My Eleventh Liebster Award

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Liebster Award

I’ve just been nominated for my eleventh Liebster Award, courtesy of the fabulous Wee Me. Her site is one of my newest discoveries and it rocks so much I am so thankful to her for this. These awards are great to get and I just always feel the love from everyone when I get one.

And now I will answer the questions she has set me in order to accept the award, which will be followed by 11 random facts about me, then my list of nominees and questions for them.

1. How did you choose the name for your blog? I combined my first name with the initial of my last name.
2. How did you decide on the subject of your blog? It originally started as a college project where I had to write about something I was passionate about. The rest is history.
3. If you could choose a film to be reviewed in this blog which one would you choose? The Godfather would be my choice.
4. Why? Because it’s my favourite movie.
5. Which of my film reviews would you pass onto a friend if you wanted them to see the film with you? I would say her review of Die Hard.
6. Why? Because it was so eloquently written and made me want to watch it again
7. Which of my TV  reviews would you pass onto a friend if you wanted them to watch the program with you? Her review of Outlander.
8. Why? The humour in it was sublime.
9. If you could move anywhere as an expat where would you move? I would have to say Rome.
10. Why? Every time I visit the place, I find something new
11. Final question… What 3 tips would you give for a first time blogger? Be yourself, write what you are passionate about and believe in yourself.

Now for 11 random facts about me:

1. In my opinion, the best part of my body is my butt.
2. I am something of an old romantic.
3. I don’t believe in perfection.
4. I love getting postcards from most of the places I’ve been on holiday.
5. I once met an Everton player.
6. I can be somewhat lazy when it comes to exercise.
7. I believe that everyone is intelligent about a certain subject, whether it be academic or not.
8. I love horror movies, but anything to do with eye mutilation creeps me out.
9. I have never been to a nude beach but would love to try it.
10. Apples are my favourite fruit.
11. One of my front teeth is slightly crooked but I won’t have it changed because it is a defining feature.

Here are my five nominees:

1. Martin P Wilson
2. Jeroen
3. Alex
4. Russel 
5. Cici 

And finally my questions for these excellent nominees.

1. Do you prefer a shower or a bath?
2. Have you ever met a famous actor or actress?
3. Do you consider yourself a talented dancer?
4. Have you ever skinny dipped before?
5. What is your birthstone?
6. What movie, no matter how many times you watch it, makes you cry?
7. Who is your favourite author?
8. Are you a person who sleeps for a long time or rises early?
9. What is your favourite holiday?
10. Are you a horror movie fan?
11. And finally, describe what you think of my blog with five adjectives.

Death Becomes Her

Tags

1990's, Bruce Willis, Dark Comedy, Death Becomes Her, Fantasy, Goldie Hawn, Isabella Rossellini, Meryl Streep, Robert Zemeckis

Film Title

Death Becomes Her

Director

Robert Zemeckis

Starring

• Meryl Streep as Madeline Ashton
• Goldie Hawn as Helen Sharp
• Bruce Willis as Ernest Menville
• Isabella Rossellini as Lisle

A savagely comedic and satiric look at vanity, bitter rivalry and revenge, Death Becomes Her is one heady bitches brew. Boasting eye-popping special effects and devilish work from the cast, it’s a dark comedy fantasy that is a hoot with the added mix of magic and bitchy one liners.

Madeline Ashton is a narcissistic, bitchy actress who is a real success. She has a rivalry with aspiring writer Helen Sharp and does anything she can to get one up on her. But Madeline crosses the line when she seduces Helen’s fiancée Ernest Menville, a prominent plastic surgeon to the stars and the two eventually marry. This causes Helen to completely break down and she is sectioned. Years later, Madeline and her demanding ways have driven Ernest to drink and he is now a mortician. Madeline is also something of a has been as she is getting older, and there is a demand for younger actresses. It is here that she bumps into Helen again, who is now a successful author and looking just as young as she did all those years before. What Madeline doesn’t know is that Helen has been planning revenge on her and plans to execute it soon. Shocked by Helen’s youthful appearance, Madeline soon finds an intriguing answer to her own age issues in the form of Lisle. Lisle is a wealthy socialite and possibly a sorceress, who has divined a potion that gives the person who drinks it eternal youth. Obsessed with looking young again, Madeline takes the potion. Yet the potion doesn’t just grant eternal youth but also immortality. Meanwhile, Helen puts her plan to get Ernest back into action and battles it out with Madeline, with poor Ernest stuck in the middle of it all. But the plotting Helen herself also took the potion years before and now as they commence in battle, it is getting harder to get one up on the other as both are in a sense indestructible and neither can die.

Robert Zemeckis directs this lively and darkly amusing film with a fast-paced panache, relishing all the biting lines that the script has to offer. He funnily satirizes society’s obsession with beauty and age with a cutting wit. Let’s just say, this guy knows how to keep a movie eventful and very entertaining as Madeline and Helen go to war. The special effects in Death Becomes Her deserve a huge mention as they really are very impressive in highlighting the immortality of both woman and the many injuries they inflict on each other, that only cause a bit of damage like a neck out-of-place or a bullet hole through the chest, that eventually spring back to normal. Some will say that the special effects take precedence over the story, but it actual fact they compliment it very well and lead to black comedy of the highest order. A dazzling, adventurous score provides the backdrop of darkness tinged with a morbid playfulness that is ever-present through Death Becomes Her and makes it a real treat.

What really gives Death Becomes Her that real snap and morbid humour is the performances from the splendid cast. Meryl Streep is utterly fabulous as the wicked bitch Madeline, constantly obsessed with being young again and finding that it has a price. She obviously savours the razor-sharp put downs that Madeline spews and gives the role a diva like persona of total star quality. Her acting alongside Goldie Hawn pays off successfully as they share a devilish chemistry with each other. Goldie Hawn is equally as good as Streep, playing Helen as downtrodden but deliciously scheming to the hilt. Taking a break from the macho action roles he is mostly known for, Bruce Willis shows his versatility as the much abused Ernest. Exuding a gawkiness and befuddled anxiety, he really shows what a talented actor he is. Adding wickedly sensual support is Isabella Rossellini as the magical woman with the potion that leads to eternal youth and more.

A wickedly gleeful comedy fantasy, brimming with verve and hysterical outrageousness, Death Becomes Her is a dark delight of a movie.