Review of the film

Starring

·        Hilary Duff

·        Oliver James

·        Jason Ritter

·        Dana Davis

·        Kat Dennings

·        Rita Wilson

·        David Keith

·        Rebecca De Mornay

Machine Head Raise Your Voice is a 2004 American teen musical drama film directed by Sean McNamara. Canadian rock band Three Days Grace appeared in this movie as special guests, performing the songs "Are You Ready" and "Home".

Terri Fletcher (Hilary Duff) is a small town teenager who loves to sing. Against tremendous odds, she has set her sights set on a summer program at one of LA’s most prestigious and eclectic music conservatories. Before she finds out if she’s been accepted, her ambitious spirit is crushed when a car accident kills her supportive older brother (Jason Ritter). When Terri is accepted into the summer program (thanks to a DVD of Terri’s home performances that her brother secretly sent to the school just before he died), her mother (Rita Wilson) and aunt (Rebecca DeMornay) convince Terri that she should go, and help her deceive her father (David Keith) who is completely against her going to LA.

I love this movie and find it inspirational. Some people may not, so why even bother watching it? You don't have to like it, but anyway, if you do, then great. This movie is unlike all those other pointless movies (Ex. Confessions of a teenage drama queen, Freaky Friday). Instead, it proves a point. If you're suffering currently, you're not alone. Just know that someone's got it worse than you and sometimes you just have to push your limits and as the movie is mainly about, raise your voice. Don't hold back because eventually, you've got to let it all out. I think Duff portrays her character's role rather well. It may contain some profanity, but I'd still advise people of all ages to watch it.

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The article is called “Eurovision Song Contest won byDenmark”. It was published on BBC on 19 May 2013. The author reports us who has won the first place among other singers. Emmelie de Forest, 20, had been the overwhelming favourite among the 26 entries, with her song Only Teardrops. Azerbaijan finished second.  The UK's Bonnie Tyler came 19th, an improvement on last year when Engelbert Humperdinck came second from last.  There was disappointment for Ireland's Ryan Dolan as he finished in last place with just five points. De Forest won with 281 points and Azerbaijan's Farid Mammadov finished 47 points behind, followed by Ukraine in third and Norway in fourth. Denmark, which will now have the job of hosting the 59th contest next year, had previously won in 1963 and 2000.

Also the article contains the interview with the winner, in which she has shared with us her emotions after the concerts.

I can’t say that I often watch such concerts, but I’m glad when win those singers, who really worth it. 

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The article is called Eurovision: “Azerbaijan probesRussian 'nul points'” It was published on BBC on 20 May 2013. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has ordered an inquiry into why his country gave Russia "nul points" at Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest. The author of the article tries to answer the questions about the situation at Eurovision Song Concert. Voters and the official Azerbaijan jury in fact gave strong backing to the Russian entry, according to officials.

Azerbaijan's state broadcaster suggested there may have been voting violations.Russia gave the maximum 12 points to Azerbaijan's entry - a ballad by Farid Mammadov.He came second behind winner Emmelie de Forest from Denmark.Russia's Dina Garipova came fifth at the event in the Swedish city of Malmo.

The author gives us no his personal opinion. As for me, I don’t think that it is strange or something like that, that our country, has received 0 points from Azerbaijan. May be Azerbaijanis just don’t like the song of our singer.

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The article is called “Beatles 'mentor' Tony Sheridandies”. It was publishedв on BBC on 19 February 2013.  The author of the article report us such tragic news in the field of music. The author gives us a brief biography of The Beatles or so called background of this group. Described as a catalyst in the Beatles' rise to fame, they played on Sheridan's recording of My Bonnie.  After being spotted by producer Bert Kaempfert, it was their first studio session for Polydor as The Beat Brothers in June 1961. Later that year, teenage fan Raymond Jones requested the song in Brian Epstein's record store. Epstein promised to order it and later became the Beatles' manager, whom many still regard as the "fifth Beatle".

In the end of the article the author tells us about last years of the singer. During his later years, Sheridan lived with his third wife, Anna Sievers, in a farm house in the north of Germany. She died of cancer in 2011.

I think that everybody knows nowadays this famous group – The Beatles. I can’t say that I am fond of this group,, but of course I’ve listened to some of their songs and some of them even know by heart. The deaths of one of the members of this group is a real tragedy. 

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The article is called “Taylor Swift wins at BillboardMusic Awards 2013”. It was published on BBC on 20 May 2013.

The author tells us about achievements of the famous singer. Taylor Swift has won eight awards at this year's US Billboard Music Awards. The country pop singer won categories that included, Top Female Artist, Top Digital Songs Artist and Top Country Artist. Other winners included Justin Bieber for Top Male Artist and Top Social Artist and One Direction won Top Duo/Group and Top New Artist.

Also the author gives us information about Electronic Dance Music, which is extremely popular nowadays. The Billboard Music awards ceremony was hosted by comedian and 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan in Las Vegas, US. There were performances by Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Selena Gomez, Chris Brown and Ed Sheeran.

The article is concluded by the list of other Billboard Winners of 2013.

As for me, I am very glad to see that this singer is nominated for such famous award. By the way Taylor Swift is my favorite singer; I think she is really talented.

Pleasure Reading Ch. 90-108

Liz couldn’t  deal with herself. Ian made her constantly think about her previous affairs with David and Felipe.   

Gilbert has dinner with Felipe, the handsome Brazilian, nearly every night of the week and spends the majority of the chapter commenting on things she likes about him: the way he listens, the fact that he was faithfully married for some twenty years, etc. 

Liz raised money for her new friend Wayan, who couldn’t afford to keep her shop any more.  But this sum of money is not enough to deal with all difficulties.

Finally, one day, after dinner Liz and Felipe slept together.Gilbert celebrated her 35th birthday Balinese style.

Felipe confesses his love for Gilbert, but asks for nothing in return.  He says he feels it is his job to love her; she can respond any way she chooses.  His biggest concern is what kind of life he can offer her in Bali. Wayan has finally found a property she likes, but the deal fell through. 

Finally travelling to all these countries, to all these plays helped Elizabeth Gilbert to find herself and to understand that love is the most important thing in the world.  

Film review (Ellie Parker)

Ellie Parker (2005)

Cast:

• Naomi Watts
•  Rebecca Rigg
• Scott Coffey
• Mark Pellegrino

Ellie Parker is a 2005 American comedy film, written and directed by Scott Coffey. The title character, played by Naomi Watts, is a young woman struggling as an actress in Los Angeles.

Ellie Parker began as a short that was screened at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Using a handheld digital camera, writer-director Scott Coffey expanded it into a feature-length film over the next four years. It was released in 2005.

Review:

Ellie was a young actress who wanted to be famous all around the world. She tried to find work in Hollywood, but failed every time when she tried this or that role. She lives with her vacuous musician boyfriend (Mark Pellegrino), who leaves her just about as dissatisfied as any other part of her life, and has a loose definition of the word "fidelity". But her boyfriend had an affair with another woman and Ellie broke with him their relationship. By chance she made friends with Kris with whom she fell in love.  First of all Kris introduced himself as a filmmaker. IN the end of film she read her role in a new film, and just went away.

As for me I liked this movie. This film attracted me by its suddenness and liveliness. It is really interesting to watch and it worth this. 

Pleasure Reading Ch. 73-90

BOOK THREE: INDONESIA (or Even in My Underpants I Feel Different or 36 Tales about the Pursuit of Balance)

Liz arrived in Bali and decided to go to the medicine man. But first of all she decided to stay in the hotel in Ubud, which was in the center of Bali. Then she drove to Ketut. But he didn’t remember her from the first sight, but then he recognized the woman who had been supposed to teach him English. Ketut’s wife had always been very skeptical of Gilbert, until Liss took Ketut’s disintegrating medical notebooks and made photocopies of them all, to protect and preserve the information.  This act finally won over the heart of Nyomo, Ketut’s wife.

Liz also made friends with Yudi. He was an Indonasian, who ended up marrying an American and living in the states when the twin towers were attacked.  The resulting Patriot Act and tightened immigration laws were largely focused on Islamic nations, (which included Indonesia).  He went to register, as he was told to do, and was promptly arrested and eventually sent back to Indonesia.  Now he and his wife are forced to be separated and he doesn’t know where he belongs any more.

Pleasure Reading Ch.54-72

Liz found a new form of meditation called Vipassana.  You sit perfectly still for several hours at a time, not allowed to shift or move or scratch…nothing for the duration.  Furthermore, you don’t get a mantra to focus on, for that is considered cheating. “Vipassana meditation teaches that grief and nuisance are inevitable in this life, but if you can plant yourself in stillness long enough, you will, in time, experience the truth that everything (both uncomfortable and lovely) does eventually pass.”  “There isn’t even any talk about “God” in Vipassana, since the notion of God is considered by some Buddhists to be the final object of dependency, the ultimate fuzzy security blanket, the last thing to be abandoned on the path to pure detachment.”  

Liz talks about faith.  She says that you pursue God by prayer, self mastery, improving your virtues, etc. in the hopes that you will get something in return that is greater than what you sacrificed.  There is no guarantee of return for your good (and hard) works, but that is faith.  This unknowing is what makes humanity courageous.  She writes that if we had guarantees about God and life we wouldn’t have faith but an insurance policy.  “I’m not interested in the insurance industry. I’m tired of being a skeptic, I’m irritated by spiritual prudence and I feel bored and parched by empirical debate.  I don’t want to hear it anymore.  I couldn’t care less about evidence and proof and assurances.  I just want God.  I want God inside me.  I want God to play in my bloodstream the way sunlight amuses itself on water.”

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The article published on the website http://www.telegraph.co.uk/on 11 April 2013, is headlined “Oblivion, review”.  The author of the article is Tim Robey. The article reports us about  the new film with Tom Cruise.

The author gives us a detailed review, beginning from the summary of the film.  Earth, in the visually resplendent 2077 of Oblivion, is one abandoned battlefield – a windswept, ochre-grey desert from whose sands a few weathered and lonely relics protrude. There’s the crumbling amphitheatre of a football stadium, the forlorn spire of the Empire State Building. Oh, and Tom Cruise. Rendered all-but-uninhabitable after a Pyrrhic victory against alien invaders called Scavengers, it’s a planet which our entire race has essentially given up on, except Tom. He plays an ex-Marine commander called Jack Harper, whose Wall·E-esque job is to scoot around on a bubblecraft repairing drones, and fending off Scavenger attacks while the last of our geological resources are squeezed out. The rest of humanity is biding its time, wholly unseen, inside a vast upside-down triangle of a space station. Jack isn’t entirely on his own: he has a partner called Victoria, played by an eerily immaculate Andrea Riseborough, who co-ordinates his daily maintenance tasks from the top deck of their nifty minimalist command centre. The Frank Lloyd Wright sexiness of this thing – there’s even a glass-walled swimming pool for seductive night dips – looks to be a considerable perk if you’re considering a future career in post-apocalyptic mop-up. In general, the movie’s design is by far its biggest draw, but there’s only so long you can spend admiring snazzy reflections, perfectly harmonious colour balance and Riseborough’s naked rear before the mind starts to crave a more pressing agenda. Such was also the case with Tron: Legacy, the previous movie by whizzkid auteur Joseph Kosinski, which polished the hues and sounds of its environment so pristinely the banal storytelling seemed to clatter around inside. Daft Punk’s surging electro-geek score was an astonishment there; the one for this by M83 (aka Frenchman Anthony Gonzalez) is a paler imitation, but it still eggs the movie on to fulfil its promise and take us on a properly mind-bending ride.

As I could understand, the author was rather impressed by the film. But Personally I,  don’t share his point of view. Despite the fact that Tom Cruise is my favorite actor, I think that the film is too long and rather commonplace.

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The article published on the website http://www.bbc.co.uk/ on 23 April 2013, is headlined “Barbra Streisand filmcareer honoured by Lincoln Center’.  The article reports us the fact that US singer Barbra Streisand has been honoured for her film career with the 40th annual Chaplin Award from the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

The author of the article reports that among those paying tribute to the actress - who turns 71 tomorrow - were former president Bill Clinton, Liza Minnelli and singer Tony Bennett.  She is one of just a few to have won all four major US awards - an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and an honorary Tony.  The event raised $2m (£1.3m) to help the centre promote independent cinema.

The author also described the career of Barbara. Streisand won a second Oscar in 1997 for Evergreen, the theme song from A Star is Born. She has won four Emmy awards and 10 Grammy awards. Former US President Bill Clinton said: "Every great person is driven," the former president said. "But if that person has massive talent, big brains and a bigger heart, you want to go along for the ride." Also appearing onstage were Michael Douglas, Pierce Brosnan, Kris Kristofferson and Meet The Fockers co-stars Blythe Danner and Ben Stiller. Streisand was serenaded by Bennett, who closed the show with the song, Smile, written by Charlie Chaplin.

The author of the article doesn’t express his opinion about Barbara. As for me, I can’t  tell that I am fond of her personality, or something like that, but I think she deserves this nomination !

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The article published on the website http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21570004 on 23 February 2013, is headlined “Oscars 2013: Daniel Day-Lewis makesHollywood history’. The article is written by Jasper Rees. He describes Daniel Day-Lewis who has made Oscars history by becoming the first man to win the best actor prize three times.

The author makes special emphasize on the fact that Daniel Day-Lewis, who holds UK-Irish citizenship, previously won best actor for My Left Foot (in 1990) and There Will Be Blood (2008) and has a reputation for immersing himself in his roles.This year's victory puts Day-Lewis ahead of Hollywood legends Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman and Tom Hanks - who all have two best actor wins to their names.

The author notes that Jennifer Lawrence won best actress for her role as a troubled young widow in Silver Linings Playbook. The 22-year-old, who stumbled over her dress on her way to the stage, joked: "You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell over and that's embarrassing."Surveying the audience in Hollywood's Dolby Theatre, she added: "This is nuts." It was the first Oscar win for Lawrence, who was previously nominated for best actress in 2011 for her performance in Winter's Bone. Anne Hathaway won best supporting actress for her role as tragic factory worker Fantine in movie musical Les Miserables. With her cropped hair and gaunt face, Hathaway's teary version of I Dreamed a Dream had made her an Oscar favourite. "It came true," the actress said when she collected her statuette.

The author concludes the article telling the fact that during the section of the show that pays tribute to those who died in 2012, Barbra Streisand sang the late Marvin Hamlisch's The Way We Were, from the 1973 romantic drama in which she starred with Robert Redford. It was Streisand's first Oscars performance for 36 years.

As for me, I think that Oscar is a great invention in the World of cinema! It gives us an ability of rewarding the best actors in different nominations. 

Pleasure Read. Ch. 37-54

Gilbert arrives in India at the Ashram at 3:30 AM, just in time to join the morning prayers.  They are singing what Gilbert calls “The Amazing Grace of Sanskrit”: “I adore the cause of the universe…I adore the one whose eyes are the sun, the moon and fire…you are everything to me, O god of gods… This is perfect, that is perfect, if you take the perfect from the perfect, the perfect remains.”

She started going to Ashram. She also said her Guru was not present while she was at the Ashram, but that wasn’t a problem, because “sometimes you will find that it is easier to communicate with your teacher from within these private meditations than to push your way through crowds of eager students and get a word in edgewise in person.”Gilbert described her beautiful New Year’s night, spent chanting with the others at the Ashram.  Here in India she met  Richard from Texas, a new arrival at the Ashram whose opening line to her was, “Man, they got mosquitoes ‘round this place big enough to rape a chicken.” Richard started to call her “Groceries”, because of her habit of eating much.

She spent much time meditating. She tried not to remember her past time. And one morning she realized how uninteresting and repetitive her thoughts really were.  The was a religious song she loved most of all – The Geet

Pleasure Read. Ch. 18-36

Liz explained what God meant to her. She started to pray after her divorce with her husband. Gilbert describes in detail some of her new Italian friends. Gilbert try to find only pleasure in Italy but she decided to forget about sex for 1 year for variety of personal reasons. She continued to learn Italian, the language of pleasure, and even attended a college. Attraversiamo, a pedestrian term meaning “let’s cross over” is her favorite new Italian word. She also visited Augusteum and enjoyed travelling here. Gilbert and her friend Sophie take a day trip to Naples—the city responsible for giving the world pizza and ice cream.

In Italy she discovered that she could be happy without David, and that was why she wrote him a good buy- letter. Catherine, Gilbert’s older, practical, organized, fearless sister, comes to visit her in Italy. Despite the fact that they were sisters, they were completely different.

In her last week in Italy, she travels to Sicily.  Finally, she noted that Italy was not a country for her. “I do know that I have collected myself of late—through the enjoyment of harmless pleasures—into somebody much more intact.  The easiest…way to say it is that I have put on weight.  I exist more now than I did four months ago.  I will leave Italy noticeably bigger than when I arrived here.  And I will leave with the hope that the expansion of one person—the magnification of one life—is indeed an act of worth in this world.”

Film Review 2

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Cast:

·        Joseph Fiennes as William Shakespeare

·        Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola de Lesseps

·        Geoffrey Rush as Philip Henslowe

·        Colin Firth as Lord Wessex

·        Ben Affleck as Ned Alleyn

·        Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth I

Synopsis: Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 British romantic comedy-drama film directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard. The film depicts a love affair involving playwright William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) while he was writing the play Romeo and Juliet. The story is fiction, though several of the characters are based on real people. In addition, many of the characters, lines, and plot devices are references to Shakespeare's plays.

Review:

William Shakespeare wrote plays for Philip Henslowe. One day he had to see the man who was supposed to play Romeo. William was impressed by his talent. But finally it turned out that this was not a man, it was a woman. And they had a secret affair. Inspirited by her, he had a great success with his plays, however they couldn’t be together. He was married. The Queen, who enjoys Shakespeare's plays, agrees to witness the wager. Shakespeare decided to play  the lead role of Romeo, with a boy actor, playing Juliet. On that day Viola had a wedding, and after it she went to see the play. She played the role of Juliette instead oа this boy.  They were exposed. Viola and Shakespeare parted. William started to write Twelfth Night, Or What You Will.

As for the actor’s performances, as the film starts, the actor and playwright William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is suffering from writer's block - he is unable to devise a story out of his new play, "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter." Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush), the owner of the prestigious theatre, the Rose, is threatened by slimy creditors into bringing in profits, and pleads for William to quickly deliver his play.

As for me I liked this movie because of the atmosphere and mood it leaves.  It was interesting to fell into the atmosphere of Shakespeare’s theatre. The story of William and Viola touched me very much.

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The article published on the website www.telegraph.co.uk on 7 March 2013, is headlined “Bruce Norris: 'I think weare doomed’. The article is written by Jasper Rees. He describes Bruce’s opinion about the situation with the theatre.

The author makes special emphasize on the fact that uncompromising American playwright Bruce Norris has the super-rich in his sights as his latest work prepares to open at London’s Royal Court. They’re changing the guard at the Royal Court Theatre. For his final act after six years in charge, Dominic Cooke has returned to the American playwright whose work he introduced to these shores upon becoming artistic director. A new play by Bruce Norris can mean only one thing. Theatre-goers should start quaking in their Louboutins as he prepares to give them another bloody nose.

The author also quotes the words of Dominic: Don’t, however, expect an Enron-style broadside against recent events on Wall Street and in the City. “You can’t write an interesting play about what happened in the past five years, because it’s so mundane. Ultimately, you have to write about human beings rather than about how computers work. I guess I’m writing about why people think the way they do, feel the way they do, about money and status. And why it is important that you want your child to grow up and not just succeed, but exceed others. That kind of structural need to ensure the status of future generations is almost a species problem and one that really can’t be addressed until we evolve.”

Not that Norris has any faith in mankind’s ability to evolve. His theory is that we’ve never really left the cave – “Of course not. We’ve decorated the cave” – and that the amoral law of the free market “is the law that we obeyed when we had hair all over the majority of our bodies and hunted and gathered”. And in plays that sucker audiences as laughs make way for gasps, Norris has taken it upon himself to point this out.

The author notices that even the pleasure of lecturing a captive audience for two hours has its drawbacks. And I absolutely agree with his opinion. 

Pleasure Reading Part I

Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat. Pray. Love

Chapters 1-18

Elizabeth Gilbert was in Italy. She came here for pleasure. There she made the acquaintance of her language-exchange twins: Giovanni and Dario. Gilbert flashed back to three years ago to tell the events that had catapulted her out of her marriage and into this journey across the world.  She  had a divorce with her husband and fell into depression. Meanwhile, she fell in love with David.  But relationship with this man was just a silly addiction. The relationship with David became a vortex of insecure addiction and withdrawal.  The only good thing according their relationship was the fact that she started learning Italian. David also introduced Liz to an Indian Guru to help her to find her own spirit.

For the purposes of changing everything in her life Liz decided to travel to  Italy, India and Indonesia—four months in each place.  She was going to find pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and Balance in Indonesia.

In Italy she visited a lot of restaurants and tasted different Italian dishes such as pasta, pizza and some others and learned Italian.

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The article published on the website www.telegraph.co.uk on 14 Feb 2013, is headlined “Helen Mirren: My living portrait of the Queen”. The article is written by By Sarah Cromptonand. In this article   Actress Helen Mirren, director Stephen Daldry and writer Peter Morgan explain why they are putting Queen Elizabeth II on stage in their new play, The Audience.

The author also makes special emphasize on  the fact that yet ever since she played the title role in The Queen – the 2006 film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Peter Morgan – the two have become muddled in people’s minds, making the Queen seem slightly more beautiful than she is and Mirren rather more regal. Then the author goes to the aims. The aim is, first and foremost, to give audiences a good night out. But there is a serious purpose beneath these imagined conversations between a monarch and her subjects. “As soon as you see the Queen and the prime minister, it somehow goes to the core of what it is to be one of us,” he says. “It’s a play about being British and how our country is put together.” Daldry adds, “And the nature of the constitutional monarchy. What exactly is the relationship between state and crown and how has that been negotiated down the years. It’s fascinating.” On stage, she does not portray the Queen at just one time of her life, but back into her youth. It means she has to age both down and up with the help of wigs, costumes and subtle shifts in diction. “Her voice has changed so hugely that if I can somehow access that young voice, that does so much,” says Mirren. It is, she adds with a wry smile, “easier to get older than younger, unfortunately.”

The author notices that the actress is understandably wary of being too closely identified with the Queen. In person, she is absolutely nothing like either the monarch – or her own slightly glacial public persona. The beauty and elegance are there, but she has a sharp wit, direct opinions, and a mischievous humour: she prods Daldry in the ribs when he fails to say how much he was looking forward to working with her; she roars with laughter when Morgan teases her about taking a chauffeur-driven car to work while imagining the Queen separated from the general public.

Unfortunately, the author of the article doesn’t express his own opinion about this role of Helen Mirren. To my mind it is very hard to play the Queen. It is rather hard to sit very straight, folding and unfolding hands from a resting position. 

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The article published on the website www.telegraph.co.ukon  on February  26, 2012, is headlined “A Chorus Line: behindthe scenes”. The article is written by a By Sally Williams and reports us about Sally Williams who tells auditions about the classic show. Rachel Ensor, 26, decided the best preparation was false eyelashes, her mother’s belt and a pair of Hunter wellies. Her job was to stand out and since she was going to be on stage with rows of other dancers, the eyelashes would make her eyes look very big.

The author gives us some information about A Chorus Line. It is a musical about dancers auditioning for spots in the backing ensemble of an unnamed show. The action begins with 27 people on a bare stage being put through their paces by Zach, the tough-minded director/choreographer. It ends two hours later with the dancers ruthlessly pared back to the chosen eight.

The author also makes special emphasize on the actors anв dancers of the group. What’s clear is all human shapes are here. Some have been taught 'posture’ and 'line’ and stand in first position even when relaxed. Others are wearing high-top trainers and have never pliéd at the barre. Jennifer Yaxley, 24, spent the past year at sea on a cruise ship as the dance captain on the Silver Whisper. Jed Perez, 21, recently graduated from the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. The outfit he has chosen is on the skimpy side. Fifty dancers at a time line up on stage and take it in turns to do their best. Those who aren’t eliminated are then asked to do a simple routine, 'to see whether they can take instruction and hold a routine,’ Goucher says. By the end of the day 700 hopefuls have been whittled down to 30. These included Rachel Ensor, but not Jed Perez: eliminated after the second round. 'It would be silly to say I wasn’t disappointed,’ he says, his early optimism now gone.

The article is concluded by the words of  Bob Avian:'The show is about the anonymous kid in the chorus, the guy who works on the assembly line, the clerk in the store. They are everyone. It’s not bigger than life: it is life.’ Unfortunately, the author of the article doesn’t express his own opinion about A Chorus line. To my mind all the dancers are very talented and their dances are worth looking.

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The article published on the website BBC News on August 6, 2012, is headlined “National Theatre adapts Mark Haddon's Curious Incident”. The article is written by a BBC journalist Kev Geoghegan and reports us about the fact that The National Theatre has produced the first stage adaptation of Mark Haddon's best-selling novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

It’s an open secret that A mysterious tale of a murdered dog, narrated by an introspective 15-year-old maths genius with a form of autism, the 2003 book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is not exactly an easy sell to theatre audiences. The author quotes the words of book's author Mark Haddon. "About two and a half years ago, we realised that we were getting a lot of requests for stage adaptations including, bizarrely, musical adaptations of the book."Some seemed to work, some were obviously rubbish and some were just fishing. We realised we were in a position to sit down and see who would we like to do it."

The author also makes special emphasize on the actors of the play. Stephens brought on board Marianne Elliott, director of the National's multi-award winning adaptation of War Horse.Luke Treadaway, who - alongside twin brother Harry is one of the UK's most exciting young actors - takes on the central role of Christopher Boone with Spooks actress Nicola Walker as mum Judy and Paul Ritter as his father Ed.The cast also includes veteran actress Una Stubbs as Christopher's elderly neighbour Mrs Alexander and Niamh Cusack as his teacher.

The sparse set, by renowned designer Bunny Christie, takes on its own character in the play. Seemingly a series of simple geometric squares, it pulses with energy, boosted by lighting and projections of numbers and stars, reflecting Christopher's fascination with mathematics and order.Unfortunately, the author of the article doesn’t express his own opinion about this play. To my mind it is a very unusual play mainly because it is rather difficult to show.

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The article published on the website BBC News on February 1, 2013, is headlined “Previously unseen Vincent Rattray paintings onshow in Dundee”. The article is written by a BBC reporter and tells about a collection of previously unseen paintings by the artist Vincent Rattray are to go on show for the first time.

It’s an open secret that it's a great honor to put many of these paintings on show for the first time. The author quotes the words of Exhibition curator Clare Brennan. She said it was an overwhelming task to sort through such a large body of work. There were a great many paintings in his studio when he died, and he had also gifted painting to family members over the years. When he passed away he left a prolific body of work which was then divided between family members. When we started speaking to the family we realised the vast numbers he had painted. It was quite overwhelming.

Unfortunately, the author of the article doesn’t express his own opinion about the situation. To my mind it’s rather interesting to see the works which have not been exhibited anywhere before.

Ind.Rendering Ch.51-58

After their marriage Strickland and Ata went to live to the forest. The following 3 years were very happy to Strickland. They lived alone and spoke with anyone. Ata did not bother him and silently brought up their child up.

Strickland died because of leprosy. When he knew about his illness for the first time he wanted to go to the forest but Ata stopped him. With time, Strickland became blind. He continued to work. He drew magnum opus, which he painted on the walls. It was the work of his life, however he said Ata to fire their house after his death.

The narrator returned to London and met Mrs. Strickland again. After the death of her sister she received her heritage and became a secured woman. 

Ind. Reading Ch. 41-50

Strickland shows to the narrator his pictures. They seemed to him ugly, but they suggested without disclosing a secret of momentous significance. They were strangely tantalizing. They gave him an emotion that he could not analyze. Next day the narrator saw Strickland off for Amsterdam.

The narrator went to Tahiti where Strickland spent his last years. There the narrator met Captain Nicholas, who knew Strickland. They made one another’s acquaintance during the better part of the winter following the narrator’s last meeting with Strickland in Paris. They lived together in the Asile de Nuit. He worked on the steamer and then started to work on a ship, raiding to Australia.

On Tahiti, he worked as overseer on the plantation. He continued painting but no one regarded him as a talented painter and was interesting at him at all. Strickland had taken up a native woman.

Film Review "Séraphine"

I’ve recently watched the film under the title “Seraphine”.  So, I should say that this film amazed me from the first minutes. Seraphene, a middle-aged housekeeper made her live by washing clothes, working additionally in the shop and  cleaning houses of rich people. When she saved necessary sum of money, she went and bought colours and wrote different pictures. For the first time people laughed at her works, however, one day a famous painter arrived, who recognized her talent and bought the picture.  He began encouraging her for painting. But then she was put into a lunatic asylum and eventually stops painting. We are then told that she died in 1942 and that her art became famous and respected. So, why this film is so interesting to me? To tell you the truth, I have not watched autobiographical films earlier. I thought that they all are boring to me. However, this one amazed me. It was really interesting to see that not only rich people could have a talent in the sphere of art.

Ind.Reading Ch.30-40

Stroeve went to fetch his finds from the studio. He tried to take walking along the street which Blanche must pass through, however, she was adamant to him. The author once met Strickland with Blanche and she did not look unhappy. Strove knew then about their meeting and asked the author to write Blanche for him and say that Stroeve would do everything for her. Suddenly, it turned out that Blanche had a quarrel with Strickland and tried to commit suicide. She was very weak and didn’t want to see anybody and finally she died. Sroeve had a very hard time, because of the death of his wife and decided to move to Holland. He told the author, that he had seen Strickland and even proposed him to go with him but Charles had not accepted. Charles presented Strove Blanche’s portrait instead.

When author met Strickland again, he suddenly understood that he couldn’t hate Charles, despite the fact that he was terrible person. 

Rendering 3

The article published on the website of the newspaper “The Daily Californian” on January 31, 2013, is headlined “Timeless Dutch painting displayed at de Young Museum”. The article is written by Addy Bhasin and reports about arrival the famous picture to the Young museum. She has captivated viewers for years with her exotic headdress, pictorial elegance and penetrating eyes, and now Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” is finally accessible to an American audience. The exhibit, “Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis,” is a carefully selected group of 17th century Dutch paintings originally from the Netherlands’s Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, which is currently undergoing a major renovation.

It’s an open secret that a wide audience usually call this picture “Dutch Mona Lisa”.  What sets this portrait apart from others is the compelling expression of the girl. Her eyes immediately silence you — something that is apparent only in her presence. The gallery space before the “Girl” is loud and boisterous, but as museum-goers enter the last room to see her, they are quiet, as if in a divine trance. She is small, but she is captivating; the aura of tranquility surrounding the portrait can be felt.

Analyzing the picture, the author emphasize how splendidly preserved the painting is. Recent renovations have been applied to it including varnishing and retouching to remove cracks in the paint. The result is a brilliant revealing of the original incandescent palette: bright blues and rich yellows.

The author draws a conclusion that, “Girl with a Pearl Earring” is certainly a good reason to make a trip to the de Young Museum in the coming weeks; other pieces should not be missed. An impressive collection of Rembrandt van Rijn’s portraits, sketches and etchings can be viewed in “Rembrandt’s Century,” a display that one can gain entry to with a ticket for the “Girl with a Pearl Earring” exhibition.

As for me, I found this article interesting. I have never heard about this unusual picture and hope that one day I will be able to see it. It was interesting to know also that Tracy Chevalier had written a historical novel, also entitled Girl with a Pearl Earring (1999), fictionalizing the circumstances of the painting's creation.

Ind.Reading Ch.20-30

During their silent meal the author showed not the least interest in him and at last he was rewarded and Charles began to talk to himself. When the small sum of money which he brought with him from London came to an end he suffered from no dismay. He tried to earn money but failed in everything what he had done. Meanwhile he had never ceased to work at his, he didn’t sail his pictures he only wanted to paint what he saw.

Dirk Stroeve wanted to celebrate Christmas together with the author and Strickland. However, they couldn’t find Charles anywhere. It turned out that Strickland was ill and his “friends” decided to find him. Charles had a serious fever. He eat nothing except bread and some water. Stroeve decided to remove Strickland to his own flat. When Mrs. Stroeve knew about her husband’s intention, she was enraged and burst into tears. Finally, she consented to take care about Charles. Soon, Strickland started recovering, but he was not obliged at all. But suddenly it turned out, that Blanche had secretly fallen in love with Strickland and decided to leave Stroeve with him. However, Stroeve because of his great love to this woman left Strickland and his wife in his own flat. He came to the author and shared with him his misfortune.

Rendering 2

The article published on the website of “Foxnews” on January 28, 2013 is headlined “Nearly 400-year-old secret painting in Rembrandt masterpiece revealed”

The author of this article is Megan Gannon. He reports us about the masterpiece, "Old Man in Military Costume" which was painted by Dutch painter Rembrant Harmenszoon van Rijn. Scientists had noticed the painting bears faint traces of another portrait beneath its surface. Researchers had previously probed the painting with infrared, neutron and conventional X-ray methods, but could not see the behind the top coat, largely because Rembrandt used the same paint (with the same chemical composition) for the underpainting and the final version.

The author notes that new studies with more sophisticated X-ray techniques that can parse through the painting's layers give art historians hope that they may finally get to see who is depicted in the secret image.

The author gives us opinions of different scientists according the situation. "Our experiments demonstrate a possibility of how to reveal much of the hidden picture," Matthias Alfeld from the University of Antwerp said in a statement. "Compared to other techniques, the X-ray investigation we tested is currently the best method to look underneath the original painting."

The article draws conclusion that this isn't the first time scientists have delved into Rembrandt's paintings. Previous research revealed why his art possesses such calming beauty, finding the artist may have pioneered a technique that guides the viewer's gaze around a portrait, creating a special narrative and "calmer" viewing experience.

As for me, I think that Rembrandt is one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history and the most important in Dutch history. His contributions to art came in a period of great wealth and cultural achievement that historians call the Dutch Golden Age when Dutch Golden Age painting, although in many ways antithetical to the Baroque style that dominated Europe, was extremely prolific and innovative. He is one of my favorite painters. This article impressed me greatly, because I did not know such information about this unique picture before.

Rendering 1

The article published on the website of “Detroit Free Press” on January 28, 2013 is headlined “Famed Van Gogh painting to visit the DIA in February”. The author of this article is Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press Staff Writer. He reports us about arrival of a famous picture of Van Gogh to the DIA.

The author remembered about other pictures which were displayed there.  For example, there was the Vermeer’s picture “Woman Holding a Balance,” which was borrowed from the National Gallery in Washington D.C., in August. It is an open secret that as little a single masterpiece at their core are an attractive and cost-effective way to beef up the museum’s exhibition schedule between larger, more expensive special exhibitions.

Analyzing the situation, the author made special emphasize on the description of Van Gogh’s picture. Created in 1889, the “Bedroom in Arles” depicted the interior of the artist’s room when he was living in the south of France. The bold color and woozy perspective gave the picture an unusual charge of energy and emotion for such a quiet scene.

Also the author quoted Van Gog’s words about his own picture:  “The pale, lilac walls, the uneven, faded red of the floor, the chrome-yellow chairs and bed, the pillows and sheet in very pale lime green, the blood-red blanket, the orange-colored wash stand, the blue wash basin, and the green window … I wanted to express absolute repose with these different colors".

The article draws a conclusion that DIA will include two of the museum’s most celebrated masterpieces, the “Self- Portrait” and “The Portrait of the Postman Roulin,” along with “The Diggers.”

Unfortunately, the author did not express his own position according Van Gogh and his painting. As for me, I think that nowadays Van Gog’s works are rather popular among educated people. And, there is no doubt that this particular picture is worth looking.

Ind.Reading Ch.11-21

The narrator found a hotel, where Strickland had stopped. Suddenly, it turned out that Strickland lived there alone in a little stuffy room and this fact puzzled the narrator greatly. Strickland arrived to this cheap hotel alone with just a little sum of money. He arrived there because he wanted to paint. He didn’t love his wife and children anymore and did not want to return to them. However, then Mrs Strickland didn’t believe in it; she started to hate him and told that they were strangers to each other now.

The MacAndrews, who were childless and in easy circumstances, arranged to undertake the care of the children, and Mrs. Strickland, had only herself to provide for.  She let her flat and sold her furniture.  She settled in two tiny rooms in Westminster, and faced the world anew.  She was so efficient that it was certain she would make a success of the adventure. Finally, she became a head of in Chancery Lane (a printing office).

The author was rather bored with London and it’s monotonous life. He went to France and there he went to his old friend, Dirk Stroeve. As it turned out, Dirk was an ardent admire of works of Charles Strickland. So, the author decided to meet with this man again. Strickland had greatly changed since the last time they met.  He became as thin as a skeleton and had a really bad look. The author invited him to dine and Charles accepted.

Ind.Reading Ch.1-10

After the author’s first success because of his first book he was invited to a house of Mrs. Strickland for a lunch.  She usually organized lunches for different authors because she wanted to be in the movement.  She had a husband, who pretended to be a kind of dull persons, and two children, a boy and a girl. The author started to go to pleasant little luncheons at her flat regularly. And one day she asked Mrs. Strickland to introduce him to her husband, despite the fact that he was a he's a typical broker and very boring person.

So, at their first meeting Mr. Strickland’s appearance did not coincide with the image which was in the head of narrator. He was a man of forty, not good-looking, and yet not ugly, for his features were rather good; but they were all a little larger than life-size, and the effect was ungainly.  He was just a good, dull, honest, plain man. 

Suddenly, the narrator knew about the fact that Charles Strickland had run away from his wife, he had gone off to Paris with a woman and had left Amy without a penny. Everyone was shocked by this fact because Amy and Charles had lived together for 17 years without any quarrels.

Mrs. Strickland asked the narrator to go to France and to beg Charles to return to her and their children.

My pleasure reading

Year I Term I - Agatha Christie "After The Funeral"

Year I Term II - Stephenie Meyer "Twilight"

Year II Term III - Stephenie Meyer "New Moon"

Year II Term IV - Stephenie Meyer "Eclipse"

Year III Term V - Charlotte Bronte "Jane Eyre"

Year III Term VI - William Somerset Maugham "Theatre"