OZ

So I've become a little obsessed with one of my favourite Childhood films recently, a b-movie from the 80's, Return To Oz.
So much so I have considered re-writing a modernised version of it, but then decided it would be one. too depressing and two. not very original. I also managed to get hold of a decent copy of the soundtrack, which is currently on amazon for around £50, which was ace. Its so moving and creepy at times, I adore it.
One of my favourite scenes is at the start of the film where Dorothy finds the Oz key on the ground with the chickens. She gets really excited and tries to show Aunt Em but shes not interested. I always wished I could find a key somewhere like that when I was little. So then I have the brainwave to get a tattoo of it around my ankle, much like Belina the Chicken wears at the end of the film around her neck, on a green ribbon. A symbol of escapism that is always there for me.

I went to the tattoo shop in weymouth, but then wanted around £70 for it, and that was without the anklet. Which was absurd, so I found out the guy that did my last tattoos has recently moved to Street and I went and got it done by his very new apprentice Kye (who was astonishingly good considering hes been tattooing for just three months!) And he offered to do it for a much more reasonable £45. So I went ahead, not really taking into consideration the foot is one of the most painful places to have one. The pain was excrutiating at times but I persevered, I'd come this far. It took around 40 mins to complete, lots of clenching and shaking but I was very impressed with the work, and luckily he had gotten the key the right way around so the symbol at the top of the key spelled "OZ".
I'm well pleased with it, and content with the fact I'm probably the only person that will see it for now, but I can't wait to run along the sand with it in the summer and receive (I hope) lots of suprized comments!

Heres a pic, hope you like it!

My name is Salmon, Like the fish, First name Suzie.

So after a year and a half of finding out about this gorgeous story, I finally sat down to 'The Lovely Bones', based on the book by Alice Sebold. I was told about this in my first year, and me and my housemates were excitedly anticipating its release for some time, only having to wait even longer for it to come out. I decided to read the book before the film, something i rarely manage to do, but this time i surprised myself, and stormed through it in a record time (for me!) I couldn't put it down, and the intrigue after reading the first couple of pages, in which the story had been laid out, i wondered what more was included in the story. I'd love to read it a second time to refresh my memory.

I have been a great fan of Peter Jackson since The Lord Of The Rings which i fell in love with in my early teens, and is still unbeaten by any film in my personal opinion. I knew that where Jackson stood now, and the team he had behind him, he would create a beautiful interpretation of this film; and he didn't dissapoint. The visuals of the memories, the metaphors and visions of her heaven were stunning, and subtle at the same time. You really felt for Suzie while she was in the 'inbetween' which is what the story was all about. Lots of tear-jerking points throughout the film, and of course i knew the end twist would get me bad, out of pure happiness for her.

I have heard some dissapointed, and let-down reviews of this film from a few friends, and so i was also annoyingly switched-on to look out for these bits and make my own opinion of it, but i think having read the book helped a lot. The reasons behind the characters actions aren't abundantly clear, but if you concentrate you can see why they act the way they do.

Other than that, i think the film flowed well, the murderer was just as sinister as in the book, and Ray wasn't overly mushy like a new Robert Pattinson. Just the right amount of lovey-dovey scenes to pay respect to the story. I loved Mark Wahlberg as the dad, and the relationships between the family were portrayed well, especially considering so much of the background explained in the story could not be shown.
I only wish some more of the events in the book could have been included, but as ever this will never be possible to achieve in a standard 2.5 hour film.

Over all, worth the wait in my opinion, i am very tempted to go and watch it in the cinema again (when it FINALLY gets to the south coast!) and i thoroughly enjoyed every painful and beautiful moment. Good Work Peter Jackson!

HG rating: 9/10 stars