THE MOVIE POST | THOR THE DARK WORLD

So I waited till Thor The Dark World was released in the US to write my review. I live in the UK so luckily the film came out on the 30th October.

Have to say there was a lot to live up to after the massive success of The Avengers & Iron Man 3 didn't really truly accomplish that task.

This is where Thor The Dark World is a success. It is a refreshing take on the Norse God of Thunder's adventures in Asgard & beyond. A far funnier and more realist approach to his trajectory and no less Shakespearean than the first Thor.

Thor The Dark World is basically about Thor trying to save the universe from the darkness the elves of Svartalfheim headed by Malekith intend to plunge it into. In order to do this he must enlist Loki's help and thus brotherly bonding and a road-trip ensue.

Thor is brilliant. Chris Hemsworth portraying him as a young man coming to terms with the fact he's becoming King and trying to protect the nine realms and those that he loves; Jane.

Sif & the Warriors Three have more of a role as does Heimdall & Darcy. Selvig is hilarious running naked around Stone Henge talking about the Convergence.

But the one character who steals every scene he is in is Loki. Tom Hiddleston is Hamlet like. He gives the character depth and complexity mixing vulnerability with indifference, anger and biting sarcasm. I've been a long term fan of Hiddleston's for about 5 years now and it's great that he's been given such an amazing and intelligent role as Loki.

The movie overall is funny, sad and there are so many twists and turns that you find yourself asking what is going on. If you like Game of Thrones you may like the tone of this film. The ending is particularly interesting and I wonder how Thor 3 will play out if that movie does indeed happen (nothing has been confirmed). The two after-credits scenes are intriguing and set up Thor's placement in the next Avengers film The Avengers Age Of Ultron and Thanos' role in terms of the Infinity Gems.

I really enjoyed this movie and can not recommend it enough, so if you haven't gone to the cinema to see it yet, go watch it!

LOVE VANESSA xx

THE BOOK POST | IT BY ALEXA CHUNG

Hello, 

I recently bought Alexa Chung's book "It" and I thought I would do a little review so here goes...

Now I'm not one to usually read something just because there is a lot of hype around the book it happens fairly rarely. Which is why it took me a while to decide whether I wanted to purchase Alexa Chung's book "It." 

I love Alexa Chung don't get me wrong, I think her style is the perfect mix of feminine and masculine but I wasn't sure about her writing a book. I love books but I don't tend to read biographies or anything close to that type of book. On this occasion I threw down the gauntlet and I decided to buy Alexa's book. I don't regret it one bit. It's not your typical biography it has a lot of photos and illustrations and very minimal writing. It doesn't tell you about her whole life but she has written little anecdotes about her style icons, her friends and a few tidbits about when she was younger. If you're looking for tips and tricks from her you probably wouldn't find many in the book but that's not too much of a detriment to the idea of the book at all. 

For me in a literary sense it's good but it fairs better in terms of the visual elements, it would definitely make a great coffee-table read. Overall I'm pretty happy that I bought the book it's nice that she has given us an opportunity to get to know the girl underneath the public persona. 

Have any of you read Alexa's book? What did you think of it?

LOVE VANESSA xx

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

LOVE VANESSA xx

I'M NOW ON PINTEREST

Hello!

Just a quick post to say I am now on Pinterest.

You can follow me via this link if you would like.

My MA in Publishing degree is going wonderfully and I've been really busy and haven't had time to post anything on here so I do apologize for the lack of posts again.

LOVE VANESSA xx

THE GIG POST | 30 SECONDS TO MARS AT THE iTUNES FESTIVAL

I was going to post this the day after the show but was so tired and had to be at uni for the morning that I forgot to finish writing it. But anyway hope you like. :)

I was lucky enough to win tickets to see 30 SECONDS TO MARS at the iTunes Festival on the 18th September. It was my first time at a MARS show and have to say it was an interesting experience. I've been a fan of the band for almost 10 years now and it was long overdue that I saw them live. I traveled to London from Oxford and met another fan who used my guest ticket. I saw and spoke to several other ECHELON and it was great to see so many won tickets too. I remember watching Lana Del Rey's show last year at the festival and really wanting to go to the festival this year. I honestly did not think I would win tickets at all so was astonished when iTunes emailed me to say I'd won.

Amazingly enough I was right at the front with maybe 2 people stood in front of me. I had never been to The Roundhouse before so it was great to finally see it in person.

There was a warm-up act called The Family Rain that played before MARS. I really enjoyed their set even though I did not know them. Their music was a lot more indie than is my usual taste but I loved the guitar melodies and the beats of their songs.

After their set the tension in the room was tangible and everyone was ready and waiting to see MARS. They came on stage at 9pm and played a 90 minute set. They played a mix of songs from the albums THIS IS WAR, LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS and an acoustic version of THE KILL from the album A BEAUTIFUL LIE. 

Their set-list was :

1. Birth

2. Night of the Hunter

3. Search & Destroy

4. This Is War

5. Conquistador

6. Do Or Die

7. Depuis Le Début

8. End Of All Days

9. City Of Angels

10. Pyres of Varanasi

11. Hurricane (acoustic)

12. The Kill (acoustic)

13. Closer To The Edge

14. Up In The Air

Here are some pictures from their show I apologise for the blurriness as I was too excited to concentrate on getting really good quality photos but look how close I was to the stage.

I was exhausted by the end of the show, I had practically lost most of my voice from singing all the songs (word for word I'll have you know ha ha). I got back to Oxford very early in the morning at probably about 2am and as soon as my head hit the pillow I fell asleep.

Note: Please do not take & distribute the photos online they are mine and are personal.

LOVE VANESSA xx

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

LOVE VANESSA xx

UPDATE | WHEN BLOGGING AND LIFE DON'T FIT

I've noticed that I have gained a few followers in my absence and I thank you so much for that. It means a lot to me that you guys have followed. 

I'm pretty new to the blogging game and I've not being a very good little blogger as I haven't had a chance to post anything new for over a month. 

I've been very busy this last month as I have been preparing to go back to university. I graduated this summer with a Bachelors Degree in History but wanted to study a post-graduate course too. I had an interview and managed to snag the place I wanted to go to. So I am going to study a Masters Degree in Publishing. It's also a big move for me as I have to move to Oxford as that's where my course is being taught. 

In all this excitement my blog has been on the back-burner and I haven't had the time to update it. But I have promised myself as soon as I have settled in my new course I will start to update this blog more often. 

Ultimately the reason I wanted to start a blog here was because I like to write and I wanted an outlet for my interests which was something other than just my tumblr.

So finally after all my rambling... 

I apologise for the lack of posts but I'll get there in the end and a big thank you for following me.

I shall be posting another quote of the week after this post so do check that out if you would like to here.

LOVE VANESSA xx