My blog has moved so from now on, I will be posting to this website:

http://emmalangman.wordpress.com/

While Beyonce won a record-breaking 6 Grammys (the most ever for a female artist), it was the Kings of Leon who beat many people’s expectations to win Record of the Year with Use Somebody.

Caleb Followill, the band’s singer, said:

“I’m not going to lie, we’re all a little drunk. But we’re happy drunks.”

After hearing a constant barrage of how amazing Avatar is, I finally succumbed and went to see it so I could at least judge for myself. I entered the cinema with a preconceived idea about James Cameron‘s newest record-breaking blockbuster but it was solely positive reviews that I had heard from friends who normally stick to romcom chick flicks!

On route to win most of its nine Oscar nominations, I cannot argue with Avatar’s nomination in the Best Visual Effects section. The 3D effects were amazing and made Avatar a very visually exciting and innovative film. However, the other elements of the film failed to impress. The storyline was a generic boy meets girl who he can’t have but eventually does. While there were some twists, the final ending was obvious. The acting was okay but, with a standard script, the cast didn’t really have much to work with.

So why has this film done so well, becoming the highest-grossing domestic box-office release in U.S. history after Cameron’s Titanic? It cannot be denied that the cinematic effects are brilliant but, as one of few 3D films out in the cinema, Avatar seems to have relied on this one differing factor to attract viewers. I wonder if it had been available in only 2D, if it would be nominated for so many awards? Doubtless, Cameron will scoop up several gongs but I strongly doubt that they are really deserved.

I have just finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy and it was one of the best books I’ve ever read, but also the most depressing.

This Pulitzer Prize winning novel is set in post-apocalyptic America, although we are never told the events leading up to this situation, and is based around a father and son who are travelling the road, surviving and looking for other good people. On the way, they see many horrifying incidents, as the lack of food and water has led many to cannibalism. But the father constantly reminds his son that they are the good men who are carrying the fire, a metaphor that is threaded throughout the novel. The Road tells their tale over the course of about a year and in that time, they meet only a handful of others, most of whom want to steal from them and they have to run away from, for fear of being eaten.

One effective method employed by McCarthy is the anonymity of the protagonists – they are simply named Man and Boy. Through this device, the reader feels that this pair could be anyone and this leads to an even greater sense of despair, as we cannot identify with the characters in a more personal way. 

Father and son in the film

With the film version released last week, I am hoping to see it soon and I am interested to find out how the director has decided to depict some of the more harrowing scenes in the novel.

Even though The Road is a depressing, and at times distressing, novel I would definitely recommend it – it’s a brilliant read that really makes you think and was difficult to put down.

In the latest (and last) series of Celeb Big Brother, Vinnie Jones has surprised many with his quick quips. In reference to Alex Reid teaching Stephen Baldwin how to box, Vinnie said:

“If bulls*** was music, there would be a brass band out there right now!”

What a saying!

You know when you get a song in your head and it just won’t leave!? For about a month when I was living in America, I swear that Phil Collins followed me everywhere! Every time I went into a shop or turned on the radio, they were playing Phil Collins! Most often, In the Air Tonight, which I do love.

Anyway in the past week, I keep hearing this song everywhere I go. Then, just when I settle down to catch up on Gossip Girl and think I can finally get rid of it, it was one of the songs on last week’s soundtrack. Infuriating! It’s not one of my fave songs ever but I hope you enjoy it!

After three months and many shock moments, the latest series of the X Factor has finished. In a tense final, it was 18 year old Joe McElderry who gained the most votes and the prizewinning record contract.

On winning the X Factor, Joe said: “I think it is going to take a long time to sink in. It was just amazing, it has been the best experience of my life.”

When New Moon, the second installment of the Twilight saga, opened at cinemas across the country on November 20, it soon became all anyone could talk about it. Then, with Thanksgiving weekend at the end of November in the US, the film kept its grip on the US box office. In the first 10 days in the cinema, New Moon took $230.7m (139.4m), completely outshining the entire takings of its predecessor, Twilight, by $40m (£24.1m).

It also doesn’t hurt that the cast of the film are young and attractive. Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward Cullen, has a particular charm loved by many girls, but especially those in America who swoon at the English accent of many fitties. In New Moon, Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob Black, gratuitously flashes his abs whenever possible and leaves Bella with two attractive men fighting over her – something I’m sure few girls would cry about!

New Moon cast

Overall, I think New Moon and the Twilight Saga is filling a void of a new romance that captures the attention and imagination of many females, who can live vicariously through Bella for not just one novel or film but four! It will be interesting to see if the snowball effect of success continues but I’m sure it will and I will be one of many carried along with it!

Tiger Woods has had a tumultous week, after his squeaky clean image was ruined by claims that he has cheated on his wife, Elin. After crashing his car into a tree at 2am and reports that Elin had hit him with a golf club, Tiger made a formal statement on his website.

He said: ” I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart.” He then went on to ask for privacy while he and his family deal with their problems. His message ended: “I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves. For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology.”

Jedward were finally voted of the X Factor, after remaining in the competition for 7 weeks despite being unable to sing!

On their departure, John said: “It’s been the greatest experience of my life.”

Talking about  their future in the music industry, he also said : “We have to reinvent ourselves — it’s about doing it for all the fans because, without them, we wouldn’t have done as great as we have. We’re living our dream.”