Three things....

[annwfyn]

• The Times had this article in it today - it's a list of cool holiday cottages in the UK. I know there are folk out there who go on such holidays. I know that in the past there are folk who have been on such a holiday with me (and I am vaguely planning my next holiday, tho I know not who it will be with this year, as certain people are moving back to Australia) and such people may be interested.



• Hairspray, the musical, is great fun. I went last night, and whilst it isn't exactly the same as the film (the plot actually differs in a couple of areas), it definitely has its own charm.
  
  Michael Ball is far better than John Travolta, and has the most amazing stage presence. He just bounces off the audience so well, and managed to actually send his co-star into a fit of the giggles, whilst ad libbing gloriously as Edna. His voice is incredible, he dances really well, and I've never seen him on such good form. Only Ian McKellan is better value for money whilst in drag.
  
  Other than that, whilst the cast did well, I was occasionally disappointed. The actress playing Tracy I wasn't too keen on. I know it's shallow of me, but one thing I loved about Nikki Blonsky, who played Tracy in the movie version, was that she was so damn pretty. She was big, but she was gorgeous and confident, and it was always quite obvious why Link would fall for her. Tracy in this version was played by an actress who was obviously much older, wasn't that cute, looked quite overly made up, and was also played as practically drooling when Link appears. There was less of the confidence, more of the desperation, and I wasn't quite sure why he started responding to her in this version. She also couldn't dance, which really bugged me. I mean, Nikki Blonsky was great. You could see why she'd be picked as a TV dancer, despite her size. Honestly, I wasn't sure why this Tracy would have been picked had she looked like Skinny Aryana, white anorexic goddess. It just made no sense.



• Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans was glorious! And I mean 'over the top, melodramatic, camp, gothic fantasy trash', but oh! So much fun! I've now seen Bill Nighy stalking the night in a big brocade dress, spitting out chunks of scenery from the corner of his mouth as he talks. I've seen Kate Beckinsale's predecessor running around in the most unconvincing chain mail leggings with high heels, and I've seen some fantastic over the top smouldering from Michael Sheen.
  
  I think I have a crush on Michael Sheen, when playing Lucian, actually. A brooding Eastern European who's about the spend the next milennia avenging his Doomed True Love - what's not to love?
  
  It's not great cinema, but I'd totally recommend it. It's on Krull levels of wondrous fantastical nonsense.