The King’s Speech

So the other day, I went to see The King’s Speech in theatre.

Why, you ask, considering I’ve already seen it both in the original and with Vietsub on my computer, and already wrote a review for it? Well, because I’m weird like that. I wanted to see what the sound would be like in theatre, seeing as, you know, sound is a big part of the movie.

The theatre had a grand total of 7 people. Oh yes. This might be because it was a Monday evening but you know, that’s a pretty miserable number. That said, I do concur that this isn’t a film for the masses of Vietnam. It’s probably predictable that not many would want to sit through a film consisting of two men talking when they could be watching Pirates 4 (which literally bored me to sleep), or Super 8, or Kung Fu Panda 2. (By the way we were treated to a dose of Pirates 4 soundtrack just before the movie started as the sound from the room next to us drifted in.) Also the fact that it only comes to theatre now means that people have had time to download it off the internet and do fansub for it. In fact, the fansub version had a more witty translation than the theatre subtitles.

Hearing the soundtrack on speakers at the theatre alone was worth the price ticket (and considering it was a Monday evening, the ticket was cheap. Well, cheap, for Megastar standards.)  Of course, seeing mega-sized close-ups of Colin Firth was nice too.

Anyway, as I said, this movie probably isn’t for everyone, seeing as it is about two men in a room talking. You would think such a film would be pretty boring, but it’s surprisingly funny. Before I watched it, I expected it to be dramatic and moving, but I didn’t expect it to be funny. I haven’t watched a film where I enjoyed its humour so much in a long time. And it’s not the Pirates brand of humour either, it’s an incredibly serious subject but broken up by the British dry sense of humour.  You have to love a movie where the Archibishop of Cantebury is described as “pouncing up the steps” in the least disrespectful tone possible and a king’s coronation is simply: “Four short responses, kiss the book, sign the oath and you’re king! Easy!”

(I should just refer you to the Memorable Quotes section on IMDb.)

Geoffrey Rush was delightfully funny as Lionel Logue and Colin Firth so deserved that Oscar. It’s long overdue too. Helena Bonham Carter did this film in between filming for Harry Potter and you can’t get two more different characters than Bellatrix Lestrange and the Duchess of York. The only slightly nit-picky issue I had with the movie was that the children don’t age! Elizabeth and Margaret remained the exact same age from 1936 to 1939.

I’m still in awe at how accurately Colin Firth delivered the ending speech compared to the original recording that the real George VI did. It’s almost indistinguishable. Yes, part of that is probably due to sound editing, but still, it’s amazingly similar.  The similarity is even more pronounced when you hear it on speakers in the theatre and you get all the back echoes of the radio.

If you haven’t seen this yet, please go see it. It can’t be missed. Su You Peng agrees with me :P. (I didn't go looking for this, I stumbled on this while stalking actors on weibo :P.)

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And speaking Harry Potter, WHY MUST THEY WAIT UNTIL DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 TO REFUSE TO SCREEN IT IN VIETNAM??? WHY? WHY MUST I RESORT TO ILLEGAL DOWNLOAD TO SEE A MOVIE THAT I WOULD DEFINITELY PAY TO SEE AT LEAST ONCE, IF NOT TWICE??

Futuristic Fireplace Solaris

As the weather cools down, your home is begging for a little physical warmth and lots of hot style to match – in other words, this futuristic fireplace, Solaris by Heat & Glo. Inspired by the setting sun, this modern direct-vent gas fireplace features the company’s patent-pending continuous levitating flames for a unique and eye-catching glow. Ideal as a focal point and conversation when entertaining this upcoming holiday season, or as a flickering background to your quiet evenings curled up in a blanket with a good book. Solaris comes in two designs: the world’s-thinnest see-through fireplace model and the two-sided fireplace with infinity flames, offering an enticing six-ft.-deep illusion. For more information on this award-winning futuristic fireplace visit Heat & Glo.

 

Romantic Bathroom Designs

These luxury romantic bathroom designs by Italian company Savio Firmino are all about the romantic era. The 1941 bathroom collection is made in collaboration with architect J. Pizzorno and the skill of Guido Savio, who have created an opulent atmosphere to enjoy every day. The polar opposite of minimalism style, we’d call this collection “maximalism” at its best. This furniture features sophisticated, elegant hand-carved wood details that give it its antique appeal. Adorned with jewels, and gold- and silver-leaf, these pieces will are treasures in their own right. This bathroom is no longer reserved just for bathing, but it’s rather a space dedicated to beauty, wellness and sweet serenity. Check out all designs at Savio Firmino.

 

 

Design Inspiration Pictures

Famous architect and Designer Karim Rashid released his design correlated with futuristic living room concept for our future, karim rashid shown us to to decorate and renovate new futuristic living room concept like a sample in photos. decorating living room today didn,t concern on how to design our living room look modern but also we have to think about eco-friendly furniture we used to renovate our living room. choosing true furniture collection for living room as one important in decorating design ideas. like what Karim Rashid said below:

The “Smart-ologic Corian® Living” exhibition gave me the opportunity to develop a modular holistic house – a house that can be produced with minimal concave and convex panels and simple tooling. I have always been interested in this notion of a modular house, of efficient dwelling that can be erected simply and quickly, that can be inexpensive and democratic, and customizable with little cause and great effect. I always believed that architecture finally comes down to a system of components, but what we need are industrial elements that are more free form and flexible in their configuration as not to end up in the world of a grid. My other concern was to create these panels with less waste and to have the waste reused.
I wanted create a really positive, interesting, and artistic space for living that echoes the digital technorganic world we live in. “Smart-ologic Corian® Living” also gave me a venue to design interior objects in DuPont™ Corian® advanced surface – using also the versions from the 2010 collections Eco-Concrete ed Eco-Terrazzo with recycled content – and other DuPont materials that could be mass produced in a similar biomorphic way. With these elements the spaces are fluid and human and can communicate an organic, soft, pleasurable domestic environment.
I believe that the design of “Smart-ologic Corian® Living” is a metaphor for how technology, housing, furnishing, and space can work together to evoke an increased sense of experience, affect our psyche and bring us a better living, and also enable us to reduce the environmental imprint of our daily decisions and actions.
Like many experiments of the mid-century the house uses a single repeated flat panel. I started with the desire to have a modular system of a single molded panel of DuPont™ Corian®. The panel in DuPont™ Corian® is double layered with a panel of DuPont™ Energain®, a new DuPont solution to enhance energy efficiency and comfort in homes. This system of panels could be reconfigured to different proportions and forms. This modularity was also amplified by the diversity of the color palette, by the multitude of colours of DuPont™ Corian®.
I have also been given the possibility, first in the world, to create a design using an experimental version of DuPont™ Corian® with bio-based ingredients and recycled content and I conceived the Eko Bench, a unique outdoor seating solution integrating a green mantle of grass planted into one of its undulating curves. I also liked to play with the strong materiality of DuPont™ Zodiaq® quartz surface, which was also developed in a version with bio-based ingredients, creating a large and colourful seating area around a column, inspired by the mixing of organic elements with organic form.
The soft organic shape produced for this evocative home concept creates a womb-like structure that is conducive to energy efficacy through the sculptured form, no corners trap hot or cold air. The house relies on sustainable and smart infrastructure for energy consumption and production with water reuse and low impact construction.
With its capability to protect the envelope while letting it “breathe”, DuPont™ Tyvek® building membrane contributes to the comfort of interior environments. The photovoltaic modules of DuPont, integrated into the roof, create environmentally-sustainable energy. All the lighting is LED for efficiency and low energy consumption and the radiant floors are powered by solar generated energy.
This concept of techno-organic house is the starting point for shaping a smart domestic environment, based on the performance of a variety of different materials and technologies. Enjoy.