Tag Archives: Review

Movie Review!: Cinderella 2015

Posted in Disney, Movies, Review by
Promotional poster from Disney with my graphic add ons

Promotional poster from Disney with my graphic add ons

My childhood took place during a time in Entertainment known as “Disney’s Golden Age” or “Disney’s Renaissance”. I was raised on princesses and sing alongs. I saw Beauty and the Beast in a movie theater at least 30 times, according to my mother. For Halloween I have dressed up as Chip (the teacup from Beauty & the Beast), Belle, Ariel (The Little Mermaid) both mermaid and wedding version, Megara, Esmeralda, Pocahontas, Snow White, and Jasmine. I was an Annual Passholder to Disneyland and later, Disney California Adventure for many years. I completed 2 internships with the Disney College Program and worked at Disneyland for 2.5 years. To say that Disney is part of my life is an understatement. More recently, my love for Disney has waned somewhat as their prices go up and my bank account gets smaller (thanks, college education!), but I knew I wanted to see their live-action version of Cinderella ASAP!
Without further ado…here’s my Likes/Dislikes/Final Thoughts & Rating which contains SPOILERS! if you’ve never seen any version of Cinderella. Proceed with caution…

Likes:
– The cinematography/graphics/costumes/hair/makeup of the film are really beautiful. Disney’s huge financial resources were definitely put to good use. Supposedly one of Walt Disney’s favorite scenes of animation was Cinderella’s transformation & they definitely did it justice in this version.

– Disney is famous for controversy because a majority of their stories revolve around conventionally attractive Caucasian women waiting for a man to save them. This is a sticky issue for me because I understand they’re trying to be faithful to the original source material which in this case was written by Charles Perrault in 1697. Obviously in this time period society had certain rules & expectations. He could only write about what he knew. However, as a modern audience we know more and want to see films that reflect society as we know it. So I say to Disney, if we can believe that fairies exist and pumpkins can become carriages, give your audience some credit that we could suspend belief a little more to include other races & get rid of certain gender expectations, even if they don’t conform to society at the time the plot takes place. Also, there are other Cinderella stories throughout history, Perrault is not the only author, he’s not even the earliest author. Many cultures have their own version of Cinderella that fits their customs. These tales could have been blended together. Like I said, it’s a sticky issue everyone has a different opinion on. Getting back to the movie! I thought it was interesting that they tried to include other races through the inclusion of a African American/Black Captain of the Guards/best friend to the Prince and a Latina Princess that is engaged to the Prince. They also kind of changed the genders of Cinderella’s mice friends. As I recall, in the animated version there is Jaques, Gus Gus, and Suzy. In this version, there is Jacqueline and Gus Gus. She might have mentioned some other names but I didn’t catch them. My bottom line here is I appreciated their small attempt to include other races and use female characters – because let’s be real, they certainly didn’t have to & people still would’ve seen the film.

– There was a scene when Ella’s father is leaving for a business trip & asks Ella what gift she’d like. Her stepsisters ask for frivolous items, but Ella asks for a sentimental item. That scene is certainly not in the animated version, but perhaps is from the source material or another version. I like this because there is a similar plot point from an original version of Beauty and the Beast. I took it as a nod to Disney’s next live action fairy tale & my favorite Disney movie, so I was happy with that.

– I liked this version’s Prince Charming aka Prince Kit. He stood up for what he believed in and took charge of his own destiny. I appreciated the realistic relationship he had with his father.

– I appreciated the effort Disney put into creating a more in depth explanation for Lady Tremaine’s hatred for Ella. The message of the movie was obviously, “Have courage & be kind”, but also how love makes life beautiful and helps people be the best version of themselves. There was a scene where Ella confronts her stepmother and asks why she’s so cruel to her. She responds with something along the lines of “Because you are young, innocent, beautiful” etc. She trails off, and the implied rest of that sentence is “…and I’m not!” She was a very bitter woman and in another scene she explains why. Her first husband was the love of her life and she was completely destroyed by his death, not only emotionally, but financially. She touches on some of the societal expectations for a single women in that time period – she was basically required to marry again in order to keep her family alive. Her marriage to Ella’s father was a business decision – not a marriage for love. Marriage for love vs. marriage for advancement is a huge theme in this film & many other fairy tales. Imagine how hard her life must have been, to live every day grieving over the death of her husband plus have it constantly thrown in her face that her new husband and step-daughter would never give her the love she was missing because they were still grieving over Ella’s mother. Lady Tremaine lost love & lost herself. While I don’t condone the enslavement of your stepchild, learning a little more of her backstory made her a much more sympathetic character.

– I liked this version of Ella because she knew the way she was being treated was wrong. Eventually she stood up for herself somewhat, which was a vast improvement over animated Cinderella who didn’t really ever complain, if memory serves me right. I always felt that animated Cinderella was an airhead. She let her family push her around and she accepted it all with a smile & a song. I never felt like that made her brave or kind, I just thought she was dumb. At the end of the film when Prince Kit comes to take her away, Ella looks back at her stepmother as she’s leaving the house and with a little smirk says, “I forgive you” & that’s the last we see of the stepmother. In some versions of Cinderella, she totally forgives the family and marries them to Lords of the Kingdom. In other versions, Ella is not as forgiving and has them murdered. This ending was the perfect amount of polite sass, like, “Thanks for all the abuse! It put me on a path to marry the King who, in a twist of great fate, I’m genuinely in love with. Bye, have a great life!!”

Dislikes:
– Everyone kept hyping up Lady Tremaine’s laugh like it was spot on just like the animated film, but I’m not sure what they were listening to. It didn’t impress me.

– As mentioned above, I loved the extravagant costumes used throughout the film. HOWEVER, they needed to get the Captain of the Guards/Prince Kit’s best friend a bigger uniform. He was a big dude & every costume they stuck him in looked extremely unflattering and uncomfortable with his belly hanging out over the top of his pants. I felt bad for the actor.

– The dress tearing scene was really tame compared to what I remember from the animated film. That scene was a chance to really show the cruelty of the family towards Ella & it just fell flat.

– While I enjoyed the cast as a whole, Lily James (Ella) reminded me too much of Mia Wasikowska (Alice from Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland”). I know that’s random & not necessarily a bad thing, it was just odd. She did a lot of heavy breathing, a lot of chest heaving breathing throughout the movie that was kind of distracting. I kept looking at her collarbones moving around. I’m a weird person. I know that, & I’m fine with it.

– One plot point didn’t get resolved for me. Many wonder why Ella didn’t just run away/move out. In this version, Ella explains that she didn’t want to leave her house because that’s where her parents lived and all her memories of them were there. However, she didn’t seem to care about that ONE BIT when Prince Kit came to take her away. They never addressed what happened to her beloved childhood home after she left and she never hesitates to leave it all behind. I would’ve liked at least one line between her and Kit, or maybe her Fairy Godmother, about how the house doesn’t hold the memories, her heart does.

Final Thoughts & Rating:
I really enjoyed this film. It’s the right mix of modern and classic. I don’t have a soft spot in my heart for the Cinderella story, so I won’t be rushing out to buy this, but I still thought it was a well made film.
My Rating: B+

What do you think? Did you see Cinderella 2015? Are you planning on seeing it this weekend? Please let me know in the comments below – thanks for reading!

Week 2! The “Lowe” Down: Get Fit with Kylee Lowe!

Posted in Collaborations, Fitness by

Hello again!
Today I’m going to be posting the results of Week 1 of The “Lowe” Down and the plan for Week 2. If you haven’t been following along, click here to read last week’s post about a new Collaboration I’m working on with my friend and Fitness Guru, Kylee Lowe. Follow her Instagram: @loveleeloe to get great fitness tips and contact her about getting The “Lowe” Down for yourself. Click the FOLLOW button on the top right of this page to subscribe to my blog and you’ll be notified when I post new updates! Also, Follow my Instagram: @missal_leigh to get sneak peeks of the plan in action!

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WEEK 1 RESULTS
Starting Weight: ~ 170 (like 173/174) > Week 2: ~ 5lbs
Starting Measurements                       > Week 2
Biceps: (L) – 13.25”, (R) – 13.5”            Biceps: (L) – 12″, (R) – 12.5″
Chest/Bust: 43”/36-38 DDD                 Chest: 42″
Waist: 36”                                             Waist: 34″
Hips: 45.5”                                            Hips: 45.5″
Thighs: (L) – 26.25”, (R) – 26.5”           Thighs: (L) – 26″, (R) – 25.75″
YAY, making progress! I feel much lighter and have more energy. Although I will say, I have a co-conspirator doing this with me, who wishes to remain anonymous, and she lost 12 pounds and 12 inches (!!!!) this week. I’m really proud of her for sticking with this, but I’m also a little jealous – haha!

Days 5 – 7:
The rest of Week 1 went really well! Again, maybe TMI for some, but you’ll be okay…I have NEVER gone pee this much in my life! The wonders of drinking water – haha! I’m not a huge water drinker, I mostly stick to juice, so drinking just water has been one of the biggest changes in my diet. It was a bit challenging to complete the Fitness portion because it’s been raining here, but I still got it done! Check my Instagram for some silly pictures of Bella after getting caught in the rain on our walk! I’ll be switching over to the gym from here on out, but I’d like to get Bella on a more consistent walking schedule because I think she enjoyed being out and about. As I mentioned in my Mid Week Update the food for days 4 – 7 was delicious. The menu has been changed up a bit for Week 2 & I have to say I’m sad to see my peanut butter and rice cake snack go, but it’s okay! I was somewhat surprised to see the Juices make a return, but I like the idea of learning how to incorporate Juicing into a Clean Diet.

                                                             The “Lowe” Down – Week 2!
Days 8 – 14:
Fitness: Running 6 of the 7 days for 30-45 minutes! Weight training 3 times.
*Before you eat/drink anything, drink a glass of lemon water after your morning run!
– Green Juice 8oz, 2 whole eggs cooked in coconut oil
– Green Smoothie
– Energy Juice, Mixed Raw Veggies, Hummus
– Lean Ground Turkey, Baby Spinach, Avocado, Fat Free dressing or Hot Sauce  & Tea
– Protein Shake
– Chicken, Brown Rice or Sweet Potatoes, Veggies
*Just before bed, drink hot tea or hot water & add lemon & cayenne pepper

So there ya have it! We’ve made it to Week 2! What do you think so far? Please leave me any of your comments/questions/concerns in the comments and be sure to contact Kylee through her Instagram: @loveleeloe to get the full details of the plan.

Book Review! Fame by Daniel Kehlmann

Posted in Book Review, Books, Review, Sunday Book Club by

Fame

Read this post to see how many different times I write “I was confused” or some version of that…psst…about 14…

After reading the description on the back of the book, I was puzzled as to why I had put this on my book list because I was really not that intrigued by its description. Despite that, I decided to give this story a chance because at one time I obviously thought it was worth while. I WAS WRONG! Perhaps that’s too harsh/hasty…I will explain.
*Side note: When I read the back of the book again while writing this review, I was really interested in the plot presented, I have no idea why I was against it when I first read it. 

Plot:
Fame is translated from it’s original German, it’s considered “Central European literature”. There’s 9 stories that weave together, all starting with some random guy whose new cell phone has been programmed with a phone number that already belongs to someone – a famous movie star. His actions in regards to the calls set in motion a butterfly effect that touch the interweaving stories.

TL:DR Version: Confusing as all hell. Meant for readers a billion times more intelligent than myself. I recommend this only because I want someone to explain to me what this book is about. Rating: D (would’ve gone with F, but I feel I’m partially to blame for lack of understanding.)

Full Review
Initial Thoughts:
Ooh technology working against people to create mayhem and chaos! Sounds great, right?! It would be if I could follow the stories!! I like to think I’m smarter than your average bear and interested in concepts/reading materials that cover a wide variety of subjects. I read and enjoy Shakespeare, J.K. Rowling, Chelsea Handler, etc, and magazines from Glamour to The Hollywood Reporter (a trade magazine for the entertainment industry) to Newsweek…that’s probably enough name dropping, you hopefully get the point. Despite all this tooting my own horn and claims of mental superiority, I could NOT follow this book. A majority of my notes (yes, I take notes while reading a book I’m going to review), are me complaining that I have NO idea what’s going on. I can hardly provide spoilers for this novel because I don’t know how to explain the story. I feel bad reviewing Fame because I feel like in the hands of someone more capable this book would’ve been understandable, and they could give you a full review. However, due to my lack of clarity, I can’t really talk about this book – except to tell you how confused I was by it.

Characters:
The only character who really made an impression on me was the main character who sets everything in motion, Ebling. He is the biggest POS. Maybe my dislike for him is what made me so unreceptive to the rest of the story. Early in the story as we’re just getting to know him, he starts calling back people that have called for the celebrity. He ends up talking to a man on a suicidal rant, and doesn’t exactly encourage, but certainly doesn’t discourage this character from committing suicide. So on page 15 – I’m already not a fan.

Overall:
By page 28, I was in a fog. My exact note is “This all better make sense soon. I’m intrigued by how this all relates (maybe I’m missing something?) but I’m not necessarily enjoying the journey – hurry up!”. This book is only 175 pages. If I’m on page 28 and wishing for the book to end…it’s not a good sign. Again on page 65, another note about how deeply confused I am & wishing for the book to end. On page 79, my final note, I talk about one of the specific stories and how confused I am. I cannot begin to explain the specific story to you because as I’m sure you’ve noted…I might have been the tiniest bit lost. Maybe this is what people mean when they say “lost in translation”, maybe there’s some German aspect here that I don’t understand because I’m not familiar with their culture. I poured through this book quickly, desperately wanting to find something to enjoy about it, but my mind was stretched too thin trying to comprehend the material. I implore you, please! Read this book! Then come back here and tell me what the hell it was about.

Rating: D (I would give it an F but there’s some user error here, so the author’s not totally to blame for my inability to comprehend.)

Have you read Fame? What were your thoughts on the book or my review? Please leave a comment below, I’d love to know if I’m alone in these thoughts or not…

Evergreen Beauty Deals

Yelp Review: Pinkie’s Nail Salon in Layfayette

Posted in Review by

Hey all,
Just wanted to direct you all to a review I just posted on Yelp for Pinkie’s Nail Salon in Lafayette, California. Please read it, lemme know what you think! Have you been there before, if so, what did you think? Read it here. 

Mini Review – Beautifully Disney: Fantasy in Flight!

Posted in Make Up, New Products, Review, Shopping by

Disney Haul!
You may be wondering if such a thing exists. When you work for Disney and get 40% off stuff during the holidays….yes…Disney hauls DO exist. I personally didn’t walk away with too much stuff, however, I did come away with two products from the newest collection from “Beautifully Disney” cosmetics line. This newest collection is focused on Disney fairies. Personally I think they could’ve shown some of the other fairies. They skipped any and all fairy godmothers. The main faces are Tinker Bell (of course) from Peter Pan, and The Blue Fairy from Pinocchio. Anyways, I picked up the Fantasy in Flighty Eyeshadow Palette ($36.95) and the 4 Nail Polish Mini Set ($21.95). They also had a brush set that looked really nice, but I have a ton of brushes already and I wasn’t sure what their quality was. They also had some new blushes that were really pigmented, but they had faces of villains on the front, and I didn’t want that. So anyways, here’s the pictures and some thoughts on what I’ve got. Enjoy!

Thoughts:
Nail Polish: Upon reflection I have no idea why I bought these. I have 393838 bottles of nail polish, and I really don’t need any more. I was probably stoked because with the discount these were fairly cheap. I’m annoyed because the two gold colors are pretty similar, which would’ve dissuaded me from buying them if I’d thought about it a little more at the store. I’m interested to see how the bigger pieces of glitter will actually lay once applied to the nails. I can do a full review on these nail colors if anyone would like – let me know! I’m most excited  about the red color, which I believe is “Star Struck”. I’m  not pleased that the names of these colors are not labeled on the bottles or labeled in any obvious way. Based on the ingredients in the packaging this is what I’ve decided – “Spriteful” is the darker gold with bigger pieces of glitter because the packaging says it has Red Iron Oxide & Yellow #5 in it. I figured the Red Iron Oxide is what made it slightly darker…? “Wish Come True” is the softer gold color because it only has Yellow #5. “Star Struck” is the red because it has Red #7 in it. Finally, “Something Sassy” is the blue because it has Violet #2 in it. I feel like a really dumb scientist right now. I hope those are right… 😦 I apologize if I’m wrong, and if anyone knows  for sure the correct names I would really appreciate if you let me know!

Palette: I know this is not the same line of products as the Disney by Sephora collection but I feel like they’re about the same quality, so I pretty much bought this based on what the packaging looks like lol, just like I did with The Little Mermaid palette. As you can see from the swatches, the pigmentation is mixed. I passed my finger over the colors at a medium pressure, you could see where my finger had left a trace in the shadow, yet the colors were hit and miss in terms of pigment. Perhaps with a proper make up brush and technique the pigment will go on nicely if you apply it with a patting motion. I think the colors are nice. Again, no names for these colors which makes me unhappy, but oh well. They all have shimmer in them so be aware!I’m really looking forward to trying out the white as a highlight, the rose gold next to it as a lid shade, and the copper brown in the crease. Another option would be the same highlight/crease, but using the yellow as the lid shade. For a more dramatic look, I would again use the white as a highlight, the blue (above the yellow) as my lid shade, then put the dark blue/black (above the white) as my crease color. Just some ideas! Were you inspired by any of these shades, share your ideas with me!

Let me know what you think about these purchases in the comments and let me know if you’d like to see some looks created or full reviews 🙂 Please follow this blog & follow me on Instagram and Twitter @missal_leigh

Movie Review – Delivery Man!

Posted in Movies, Review by

Last night I went to see Vince Vaughn’s new movie “Delivery Man”.

“Stats”: Opened on November 22nd to mostly mixed reviews. Notable cast includes Vince Vaughn, Chris Pratt, and Cobie Smulders. Here’s the trailer!

Plot: “Delivery Man” centers around a middle aged guy named David who discovers he’s the biological father of 533 children due to a mix up at a fertility clinic he donated sperm to in his 20’s. A group of the kids are suing David, contesting his right to remain anonymous. The film follows him in trying to figure out how to do the right thing for his current growing family and the kids who want to know their father. Along the way his journey is highlighted by picking out select profiles and meeting those kids and helping them in some way, while trying to remain anonymous. I think the trailer does a really good job of revealing the key plot points, while not giving too much away, so I won’t say too much more.

Thoughts: I thought this movie was a standard “drama-dy” (Drama/Comedy), but it was definitely NOT your typical Vince Vaughn movie…not necessarily a bad thing. “Delivery Man” had a good mix of sweet, funny moments, mixed in with some darker plot points.

Cons: This isn’t necessarily a con, but was something I found a little off. The “name brand” actors in this movie all played against type. I understand that’s not a horrible thing, but it was just so strange to see Chris Pratt, who I recognize from “The O.C”, playing a lawyer and father. Cobie Smulders, who normally plays Robin from “How I Met Your Mother”, was Vince Vaughn’s very serious/angry girlfriend with no sense of humor.

Pros: The highlights of the movie were definitely the stories when David interacted with his kids. I feel like the actors that played the kids in these “special” stories are on their way to big things, especially Dave Patten, Adam Chanler-Berat, and Jack Reynor.
Dave Patten plays Adam, one of David’s kids who is pretty much the ring leader of the lawsuit to find out his identity. He plays a musician in the film and in real life is a talented singer-songwriter-musician who plays multiple instruments. He’s also a published author. His novel “Run of the Mill” is definitely on my book list! Also I swear I recognize him from something non-media related but I can’t put my finger on what it is.
Adam Chanler-Berat plays Viggo, one of the kids involved in the lawsuit who figures out that David is actually his father. He uses this information to his advantage to kind of blackmail David into spending some one on one time with him. Chanler-Berat is notable to me because he’s also well known for playing Henry in the stage show “Next to Normal” and Boy/Peter in “Peter and the Starcatcher”. “Next to Normal” also features two other actors I’m extremely impressed with, Aaron Tevit, probably most well known for being in last year’s film “Les Mis” & Skylar Astin, from “Pitch Perfect.” I just saw “Peter and the Starcatcher” in S.F (review coming soon!) and it was awesome – so I’m automatically enthralled with anyone who’s been involved in the show.
Jack Reynor plays Josh, one of the first of David’s kids that he helps. I think he gave a really honest performance…and he looks like Jesse Spencer (Dr. Chase from House). Reynor can be seen soon in the next Transformer’s movie, a series I generally enjoy, so I thought that was pretty cool too.

I’ve rambled enough…would I recommend this movie? Sure, I guess. I’m mostly enthusiastic about it for the performances from Vaughn and the above mentioned actors. The plot was iffy for me because it was all these kids complaining about how they didn’t know their dad so they don’t know who they are and they feel a part of them is missing. I was raised by a single mom, I don’t know my dad, and I don’t feel that way, so it was hard for me to connect with that part of the plot. Overall I’d give this film a B rating. Give it a go if you’re interested in seeing some new talent and a different side of Vince Vaughn. 

If you’ve seen the film, what did you think? Are you interested in seeing it? Let me know!

CONCERT REVIEW! Fall Out Boy @ America’s Cup Pavilion, S.F. 9/21/13

Posted in Music, Review by

When Fall Out Boy came onto the mainstream scene with their album From Under the Cork Tree & “Sugar We’re Going Down” became a huge hit, I bought their older albums/EP’s & became a huge fan. I was later disappointed by their follow up albums (Infinity on High was just okay, let’s not even get started on Folie a Deux – which I don’t even own) I was about 15 when I became a FOB fan and their perfect mix of dance-y music and angst-y lyrics filled a spot in my heart that was disappointingly starting to fade…but then…Save Rock and Roll was released earlier this year and luckily my roommate at the time was also a huge FOB fan so when she bought the CD the day it came out, I was able to get a listen of the new music, happily rediscover my passion for the band, even getting tickets (FRONT ROW) for The Conan Show when FOB was performing, then going to an autograph signing on Hollywood and Highland the next day! I was beyond happy when I heard FOB was touring again, having NEVER seen them in concert even though I’ve been dreaming of it since I was 15 – so this concert meant a lot to me, a bucket list item 8 YEARS in the making! The concert in SoCal sold out in minutes, so I had to make a trip to my hometown and see the boys in San Francisco. Here’s my recap…

“Pre-Opener”: 21 Pilots
Dear sweet baby Jesus, if I never hear another song from 21 Pilots…I’ll be good. The actual music itself was not bad, but the singer and his lyrics were SO SPASTIC!!!!! The songs were so long you couldn’t tell if it was still the same song or if he’d flowed into something different, one second he’s be singing, then screaming and flailing around, then he’d sound like he was just talking. My head was spinning. He performed this song called “Car Radio”…check out the YouTube video…this is a mild, watered down version of what he actually did… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92XVwY54h5k

“Opener”: Panic! At The Disco
I was 2% excited for PATD, simply because I’m only familiar with about a handful of their songs but having the chance to see them was a tiny side bonus. However, I was again pretty disappointed. I didn’t realize how much I DIDN’T know their music, so I was mostly waiting for them to finish so FOB could come on. Although, I am now obsessed with one of their newer songs, here’s the YouTube…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGE381tbQa8
*Please note musical similarities to FOB’s My Songs… & Alone Together. Iiiinteresting 🙂

***Also, the crowd at this point was getting really out of control. I was separated from my friend & pushed to the front…well, pushed to the front, back, down to ground, lifted back up, etc lol, I understand that’s part of going to shows, & I find that somewhat fun, but the crowd at this show was VERY rude. I don’t know if it was because a majority of the crowd seemed to be high school-ers, or if they were just inexperienced concert goers. People were yelling at each other and purposely attacking people that been pushed against them – hello! The crowd is pushing EVERYONE, I’m not trying to shove you or elbow you, it’s just happening, it’s the nature of the “mosh pit” beast – if you don’t like it -go sit in the bleachers!  It got so bad that when FOB came out they stopped after the first song & made people step back & help people up that had been trampled/passed out etc, & said for safety reasons we had to be more chill or they’d keep stopping the show. Yikes.

Main Event: FALL OUT BOY!
Seriously…good, but underwhelming. Maybe I had the event built up too high in my head, maybe I was just expecting more after seeing them live on Conan, maybe because I met them face to face I’d already experienced the main highlight of band worship…? All these things are definitely explanations I’m considering for my lack of supreme joy that I thought I was going to feel upon finally realizing a dream 8 years in the making. I seriously thought I was going to openly weep, but no. Not one tear, didn’t even feel emotional enough to cry, not even during my favorite songs, that usually make me feel so much I tear up singing along in my car. (Other people have that happen to them too, yes? …Dear God, what have I just revealed about myself?!) Anyways, it was just…good.
They had no real set pieces to speak of, they played video behind them on a big screen – woo hoo – they have all the money in the world, and those tickets were not cheap, they could’ve had some special effects! Maybe they were thinking special effects would distract from the experience, but they’re a really good live performance band, so fortunately/unfortunately when they perform live, they sound very similar, if not exactly the same, as the CD tracks. I felt like they needed something to spice things up and make me feel like I wasn’t just listening to the CD among sweaty, pushy, teenagers. That made me sound really old.
Another possibility I thought of was that maybe I’m just not a “scene kid” or whatever these kids consider themselves. I usually go to Rocket Summer shows, which are MUCH more underground and it’s a VERY different experience, one that I always enjoy to the highest degree. I’ve made friends at Rocket Summer shows that I still keep in contact with through FB on a semi-regular basis. It was disappointing to not have that kind of camaraderie among the fans at last nights show, but I guess it’s a different environment when you see a mainstream band.

Overall opinion: Commenting only on FOB, if you have the chance to see them sometime – go! It’s a good show, you’ll have fun, live music is pretty much always an awesome experience. For me, now that I’ve seen them once, I don’t know that I would go back to any of their future shows. It depends on how much the tickets are and how much of an effort I’d have to put out to get to it. Despite my lackluster review, it was a good experience that I’m glad I was able to FINALLY partake in. Here are some video clips of my favorite songs and select photos…

Opening song “The Phoenix”
“Alone Together”
“Sugar, We’re Going Down”
“Young Volcanoes”
“Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy”
“My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)”
“Save Rock & Roll”

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Pete waving the white flag during “The Phoenix”

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Patrick Stump.

Patrick Stump.

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Joe Trohman

Joe Trohman

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

Posted in Book Review, Books, Review, Sunday Book Club by

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!

Book review! Beastly by Alex Flinn

Posted in Book Review, Books, Disney, Movie, Movies, Review, Sunday Book Club by

Hi everyone,
Sorry I’ve been gone for so long, I was just in the process of moving from the Bay Area down to Southern California & I’m still somewhat adjusting & settling down so I’ve been REALLY busy. It’s taken me over four days to get this post up because I keep stopping & starting. :/ I’m not sure I want to reveal exactly why I moved down to SoCal for privacy reasons, but I’m sure as time passes I’ll end up talking about some stuff.

Anyways, I’m a HUGE fan of Beauty & the Beast, so any type of re-telling or story that’s vaguely associated with it, is going to grab my attention. That’s exactly what Beastly is! Also, they’ve made this book into a movie that’s yet to be released, although from the previews, it looks a LOT different from the book so that’s going to be annoying. I’ll still probably see the movie anyway just for comparisons sake.

Available for $8.99 at Borders. Pic Credit goes to: lafemmereaders.blogspot.com

Beastly is a modern day re-telling of Beauty & the Beast told from the Beast’s point of view. This book is a Young Adult novel so it’s geared mostly towards pre-teens and teenagers. Despite the fact that, in my opinion, it’s not really meant for someone my age to read – I’m 20 – for the most part I enjoyed this book for a bit of light reading. Haha, saying that makes me feel like Hermione, & if you understand what I’m talking about you totally ROCK! I’m not going to talk about the plot because probably everyone knows the story of Beauty & the Beast & if I get too detailed about the way the book retells the events of the stories then we’ll get into spoiler territory!

Pros/Cons: I liked the way Flinn wrote Kyle (the Beast). I felt like his voice was really honest & typical of a teenage boy. Unfortunately, I felt the complete opposite about the way Linda (Beauty…I liked the use of this symbolic name. Linda in Spanish means beautiful!) was written. Her voice felt very fake & forced. This is ironic to me because the book was written by a woman & usually women are better at tapping into their own gender. I liked how the story was sort of a mix of the original tale, plus the Disney version, & many other aspects from transformation stories. I feel like the author really did her homework when researching fairy tales. Another thing I really liked was the chat room sessions. I thought they were SO clever and a great way to incorporate other transformation tales & subtly encourage readers to read those other stories. I did think the ending of the book was kind of just thrown together/rushed. The rest of the book is paced very well so you aren’t getting too much information all at one time, but for some reason the ending felt like WHAM! BAM! LET’S TIE THIS ALL UP, GOTTA GET THIS BOOK FINISHED!! & yes, the twists are somewhat predictable, but that’s kind of hard to escape with a book that’s retelling an already popular story.

Rating: B+. For me, this book was just okay. You can’t really mess with the perfection that is the original story, so I didn’t anticipate this book being outstanding, but it was fairly decent. I can appreciate the author’s version of the story & the obvious hard work she put into it, but this book isn’t making it on my bookshelf. My bookshelf is home to the “A” grade books such as Wicked by Gregory Maguire, Home, a memoir of Julie Andrews’ early years & Spencerville by Nelson DeMille, just to name a few. I’m glad I read it & I may even go pick up some other books by Flinn, she has several other fairy tale remakes, just to see how she interprets/modernizes those stories. Also, at the end of the book there’s a little author’s note in which she talks about some of the books she read to help research for Beastly & they all sounded pretty interesting, so I’ll probably add those to my list of books to read. All in all, if you’re into fairy tales, go pick up this book & give it a try. It never hurts to read more literature, unless it’s Twilight. In all seriousness, it never hurts to add more literature into your life & we’re all entitled to our likes & dislikes 🙂

Let me know if you’ve read this book, plan on reading it, plan on NEVER reading it & your opinions. Tell me if there’s other books you’d think I’d like based on this review. Thanks for reading, stick around!

Love, Al-Leigh

Movie review! Gulliver’s Travels 3D

I’ll generally try to keep these posts short & to the point but seeing as how this is my first one, I’ll do some extra explaining. I’m going to start out with only reviewing movies I see in theaters, but if people start asking for it, I’ll review any movie I watch – I’m a big movie buff & my family watches at least one movie every night so you guys could end up with a movie review post every night! We’ll see..but for now..here’s Gulliver’s Travels 3D!
The movie: Gulliver’s Travels 3D
Movie rating: PG
Date released: 12/25/10
Date seen: 1/1/11
Audience: My mom, my boyfriend, myself & literally one other couple.
My rating system: I give this movie a B. I’ll explain my rating system in this post so you guys can kinda understand my point of view, but from here on out I’ll just give a rating. Of course this is just my preference & some movies, I can understand how OTHERS would like it, but it’s just not for me & that’s what my rating is based on. For example, my boyfriend LOVES Star Wars as do millions of others, but I’m just not drawn to them, so for me they’re a C movie. Yes, I understand it’s a good story, & the technology behind it is impressive especially for when the first set was made, but they’re just not for me.
A = AMAZING! Favorite movie that I MUST own so I can watch it over & over! (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Goonies)
B = Pretty good! I’d recommend this, but not sure if I’d run right out & buy it. (TRON:Legacy, Bandslam)
C = Average, typical. Meh. Not really a movie I care about. Don’t necessarily have to own it. (Megamind, What Happens in Vegas)
D/F = NOT excellent. I generally would not want to see this movie again..ever. (Valentine’s Day, The Love Guru)

Notable Cast: Jack Black (School of Rock, Kung Fu Panda), Amanda Peet (A Lot Like Love, 2012), Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Love You, Man), Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, Sunshine Cleaning) & Billy Connolly (Known mostly for his comedy routines, but can be seen in The Last Samurai & The Boondock Saints).

Trailer: *This movie is based off the book by Jonathan Swift written in 1726. The book is divided into four parts, & the movie only deals with two sections, & one of the two only VERY briefly. I haven’t read the children’s version in a really long time, but I’m going to go out on a limb & say it’s VERY different, other than the general basic story line. The trailer does give a lot of the story away, but there’s still some key plot points it doesn’t talk about.

My opinion: I thought this was a really cute funny feel good movie – I’m happy I went to see it. Obviously this is not a serious art film, it’s a kid’s movie, so it’s supposed to be a little ridiculous. There’s a few musical numbers, good music, a good message (although I’m not sure young kids will really understand it), & just enough mix of robots & princesses to appeal to boys AND girls. One thing I didn’t think was done very well sometimes was the mix of adult & kid humor. For example in Shrek, the humor is more layered. There’s one situation, & the adults see a couple things that make it funny, but kids only see the G-rated thing. In Gulliver’s Travels I felt like the humor was more transitional. There would be a scene of adult humor, not TOO adult, but just like, certain pop culture references that a child might not understand & then there would be a scene of kid humor, like stupid wedgie jokes. So it was like a tug of war between the different types of jokes. Also, keep in mind that the Lilliputians are supposed to be a parody/satire of the British government in 1726 so the acting is supposed to be hyper-pompous/dramatic with elevated speaking. At first I was surprised & thought the acting was just really bad, but then I thought about it in context with the book and it made more sense lol. All in all, I say, if you can/want to stop taking yourself so seriously for a few hours, you’re a child at heart, or you have some kids to entertain, go see this movie!

Leave a comment & let me know what you thought of this movie or if there are any other movies you’d like me to review – even older ones that have already come out on DVD/VHS (VHS..what’s that!?! lol)

Thanks!

Love, Al-Leigh