..:: 615. The One With The Reader & Milk ::..

kate winslet delivered yet another stellar performance. now i know why she got the best actress... the reader was really spectacular. i was so intrigued by kate's acting. in there, she plays a middle-age woman who has a secret. at first, i thought it would be those secret that she is having an affair with a young boy etc but it was not.

spoiler alert.

when she went on trial, there was the best part she exhibited her acting skills. you can literally tell all the emotions she was going through in her face. a mixture of innocence, helplessness, having to suppress herself to keep her darkest secret. in the end, she had to shoulder the "crime" and got life imprisonment. her response to the judge, "What would you have done?", really blew me away. it really reflected her simple mindedness (that was related to her secret). it was just that she was in the wrong situation that she could not get herself out.

the young boy (Michael)she had relationship with was feeling puzzled. there were girls that had to be sent to death in the gas chambers and kate (henna in the show) had the girls read to her (*hint). Michael was confused whether she wanted the girls to read to her so that the death will be more bearable or whether she had them killed because they knew her secret.

very haunting experience. left me feeling pity for her.

Little note about the setting of the story and the gas chamber thing from wikipedia:

Prisoners were transported from all over German-occupied Europe by rail, arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau in daily convoys. Arrivals at the complex were separated into two main groups - those marked for immediate extermination, and those to be registered as prisoners. The first group, about three-quarters of the total, went to the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau within a few hours; they included all children, all women with children, all the elderly, and all those who appeared on brief and superficial inspection by an SS doctor not to be fully fit. SS personnel told the victims that they were to take a shower and undergo delousing. The victims would undress in an outer chamber and walk into the gas chamber, which was disguised as a shower facility, complete with dummy shower heads. After the doors were shut, SS men would dump in the cyanide pellets via (depending on which crematorium) holes in the roof or windows on the side. In the Auschwitz Birkenau camp more than 20,000 people could be gassed and cremated each day

Do you know?
Stephen Daldry's first choice for the lead role was Kate Winslet, who originally turned down the offer due to a scheduling conflict with Revolutionary Road (2008). When Nicole Kidman accepted the role, the producers built in a hiatus in order to allow her to finish filming Baz Luhrmann's Australia (2008). However, by the time Kidman was set to begin her scenes on the film, she withdrew because of her pregnancy, vacating the role. Winslet, who was now available, agreed to replace Kidman. Imagine nicole kidman could have been in the oscars too.

i wondered how it felt to have a mature woman like kate naked with a 17 year old david kross... must be stressful for the guy to work with such an outstanding actress who bares all in the show. kate really aged gracefully.

Milk was great too... love the scenes where james franco had to kiss sean penn, disturbing but what can you expect from 2 hot dudes? the occasional spanking was funny. but franco looks like he lost his shape. anyway, i love the scenes where sean penn has to defend for gay rights, the witty conversations and debates were interesting. like one where the anti-gay minister wanted to sack all the homo teachers saying that since they cannot have children on their own, they want to "recruit" children. then sean asked "so how do you teach homosexuality? So you think homosexuality is like french?" haha. had great laughs.

kate winslet and sean penn, love them. you guys should watch the movies (think they are ending their run soon). wanna catch revolutionary road soon, the modern titanic. haha. where i can also see kate winslet again =)

FYP draft over! finally i can sleep well for at least one day.

watched american idol. round 3 so boring. only scott and lil' i think got chance.

but now hooked on david archuleta and david cook. gosh. two different styles and i love them. been spinning D.A's when you believe and crush (which yash absolutely abhors) and D.C's always be my baby and light on. didnt noe DA has vocal paralysis or some sort. but he still sounds so nice.

gosh now i hope i can play and sing "a thousand miles" like him.