybe I should get rid of it / But it's all the love / It's all the dreams we had / (You and me) / Sitting on the shelf in a paper bag." AMAZING.

- McFly Not only is Motion In The Ocean surprisingly good (in fact, I would venture so far as to suggest that it might be their best album yet. Which isn't much considering that this is only their third album and Wonderland doesn't even really count it was that bad. But anyway...) It seems that the love-child-of-Gary-Barlow, otherwise known as Tom Fletcher, has allowed Dougie-penned track onto the album and it is by far the best thing in the McFly "cannon". If I were to utter the phrase "homage to Bohemian Rhapsody", I would probably scare you off the track. So, instead I shall post this picture which manages to convey how utterly stupid-yet-brilliant Transylvania is:



Reasons to love Transylvania: Dougie's rather endearing vocals which just fall on the right side of adolescent boy and it combines my favourite period of history with jaunty boy band pop - apparently the song tells the bodice-ripping story of Anne Boleyn's affair with a farmboy (!!)

Note: My Chemical Romance fans will be pleased to know that Gerard Way has joined McFly:



Sugagirls vs. Babes Aloud Well, something like that anyway. Like so many things in life, the prospect of this was so much more appetising than the reality of it.

Reasons I should love Walk This Way: it's my two favourite girlbands...ever! in a pop-off; the first half of the video where they pay tribute to Aerosmith and Run DMC by arguing (via the medium of music) through a wall; the second half the video where they have a dance-off on a nice glossy catwalk and swing aesthetically-pleasing retro microphones at each other and the fact that had this never been recorded, the world would never have been treated to Nicola Roberts in a giant comedy foam appendage:



Hmm. Maybe it is, as they say, a grower.

In other news: I am becoming increasingly convinced that the DJing world needs me. I was out at The Roxy last weekend and after enduring seven minutes of my brain dribbling out of my ears (read: The Stone Roses I Wanna Be Adored), I decided to take the situation in hand and make some requests. Not only were my choices suitably poptastic but also brought the masses flocking to the dancefloor. Clearly, you cannot trust a DJ who plays Jump (For My Love) when a Girls of Allowedness track is requested. So, a second trip to the DJ booth was required to rectify the situation and lo and behold, witness a mass of sweaty drunks attempting to recreate the dance routine for Love Machine. My second choice of Boney M's Daddy Cool also rather brought the house down, if I do say so myself.

Another reason to be quite pleased with myself: I managed to install an Airport Extreme card in my eMac and crack the Dark Arts required to print wirelessly (!)

Another thing I would quite like to write about but sadly don't have enough time for because I have work tomorrow morning (boo hoo, etc etc): I managed to wrangle myself a pair of tickets for the free preview screening of Hot Fuzz yesterday. Not only is it the best film I have seen all year (yes, I know it is only February but still) it has also managed to rekindle my inappropriate crush on Simon Pegg. Hurrah!