Bliss Part 13

Part 12, of course, was Jamie Cullum's concert. :)

Ahh, where should I start?

How about Jakob Karr, runner-up from So You Think You Can Dance season 6?

( I haven't figured out how to embed videos yet, so please bear with the links. )

Been watching the show faithfully for months now, and can't get over JK's brilliance as a dancer.

Examples:

A jazz routine with Ellenore - one of many great collaborations, showcasing JK's crazy skills. He specializes in mid-air splits, which I've heard judge Nigel Lythgoe call "jetés".

The choreographers have also taken notice, since they love to throw these in whenever Jakob's under their tutelage. There're even jetés in the foxtrot, for pete's sake! :D

Another favourite - the sexy cha-cha with Ashleigh Di Lello. JK mannerisms always come across as a little effeminate, especially when he talks. But when he's on-stage doing what he does best, he's just damn HOT!

This contemporary piece gave me goosebumps the first time I saw it. And what a surprise that it was a huge hit with the audience and judges as well. Choreographer Sonya Tayeh brings her signature quirkiness, aided by JK and eccentric partner, Ellenore.

The result? Pure magic. :)

And get a load of this wonderful contemporary routine with Kathyrn ( the best female dancer of S6 ).

This latest installment of SYTYCD is the best one yet. Other memorable performances include:

A luscious cha-cha ( Kathryn and hunky dude Ryan Di Lello ) - YOW!

A dreamy Broadway routine ( Kathryn and Nathan Trasoras ).

A breath-taking Viennese waltz that moved me to tears ( JK and Mollee Gray ).

Last but not least, an exquisite contemporary piece choreographed by season 2 alumnus Travis Wall. Danced by real-life ballroom couple Ashleigh and Ryan, this is best appreciated by fans who know their poignant background story.

I, for one, was rendered speechless by its sheer artistry.

A couple of days back, AXN screened a special episode of SYTYCD, featuring 15 of the best performances over the past 5 seasons. It is indeed remarkable how far the show has come. I started watching from S2 onwards ( S1 somehow never made it to our shores, and S5 has yet to hit our screens ), and suddenly remembered another major hottie from the past - i.e. Neil Haskell from S3.

Just look at this fabulous jazz piece!

And I still vividly remember this awesome disco routine!

Okay that's enough for now. :)

Have been enjoying my Megavideo subscription, watching and downloading a chunk of movies both recent and all the way back to the early 1990s.

An Education is extremely good, though I need to watch it again since I was a little distracted the first time round.

The main draw for me is none other than Peter Sarsgaard, whom I loved in Shattered Glass ( ignore Hayden Christensen ), and whose subsequent films ( Orphan, Jarhead ) I also enjoy.

This is his second best role to date ( the best being editor Charles Lane in Glass ).

As David, the smooth-talking charmer who sweeps 16-year-old Jenny off her feet, Sarsgaard is perfectly suave and convincing, but delivers a kicker of a twist in the last 15 minutes, guaranteed to shock you out of your skin, though some of you may have already seen it coming.

I didn't though, which made it pretty traumatic, argh!

Will definitely download for future enjoyment. Carey Mulligan is excellent in the lead role, and shares great chemistry with Sarsgaard, helping to buffer any creepiness the viewer may experience considering the age gap between the main characters.

And I just love his flawless British accent. :)

Another good movie I just watched - The Informant!, starring a long-time fave of mine, Matt Damon.

Not suitable for everybody - my mom dozed off but I was riveted. Very quirky but hilarious. The soundtrack had me in stitches for some strange reason, and Damon's comic timing is spot-on.

He's actually a terrific comedic actor - loved his turn as a Siamese twin in Stuck On You. Try to watch it if you can. I'm sure it's online somewhere.

And pay attention to the funny voice-overs in The Informant! Some of them come shooting out of nowhere and sound completely insane. Gives you insight into the inner workings of the lead character's strange mind heh!

Surprisingly, New Moon turned out to be quite enjoyable. Slow and lengthy, but far superior to Twilight in terms of production and acting. Taylor Lautner shows potential and IMHO outshines Robert Pattinson in their scenes together.

Bella Swan, wake up and smell the coffee already!

The fun part about watching the film is realizing that all that time spent reading the novels wasn't wasted. There're quite a few subtle plot points that get skimmed over in the movie adaptation, so I found myself explaining these to my mom as the show progressed.

I actually watched it online first but got the DVD from another source for my mom's benefit.

The soundtrack's reaaally good.

Next DVDs in line: The Hurt Locker - really looking forward to this one! - and The Boys Are Back starring Clive Owen.

Which reminds me, I'd like to watch Closer again sometime. Fully uncensored version. Online. :)

Current bedtime reading: Charlaine Harris' Living Dead In Dallas, aka book 2 in the Southern Vampire series, on which the TV show True Blood is based.

Impressions so far: Harris is a good writer. Sookie's much less irritating on paper than she is on-screen, there's a lot more sex in the books ( waiting to see when Harris will run out of descriptions ), Eric the Viking vamp is more prominent in the novels ( I like him so this is a good thing ), and once again, like Dexter, the printed and televised versions are very different ( especially from season 2 onwards ).

Thank goodness Lafayette survives on the small screen. One of my fave characters, that one.

Till next time...