Movie Review – Despicable Me 2 – LATE POST!

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Movie review 6 of 7…

Despicable Me 2 – released July 3rd, 2013

Starring: Steve Carell, Miranda Cosgrove, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Russell Brand

Plot with SPOILERS!: A sequel to the 2010 “Despicable Me” which featured the exploits of villain Gru and how he came to adopt 3 little girls. In the sequel Gru is no longer a villain – solely committing himself to being a family man and dealing with eldest daughter Margo’s impending trip through puberty and dating. A villain is causing problems for the Anti-Villain League, so they ask Gru to work with an agent named Lucy to find the villain and bring him down. The film follows them as they fumble through the investigation, eventually realize they love each other, and save the day!

My opinion/rating: Super cute and fun! I don’t think it was as good as the first movie, but my expectations were REALLY high because I love the first one so much. Still a really good film, not just for kids – there were people of all ages at the theater for this movie. Overall rating – B.

Movie Review – Monster’s University – LATE POST!

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Movie review 5 of 7…

Monster’s University – released June 21st, 2013

Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Bonnie Hunt, Nathan Fillion, John Krasinski

Plot: A prequel to Monster’s Inc, another Disney/Pixar creation. This story tells how Mike and Sulley meet at college, overcome a bunch of obstacles and eventually work at Monster’s Inc as part of the Scare Team.

My opinion/rating: I was dragged to this by my Disney nerd roommates, not to say that I’m NOT a Disney nerd, just not for this film. I can’t even remember the story of Monster’s Inc, so I would’ve liked to watch that first before seeing the prequel. Some of the references may go over your head, but you don’t have to see Monster’s Inc to completely understand MU. This movie is just cute, not a lot of substance. There weren’t many adult/pop culture references, mostly the jokes were based on clever word play or college stereotypes. I think a middle school to high school aged person would be bored with this movie because they’d be in that middle age, too young to just blindly laugh, but not old enough to understand some of the adult humor. The story is, of course, heart warming, lots of life lessons, but I just didn’t really connect to it. If you aren’t in love with Disney/Pixar, or Monster’s Inc – wait for Netflix. Overall rating – C.

Movie Review – The Hobbit – LATE POST!

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Movie Review 4 of 7

The Hobbit – released December 14th, 2012

Starring: Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood

Plot: To fully spoil the plot would take an endless amount of space, and this is already an obnoxiously long post so bottom line – this is the prequel to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The Hobbit tells the tale of how Bilbo Baggins came to be in possession of THE RING and adventures he went on before Frodo ever came into the picture.

My opinon/rating: My fellow nerds are going to be very disappointed but, I fell asleep during this movie. LOTR is not my thing, I’m much more a Potter nut, so The Hobbit wasn’t really my first choice to see (again, this was Aaron’s pick) just because I don’t really know the story that well and the movie is QUITE LONG. In my defense, I’d just gotten off work when we went to see this, so I was really tired, but I really would’ve rather watched it at home…with lights on. What I remember of the movie was good, I’d definitely watch it again, especially for the parts with Gollum – he’s my favorite! If you’re a fan of LOTR or you WANT to be, you’ll enjoy it. If not – definitely skip this. It’s very long and full of LOTR/Hobbit lore that you will not find the least bit entertaining. Overall rating – B.

Movie Review – Gangster Squad – LATE POST!

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Late movie review 3 of 7…

Gangster Squad – released January 11th, 2013

Starring: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone & Ryan Gosling

Plot: I do not remember. Basic storyline…Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling are bad ass cops trying to bring down a mob boss played by Sean Penn in old time Los Angeles. Emma Stone is Sean Penn’s girlfriend but she starts fooling around with Ryan Gosling. It’s probably not a good sign that I don’t remember any of the character’s names. JB & RG get together a rag tag team of other bad ass cops and eventually take down the mob boss. A bunch of the team dies, except for JB & RG who ride off into the sunset with their ladies.

My opinion/rating: Again, as you can probably tell by my thrilling plot description, I was totally enamored with this film…or not. Didn’t hate it, didn’t love it. Reminded me a lot of the video game “L.A. Noir”, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s a really romanticized era for L.A, and it’s fun because I live close to the area they’re referencing, so I understand the references for the most part. This was a very violent movie, pretty sad too, not really my type of movie, this was obviously Aaron’s pick. I’d watch this movie again, but I wouldn’t be thrilled with it. Overall rating – C.

Movie Review – Les Mis – LATE POST!

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Late Movie Review 2 of 7…

Les Miserables – released December 5th, 2012

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, talented newcomers like Eddie Redmayne & Aaron Tveit, and several Broadway vets.

Plot WITH SPOILERS!: Valjean (Jackman) is on parole, Javert (Crowe) is the police inspector dedicated to finding Valjean and putting him back in prison.
Valjean becomes the mayor of a town and helps out Fantine (Hathaway) a single mother to Cosette (Seyfried), who sells ALL her body parts to earn money to raise her. Fantine ends up dying & Valjean becomes Cosette’s guardian.
Cosette grows up, meets Marius (Redmayne), a revolutionary student planning to rebel against the French monarchy with his friends, they fall in love, which is really too bad because his best lady friend Eponine is already in love with him, but oh well. The fight against the French monarchy doesn’t go so well and all of Marius’ friends die, including Eponine. Marius almost dies, but is saved by Valjean, who also has a chance to kill Javert, who has been hunting him this whole time, but doesn’t. Javert doesn’t know how to deal with the split in his moral compass, he wants to keep hunting Valjean because it’s the “right thing to do”, but now he owes him a solid because he let him live. In order to escape this confusion, he decides to kill himself. Marius and Cosette get married. Valjean dies. There is singing. The End.

My opinon/rating: Eh. As you can probably tell by my overly enthused description of the plot, I don’t care a whole heck of a lot for the story of Les Mis. I enjoy the music, but the story itself doesn’t really have a special place in my heart. I thought this was a well done version, I just don’t have a personal connection to it, so it’s not one of my favorite movies. If you’re not really into musicals, I’d probably skip this one since there’s little to no dialogue, it’s JUST singing. All in all, this movie gets a B rating.

Movie Review! Labor Day – LATE POST!

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I’m such a slacker! I have a list of SEVEN movies that I last saw at a movie theater & I’m probably forgetting a couple, but I’m gonna post them ASAP hopefully in the order I saw them in.  I wrote these reviews exactly how I’d explain these movies to a friend, key points are highlighted. Without further ado…

Labor Day – I don’t believe this has been released…?

Starring: Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, and Tobey Maguire

Back story: Aaron and I went to see a movie that I can’t remember the name of now and there were promoters for Labor Day standing outside asking if we’d like to see a free show in two weeks, we just had to stay after and answer questions – the stars of the movie MIGHT stop by! Of course we said yes, of course they didn’t, but oh well – free movie!!

Plot: I signed a non disclosure agreement when I went to the sneak preview that said I couldn’t really discuss anything about the film until it actually came out in theaters because the version we saw is not the final version so they don’t want people judging the movie based on things that might be different in the end. Basically the movie is about a lonely woman & her son taking in a mysterious man & all the drama that unfolds around them.

My opinion/rating: Just a weird, strange movie. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t really like it.  The story is predictable, but heart warming in a bizarre way. I wouldn’t recommend anyone pay to see this movie, mostly because I haven’t seen the final version, so I don’t really know what you’ll be getting yourself into. Based on what I saw though, I’d give this a D rating & recommend you wait for Netflix.

Book Review! The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht – LATE POST

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This story has been on my book list for a VERY long time. It was recommended as additional reading in my Mythology & Folklore class that I took many many semesters ago & I finally got around to reading it about a week ago :/ Moving on…I LOVED my Myth/Folk class so I was super excited that this book had finally made its way to the top of my book list. Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed.

^^^^^The above notes were written January 10th, the last time I updated my blog. I’m so bad 😦 I’ve been so busy with College Program, applying/getting ready for Chapman, and just living life, blogging has fallen to the back burner.
Seeing as I read this book about 7 months ago, I unfortunately don’t remember too much of it – which I guess says something! Here’s what I do remember…the writing was really eloquent, very well done. The author is in her mid twenties, or at least she was when she wrote the book, so I was really impressed by her. The story was interesting, mysterious, kept me reading, EXCEPT, it draaaagggeeeddddd. The plot lines kept twisting and turning but there was no real resolution until the very last chapter and even then it felt very unsatisfying. I was not very pleased with the ending. I wish I could get into more specifics, but the story didn’t stick with me enough to be memorable.

Final verdict: READ IT! I know I said it wasn’t memorable, and the ending leaves you with questions, but all in all the writing is really well done and the story is interesting. Maybe you’ll find something in the ending that I didn’t see, or can’t remember!

Ebay!

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Just put up 3 NEW WITH TAG items from American Eagle Outfitters, starting as low as $5.99!
One pair of straight leg jeans size 8
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a denim mini skirt (originally priced at $39.50) size 10
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and a stretchy grey knit skirt size XL
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There are lots more pictures on the actual Ebay page.
Click here to start bidding! -> http://myworld.ebay.com/litlaligtr90?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

Hello 2013!

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Hello again Bloggies!
It’s definitely been a loooong time since I’ve posted here. Since I have so few posts from when I originally started this blog in 2011, I’m not sure if I should delete them or not to get a fresh start. We’ll see.

I’m making it one of my New Year’s resolutions to keep up with my blog this year! My main goal is to keep this blog updated at least once a week with a general life update, and also include movie, book, and product reviews as often as I watch a movie, finish a book, or buy a new product. I’ll also try to include crossovers from my Pinterest page, like recipes and DIY’s I try. I’m going to try and educate myself on the finer points of vlogging so I’ll be posting videos here and/or on YouTube to just put myself on camera and possibly post videos of some physical training I’ll be starting. These are my goals, but achieving them is totally dependent on how much time I’m able to devote since I’ll be working over 40 hours a week at my internship.

I’ve decided to make my blog a priority for a few reasons…
1. Communication
Since I’ll be moving back to SoCal again I figured keeping this blog updated regularly would be the best way to keep all my family in the loop about what I’m doing.
2. Memories
When I moved to SoCal last time I didn’t do a great job of writing down the fun things I did in any sort of journal form, which I’m usually pretty good about, so this time around I wanted to have a more concrete way to keep my memories all together…maybe someday I’ll print it all out and publish a memoir! Lol.
3. Education/Career Goals
I’m a Communications major with goals of going into Public Relations, mainly publicity work in the entertainment field. This means at some point I could end up running someone’s Twitter, Facebook, blog, or issuing statements on their behalf. Obviously I have experience running my own Facebook, but that’s not really enough. If all goes according to plan with this blog, it will be evidence that I’m capable of successfully running multiple online social media outlets in a professional and competent manner. Also, recording videos for Youtube will help me gain on camera experience which I feel like will help prepare me for future press conferences and other public speaking forums and editing the videos will help my technological skills.

Well, I think that’s all for now. I plan on uploading a movie review on The Guilt Trip featuring Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand, a book review on The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht, and possibly a video haul of some Christmas gifts, VERY VERY soon!

Until next time…
Al-Leigh

Updated playlist!

Posted in Music, Review by

Here’s a list of 20 new songs I downloaded off of Itunes last night. I’ve been feeling musically deprieved because usually I only buy songs that are .99 cents or cheaper & most of these songs were more expensive than that, but I couldn’t take it anymore!! All of these songs are available on Itunes varying from $0.69 to $1.29

1) Try a Little Tenderness by Otis Redding.
A classic! I heard this song for the first time in AGES when I had to watch “The Commitments” for my Rock ‘n’ Roll history class last semester. After hearing it again, I remembered why it’s SO good especially the part when the beat picks up.

2) S&M by Rihanna
I don’t generally like Rihanna’s music but this song JAMS!! It’s uber catchy, the perfect dance tune, and I love the video, it’s so vivid & full of metaphors.

3) Peace Come Over You
4) Say
5) How Many Times
6) Every If & Every Why
– all by The Rocket Summer
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE x’s a million, The Rocket Summer aka Bryce Avary. I could write a whole post dedicated to Bryce, but I’ll try to keep this short. These four songs are from “Of Men & Angels: B-Sides”. These songs are SO amazing, as I always expect from Bryce. Peace Come Over You & How Many Times are more peaceful relaxing songs, whereas Every If & Every Why has more of a rock edge to it and Say is somewhere right in the middle. If you buy any of the songs on this list, DEFINITELY buy The Rocket Summer. Bryce is an amazing amazing artist that doesn’t get nearly enough credit for his talents.

7) Chit Chat by Christine Bibawi
I met Christine when we were both extras on the set of the Michael Jackson/Akon video “Hold My Hand”. She mentioned that she was a singer/songwriter & we got to talking about her music career. This is her first single & I totally love it. It’s really electronic sounding & fun to dance to. I also like the message – NO CHIT CHAT!!

8) American Honey by Lady Antebellum
This song just feels really relaxing and calm to me. When I hear it I feel like I should be in a field of flowers or at a park, just basking in the sunshine and chilling out.

9) King of Anything by Sara Bareilles
Love the message of this song, love the poppy, brightness of the tune & love her voice. This song is so fun to sing along to.

10) What The Hell by Avril Lavigne
It’s been awhile since I’ve liked any of Avril’s music, but this song is SO SO SO fun! I like the different dynamics of the song, loud/soft, long/short notes, etc. To me, this is totally a bad ass, bad girl anthem song.

11) Price Tag by Jessie J Ft. B.O.B
Just happened to discover this song on Youtube & I fell under it’s spell. Jessie J is so beautiful & she’s a cross between Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Fergie, & Nicki Minaj. This is a good song to dance to, not shake your butt type dancing, but just to like…rock out to. Like a lot of the songs on this list, I love the message in this song. I also think it sounds really unique…cha ching cha ching…bla bling bla bling! 🙂

12) Please Don’t Go by Mike Posner
A totally chill club song. I know that sounds like a contradiction but if you know this song you know what I mean! The beats of this song are sick, whenever I hear this song I think of my friend that creates his own music because it sounds like something he would’ve made.

13) Secrets by OneRepublic
Favorite line: “Thought you saw me wink – no! I’ve been on the brink though.” I like the beautiful violins in this song, it’s a very unique sound. This song has a very relaxed urban feel to it, I could see myself listening to this while walking through a big city on a chilly fall day. It’s kind of a melancholy song, but I still love it!

14) Don’t Rain on My Parade by Barbra Streisand
Classic! Yes, I originally heard this song on Glee, but no one can beat Streisand so I had to download her version. This song was also featured in one of my favorite movies “Life With Mikey”. This is such a great song to just belt out when people have been pushing you around and bringing you down. I love musical theatre!!

15) Hell on the Heart by Eric Church
This song is soo romantic!! I hope my boyfriend feels this way about me LOL. Catchy tune, makes you dance in your seat.

16) Stompin the Roses by David Archuleta
This song totally makes me wanna rock out! The best part of the song is that Bryce Avary (The Rocket Summer) wrote it! It DEFINITELY sounds like something he would write. I’m disappointed he didn’t record it himself, but it’s okay.

17) Moment 4 Life by Nicki Minaj & Drake
I don’t generally like rap or R&B but this song has a nice message. I don’t like the chorus all that much but I like Nicki’s rap sections.

18) Yeah 3X by Chris Brown
Okayyy, since I’m not sure exactly how I feel about Chris Brown given his violent tendencies, I tried not to download this song for as long as possible, because I don’t like to support celebrities who I feel are not nice people. However, I can’t get this song out of my head – it’s such a party song! This song seems to me like a new version of Forever, which I also loved & was obsessed with when it came out.

19) Better Life by Keith Urban
Just discovered this song & I really like it. The music itself is somewhat average & sounds very much like other Keith Urban songs, but I LOVE the lyrics. They really apply to my life right now, and my favorite lyrics are the kind that have meaning 🙂

20) Hell Yeah by Montgomery Gentry
Another somewhat melancholy song that ends with a really rocking chorus!

Thanks for reading my list. Do you like any of these songs? What are some other songs you think I’d like? Let me know in the comments!
Love,
Al-Leigh