Pink Julep at the Cinema: Jane Austen, Ryan Reynolds, Sex & Drugs and Horror All on Film!

I've had some time on my hands so since joining Love Film (the UK version of Netflix) I've been catching up on some films that I've missed or always wanted to see! First up is Buried starring Ryan Reynolds! It's great, but extremely disturbing. I went to bed last night feeling horrified, not because it's a typical horror film... it's just a bit emotionally and psychologically disturbing, but well worth watching! Basically Reynolds plays a truck driver in Iraq who's been hired to deliver supplies and he wakes up buried alive.... I won't give anything else away, but will just say that it's definitely worth seeing!

My husband read the Millinium series by Stieg Larsson so he was excited to watch the Swedish films. Don't worry if you can't speak Swedish! There is a subtitled version as well as an English dubbed version. We started with subtitles, but they were so fast that there was no time to process and so much going on as well so we switched to the English dubbed version. This film is great! My husband said it's very true to the book as well! Be warned though, this film is quite graphic and in Pink Julep's opinion, in no way suitable for young audiences!

The Girl Who Played With Fire is equally good! I can't wait to see The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, but it doesn't come out on dvd until next month!

I also watched this version of Emma starring Kate Beckinsale as Emma Woodhouse and Samantha Morton as Miss Smith. It was excellent! A little Jane Austen on a gloomy day never lets me down! I dare say I liked Kate Beckinsale in the role as much or maybe more than Gwyneth Paltrow! The film is from 1996 and if you can get your hands on it, I'd highly recommend it for any Austen fans out there!

I also saw Lost in Austen from 2008, which I think is a 4 part mini-series since there were only 4 episodes. Lost in Austen is about Amanda Price who is discontented with her life in modern day Hammersmith (a busy area of West London for those who don't know) and enjoys escaping by reading her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice, over and over. She is surprised one day to find Elizabeth Bennet in her bathroom and they trade places. Not being able to execute properly all of the behaviors of the day, Amanda Price makes trouble in Austen's world. This is a great show and I really enjoyed it! If you can get your hands on it, I definitely recommend this as well for any Austen fans or anyone who enjoys a great costume drama! Also, Elizabeth Bennet's father is played by Hugh Bonneville who is currently the star of Downton Abbey. I just love him!

Not for the faint of heart, Ju-On: The White Ghost is a film I heard so much about when I was working in an art film house in New York City. It is the original Japanese horror film on which The Grudge is based. I found The Grudge to be much scarier, but I really enjoyed Ju-On. The Japanese are famous for their horror flicks and this one doesn't disappoint, even with subtitles!

I had heard about Requiem for a Dream, directed by Darren Aronofsky back in 2000 when it came out when a dance teacher of mine said it was one of the most important films she'd ever seen in her 40 years of watching films. That stuck with me for some reason and with all the buzz about Black Swan, I finally decided to rent it. It's AMAZING! The film is about several different instances of addiction and the aftermath that is possible. The cinematography is brilliant! Jennifer Connelly gives an excellent performance, but Ellen Burstyn's performance is simply breath-taking! She should've definitely beat Julia Roberts for the Oscar that year and quite honestly, this film is leaps and bounds better than Black Swan.

That's all for now folks! Don't forget to enter my giveaway. Click here to be redirected.

Did you see any of these films? If so, I'd love to hear what you thought of them!

All photos from www.lovefilm.com