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Showing posts from 2016

The Magnificent Seven (Quite Long) Review.

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So It finally happened, I got to go and see one my most highly anticipated movies EVER! And that gem, if you haven’t been spoiled by the title is, The Magnificent Seven! Yes, after months of waiting and waiting for this movie and religiously watching small clips and gifs to satisfy my taste. Only to then be completely broke upon its first day release; I finally got handed a ticket and took my seat in screen 10 at my local odeon. Now, when you wait for a film for so long, you build up your own little mini version if it in your mind and give it that new title: High Expectations and we all know how this can make or break a movie for you. So, Sonni, so our Velvet, did it make or break for you? I know you’re asking. Well let me you tell you; it hit my extremely high expectations right on the head. It was everything I assumed, but in the best of ways. It may have taken out the element of surprise from the narrative for me, but that just made me appreciate what I was seeing visually a

The Best Woman at the Wheel: Gren Wells Interview.

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(WARNING: There is a spoiler below, question 3!) This has taken me ages to post and I am so ashamed of myself since I feel so lucky to be able to say that I had a little conversation with Gren Wells via Twitter and she was lovely enough to answer some of my questions on her beautiful movie The Road Within (2014). Taken From: digitalshortbread.files.wordpress.com Gren Wells is a screenwriter, with her first Script being A Little Bit of Heaven (2011) ,  which starred great names including Kate Hudson and Whoopi Goldberg. It turns out three years later she would make her second script AND directional debut and break our hearts in all the best with her remake of the 2010 German movie Vincent Wants to Sea; The Road Within. The movie stars Robert Sheehan, Dev Patel and Zoe Kravitz who truly play the heart, lungs and soul of this movie. The narrative follows this trio and their road trip to the sea in a stolen car from the Doctor of the behavourial facility they run out of. You see,

A Dreadful Poem: Goodbye Friend.

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By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use,  https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42738125 No more let life divide, While Lily stands at Dorian's side A proud once Frankenstein bride Covered in immortal blood Smiling with hypnotic eyes While we root and cry for sweet Miss Ives Whose strength is unending during her demise With Ethan chandler, sorry Talbot I mean, With a heart of gold but teeth unclean Covered in red and boots filled with sand No matter how beastly, he stands tall as a man, With morals to follow but blindness to kill Then there's Jekyll's ever demented will For science and madness and  Things to be cured With Victor who stands genius yet a slave to being unsure Of who he is or what he wants, consumed by his love and His love for his demon is far too strong And we all know love can make a person turn wrong But that glass layer that covers his eyes Makes him weepy and pink  He is a man broken, a man on the brink B

Painful News: So Long, Anton Yelchin.

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Taken from ones2watch4.com I am in complete shock, this has been part of a two year timeline of sadness from the loss of beautiful minds and talents that make a depressingly long list of unforgettable names such as; Robin Williams, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Rickman, Richard Davalos, Prince and David Bowie. Unfortunately this list is continuing to grow for loss of those in the talent industry and today we found out that Star Trek star Anton Yelchin has sadly been taken from us and given to the list. I have been an admirer of Anton for many years from his role in the Fright Night  remake and indie vampire movie Only Lovers Left Alive, to the totally underrated performance he gave in Odd Thomas.  There was always something so sweet and motivating when watching his roles and he never disappointed hopeful fans when we saw him in new ones. Anton was far too young for this to happen, but they do say the best are always taken first. This young man had so much to offer and so much

Spirit In Art: Nate Maingard.

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Nate Maingard/natemaingardmusic.com Nate Maingard is a man of many talents and with a soul of gold ruling each one, we consider ourselves lucky that such compassion and kindness still exists in art. Bringing his ancestors on a modern journey with him, he brings new and old together for the love of music and storytelling. When I see Nate or speak to him or listen to his music, I feel a calmness and a happiness that makes me think of great idols of mine such as Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison; Nate has his own side of his own art, just for some reason I have this connection between great writers and I feel Nate would strive just as well in the era of the greats with his very relatable and beautiful words. In many opinions he rules over pop stars and rock stars, because he is honest and not run by a musical government of un-decisive suits. Nate reminds us of a freedom in art and I was lucky enough to interview the kind man himself, here's what he said: V: What Inspires your mu

Get Excited Because The Clowns Are Coming!

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Rob Zombie/robzombie.com The wait is getting shorter and shorter for the horror master Rob Zombie's latest gruesome feature 31  and the teasers are coming.Yesterday, good ol' Mr. Zombie gave us a tasty piece of movie flesh to munch on with the new teaser poster for the feature and boy does it tease! The blood covered van, with clown head on top and the Show Must Go On  words printed across the front, leaves much to the dark imagination and portrays the gore coming in a both subtle, yet in your face sort of way. It's going to be bloody, it's going to be gritty and it's taking everything we like about Rob Zombie film's to a whole new twisted level and the fact that we can get that, as well a big clown sized smile across the face, just from a teaser, means that it can only get better and that we will continue to be drawn in and entertained by these little snippets. By the end of all the happy jumping for the teasing, I hope we've got enough stamina for

Saving The Outsiders House: Danny O'Connor.

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Moviepilot.com/Warner Bros. The Outsiders is an american drama movie adaptation of  S. E. Hinton's book with the same title. It was realised in 1983 and had a cast of many familiar faces before they were as familiar and famous as they are today; Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze and pre-Karate Kid Ralph Macchio, with C. Thomas Howell as the lead. The film tackled themes of class, brotherhood and murder and caught it all in a gritty, honest and beautiful bubble. Simply unforgettable. This cult classic was directed by one of the greats Francis Ford Coppola whose name stands against the ever lasting titles of The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and one of my favourites, Bram Stoker's Dracula. With all these fantastic names behind it, from my point of view, I'm surprised it's as cult and underrated as it is. However with that being said, I learnt just how large the ever growing fan base for this movie was  when the key character of the movie was due to be

Shadowhunter Super Fan Event!

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On Saturday 16th April I attended the Shadowhunter Super Fan Event at Leicester Square theater and I had the most amazing time! I was lucky enough to get a copy of Lady Midnight, meet Cassandra Clare and have my copy signed and then meet Dominic Sherwood who plays Jace Wayland in the TV adaption of The Mortal Instruments series; Shadowhunters. Now I could type for hours and detail everything amazing thing that happened on that fateful day but instead I am just going to show you guys some pictures I took and put them below and if you want to know the WHOLE story and all the awesome bits and bobs I got, then please go ahead and watch the kinda long video I have uploaded to the Velvet YouTube Channel which I have put above! It is my first attempt at blogging and I learnt that I'm a wobbly camera vlogger, ohhhhh welllll! Enjoy, because I certainly did! Cassie and Dom during Q&A. Cassie and Dom during Q&A. Cassie and Dom during Q&A. Dom during an int

#NerdBlock Re-Unboxing!

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Today I received a pretty package through the door which was my first EVER Nerd Block; now a Nerd Block, for those who don't know, is a genius idea in which they pack collectibles and figures and t shirts and many others things from your favourite films, TV shows, Games and more! You only know a couple of the themes for each box and this month was Game Of Thrones and the original 80's Karate Kid so I had to! The exciting thing about Nerd Block, is not just that it's great value for money, but the fact that you have no idea what you are going to get, making it like a monthly present surprise! Tracking back a bit, this box costs $19.99 and it is around that actual price in GBP which is relevant to me, but compared to the total all the bits in the box comes to, it's completely worth the money because you save and gain, as well as having the best tools to nerd out with! I wanted to post all the pictures of the wonderful pieces I got but my camera has died and I hav

Years & Years; Guardians.

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Throughout my life I have found much solstice in music; it's been my escape, it's been my rhythm and it's completed whatever style phase I am tragically going through at that time. However, in the nicest why it's only been the music for me, I haven't found a depth to it, well at least not for the past 4-6 years. I have definitely lost that strange bond with a band that I used to find so easy to tie when I was younger, perhaps I was more sensitive back  then or I'm listening to irrelevant music now, I have no idea! But that loose end has been tied once again, so worry not my Velvet-y readers, music is making me sell my soul to it yet and again and thanks to the band Years & Years, I have already passed it over and now just waiting for the receipt! Years & Years Current Album 'Communion' 2015 Polydor LTD (UK) I am quirky as I can be, or at least think I am, in my ramblin's and my articles, but I don't want to use that side of my perso

Sad Loss: Richard Davalos.

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Davalos & Dean still from East of Eden (1955) Image from Tumblr I am a huge fan of James Dean and in that it has lead onto other obsessive people and past mediums that are connected to the amazing work he has done and that is how I found the awesome film that is East of Eden (1955). It was a fantastic adaptation of the last few chapters of John Steinbeck's novel of the same name, which I actually ended up reading after seeing the film and even though it isn't the type of book that I usually read, I could not put it down and was in shock at the brutal realism that I seemed to forget everyone goes through. Davalos still from East of Eden (1955) Image from Cinemagay.it In speaking of this glorious part of cinematic history, this piece isn't actually completely about that, this is not a review and it's not even a piece on James Dean, apologies if I misled you; this piece is to talk about the sad loss of actor Richard Davalos who sadly passed on Tuesday, who

A Few Favourite Book Covers.

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I went through my ever-growing book collection and realized that I was extremely happy with some of the books I owned and the versions I had of them; so that being said, I decided to share it with you guys! I noticed that to pick every single one of my favorite books was just a ridiculous idea, since that would be pretty much all of them and it would make this blog post longer than the Harry Potter series! 1. ' The Making of Penny Dreadful'  by Sharon Gosling. This book is amazing for any  Penny Dreadful  fan, (I am an obsessive one!), it is noted as the official companion book to the Showtime series and it is indeed. I get excited every time I open it, not in that way naughty!, but it is just as magical opening this book as it is watching the series; there are some fantastic chapters in this book that explain how they created the dark, Gothic and classic world through the literature and special affects. You can feel like part of the team with this book and become a full

Taboo Trailer Release.

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   Three days ago the BBC uploaded the trailer for Taboo on their YouTube channel and we are not disappointed; although there is some mild disappointment that the trailer has been shown to us now when the show itself will not be aired on BBC One till 2017. The show is based in the year 1814 around Tom Hardy’s character, James Delaney, who makes a return to London from Africa to inherit what his passed father has left behind of his shipping empire. Delaney was believed to have died and his father has created quite a reputation for himself, so the 8 part period drama is Delaney’s war with the evil, selfish, determined people lurking in the shadows around him. My reaction to the trailer was a good one, but I have to admit my happiness and hope at this trailer and for the show is partially bias as I am a huge fan of both Hardy and Ridley Scott. However, I am an admirer and fanatic when it comes to Victorian London and by the trailer it looks like they have captured the e