Drinking Buddies

Drinking Buddies is a comedy/drama written and directed by Joe Swanberg.  It stars Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson as two friends that work at a craft brewery, and spend their days teetering on the line between friends and flirtation. Ron Livingston and Anna Kendrick star as their respective partners.

What I liked about this film is that all of the dialogue was improvised, so although it is technically a romantic comedy, it doesn't feel like the usual drab. The film follows a much looser timeline than most romcoms, and deals with some serious issues along the way. The improvisation really leads to some great tense, and comedic, moments, that don't feel forced as with other films.

Anna Kendrick's character is basically the sweetest girl that ever was, whereas Olivia Wilde plays the cool girl that can hang with the lads. Olivia really did a great job in this film, I'd not seen her in any other films, but from what I hear, she doesn't normally get to act like this.  I'm pretty sure Jake Johnson is playing himself, or Nick Miller if he worked at a brewery, but it works wonderfully, and he gets to play scenes that are more emotionally intense than in New Girl. Ron Livingston is also fantastic but I feel that we don't really get to see his character develop as much as the other three, by the end of the film we are still not really sure what makes him tick.

This is not a typical romcom so don't watch it if you like those, it does move at a much slower pace, but this makes for some great character analysis. Watch this if you like films that are a bit different, if you are a Jake Johnson fan, or if you are a fan of improvisation. I think I'll definitely be watching it again soon.

Drinking Buddies is out at selected UK cinemas now

 (no date has been set for a UK DVD, but US imports should be available from December 3, 2013 as this is when the US release date is)

Running Music

Good morning everyone! Last week I wrote about my top 5 tips for beginner runners and promised a playlist of music I run to.

Well, below, via the magic of Spotify, is a playlist that I copied song for song from my phone. As you can see, I am not one for your typical workout music, I had a copy of that running trax compilation and I did not care for it.

Some of them may make you go "whhhhhaaaaaaa?" but you know that's the point. This list may not visually make sense, but on a run they provide me with a good amount of distraction so that I can forget how close to death I feel! Enjoy!

Don Jon

Ever since I saw Brick, I decided I was interested in JGL's career, not enough to spell out his full name every time though. If you haven't seen Brick, do. It's a little indie, about drugs and missing girls. I like it a lot.

Since those days, JGL has been taking over Hollywood somewhat, Inception, 500 Days of Summer, The Dark Knight Rises, Looper, he's been in some VERY successful films. Now he has written and directed his very own film, his first one in fact.

According to IMDB this is the lowdown :

'A New Jersey guy dedicated to his family, friends, and church, develops unrealistic expectations from watching porn and works to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love."

 Here are 5 reasons (other than JGL) that I'll be checking out this film:

1. Scarlett Johansson:

If I could be an amalgamation of Scarlett and Drew Barrymore, I would be my favourite person. Films that you may not have seen, that I like her in, include Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Ghost Town, take a look.

2. The Jersey Accent:

I'm not sure if I'll finding it convincing or not but either way I'll find it entertaining.

3. The Scene That Made This Picture Happen:

Don Jon seems all round like a characterture, I'm not sure if that's intentional but I'm intrigued to find out.

4. Julianne Moore

I haven't seen a lot of her films, but I have seen The Kids Are Alright and I thought she was brilliant.

5. I'm Really Hoping It's Going To Be a Bit Different

Obviously, I won't know until I actually watch it, but from the trailer, it doesn't look like just another RomCom, it looks a little bizarre, which is something I can get behind. I'll update you when I finally see it for reals.

In the meantime, here's the trailer, what do you think?

Don Jon is out in the UK tomorrow (15th November 2013)

5 Tips For Beginner Runners (absolute, can barely put one foot in front of the other, novices)

 (Don't wear a headband like this)

So, I haven't been running in a long time. There are no real excuses and I am ready to get back on it, I'm just waiting for the percentage of gross in my lungs to fall back below 80%, I always take ages to get over the last bits of flu.

At the peak of my running, when I was going 3 or so times a week, I had worked my way up to a (sort of) comfortable 7k.  That's 4.3 miles for the old school people out there. I'm sure if I went for a run now, I wouldn't be straight back to that level of fitness, but I know I would be nowhere near as bad as when I first started.

It was only a couple of years ago that I decided to start running, I was poor, but I wanted to get fit. I decided running was free, and therefore the one for me. I downloaded a C25k podcast and off I went.

 Except, not really, because even though running for 90 seconds sounds fairly simple, it most definitely is not when you're overweight and your idea of running the cross country at school was to walk 98% sprint 2% (Coming one before last each year was my idea of achievement, stoner attitude, asthmatic lungs).

Here are my top tips for absolute novices:

1. C25K:
Seriously, I don't know how anyone starts running without this plan. It gets you from zero to a, kind of, 5k hero in 9 weeks. It starts with run/walk intervals and builds you up to running a full on block of 5K. Oh, it stands for couch to 5k by the way.

2. Get a podcast:
I used these ones (http://runningintoshape.com/). You can tell just from the fact that the girl calls herself Carli Fierce, that this is not my usual style of music, but it doesn't matter. You just need some music for distraction, and clear guidelines as to when you need to walk, and when you need to run. Once you've graduated from a C25K program you can listen to whatever the hell you want (look out for my running playlist next week!)

3. Get over yourself:
Hi, there. You have been running for the first time in your life, yes you do look like shit, you're face is red and sweaty, your fat is jiggling... So fucking what. No one cares, and the ones who do, you do not need to worry about. I have been heckled on runs, but you know what, you are actively improving your life, they are obviously wasting theirs if they've got time to shout at you. Look forward, rise above, you are one step closer to running a fucking majestic marathon.

4. Invest in trainers:
If you run for a few weeks, and you like it, invest in proper shoes! They will help prevent injuries, blisters and help with alignment. ^ I've got these sexy bad boys ^ . I hate how they look, but it's not important because I went to Sweatshop, I ran on the treadmill in the middle of the shop, and my gait was analysed. These were my match. My neon pink, glass slippers.

5. Pick a loop route:
I run in circles. Out and backs do not make sense in my head. NO BACKTRACKING GUYS. Aside from my obsession with not turning back on myself, it helps me run further if I have a set loop. It's more interesting than running back over a bit you've just come from. Boredom is a big issue when you start running, if your brain gets too bored then it's got spare energy to think about the fact that your lungs are about to explode. Distraction is KEY. You can plan your route and find others near your area with www.mapmyrun.com, this is handy for you to know your exact distance as well.

BONUS TIP:

Buy a top that says 'Keep Running' on it, because then when you give up running before your scheduled cool down period, you feel like a massive hypocrite. Also, when you pass other joggers, you can imagine that you have given them a little more motivation, even if they were running so fast, they probably didn't get a chance to read it.

That's My Jam.

So over the weekend, I was a little busy setting up various accounts for this blog. We are now on PINTREST, TUMBLR, and most excitingly Spotify.

Today sees the start of a new feature which I'm calling Sixy Playlists, because I like the naffness of that. Head over to the Spotify now and listen to my first Sixy Playlist: Grunge, ish. The only rules of this feature are that there must be 6 songs, no more, no less, and they must all be around a general theme.

Here's a Fun Idea...

Now, back in September, Scotch and Cassius was formed. The momentous decision took place after some drinking, as all great decisions do (NOTE: Not all drunk decisions are great). But hark*! The blog was not the only cool thing we created that night.

Somewhere along the line we decided it would be fun to do a little experiment and swap make up. Yes, that's right all girls do have makeovers, eat chocolate, and pillow fight at sleepovers. 10000% accurate stereotype (it's not).

Now you've seen pictures of the both of us before, we live in a selfie generation, and we grew up with Myspace, so we do not mind posting our faces all over the internet, and we don't mind who sees them (hello government spies, not sure we were quite what you were looking for).

So this is Hannah's normal look:

Eyeliner, lots of it! Lashes, lashes, lashes! The occasional venture into bright lipstick.

And this is me:

I gave up on perfecting eyeliner long ago because I'm lazy. I'm much more about the bronzer, blusher, highlighter, eyebrows game.

So, we sat down in my lounge with another bottle of wine, brought our make up collections together and did each others make up. Exactly as we would our own. Same foundation shades and everything, even if they were way off. This was the result:

Never have I felt more weirded out, just by looking at my own face. I think Hannah felt the same. Direct quote "I look like a cancer patient".

I didn't take too much offense from this because my reaction was "I feel like a prostitute in a hoody"

Sorry Hannah.

See, the thing is, I think that anyone that didn't know us or how we normally look, wouldn't give these looks a second glance (aside from my drunk cba hair, and hannahs motocross top), but to us it felt like the complete opposite to our natural state. By this age, you've finished experimenting wildly with make up (gone are my days of dark purple shadow up to the brow bone) and you've more or less found the look that works for you.

Programs such as Snog, Marry, Avoid annoy me sometimes, because who cares how much make up someone has on? It's not necessarily 'fake'. The way someone does the make up is an extension of their personality, and if that happens to be lots of eyeliner, then so what?

Findings from this little experiment:

• We should stop judging everyone on everything they do, live and let live! 
• Experimenting from time to time can be good, I've added a smudge of eyeliner in the corner of my eyes to my daily routine...
• Wine makes good things happen, and as a bonus they are more hilarious, because you have been drinking wine.

*when was the last time you saw that word and it wasn't followed by ... the herald angels sing?

National Novel Writing Month

Okay so we are 5 days in already, but I haven't started yet, which means it's not too late for you to join too!

Maybe I should tell you what it's all about first?

So, this website, nanowrimo, is set up to encourage you to write your entire novel in the month of November. You sign up, update your word count, use the forums for tips, join your local area (most areas have meet ups, and scheduled events), and generally have a bit of fun.

The target for the month is 50,000 words. If you reach this, you win NaNoWriMo, and have probably enough material to complete your book. There is NO EDITING in NaNoWriMo, so just release all words into your computer/notepad, and don't even think about if they're good, or not, until December.

If you've always thought about writing, but never really made the start, this is a great way to kick your novel into existence. There is a marathon this Saturday, which I will be joining because my word count is at 0 due to being at home for my nan's funeral. Excuses, I know, but you'll soon learn I am queen of procrastinators. This post in itself is a procrastination. However, if there's one thing I enjoy it's pressurised targets, so one way or another I'll be hitting 50k come the end of the month!

Come join us! What's the worst that could happen you write an amazing novel and become a bestselling author?*



*If so, I would like a cut for the introduction, kind of like a finder's fee.