She's the Man

My favorite movie is She's the Man. It stars Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum. Amanda Bynes plays Viola, a female high school soccer player who's team at her school has been cut. The boys won't let her go out for their team, so she devises a plan. Her twin brother, Sebastian, is supposed to be attending a new school called Illyria. He decides to go to London to see if he can make it in a music career. Viola puts on a wig and learns to walk like guy and pretends to be her brother and go out for the soccer team at Illyria, which also happens to be her school's rivals. She makes the second string on the boys team and convinces her roommate, Duke (Channing Tatum), to help her make first string before the rival game in exchange for convincing Olivia, a girl at the school, to go out with him. Hilarity and confusion ensues and soon their is quite the love triangle. Viola loves Duke, who thinks she's a guy named Sebastian. Duke loves Olivia, who loves Sebastian, who is really Viola. And then when the real Sebastian returns even more confusion erupts. This is actually based on a Shakespeare play, Twelfth Night. This movie is absolutely hilarious and I just totally love it!

Newsies

As I've mentioned before I do love a good musical. One musical that absolutely love is Newsies. I'm pretty sure almost every girl I know loves this movie. It is an almost all male cast and believe it or not the star of the movie is Christian Bale. That's right, Batman singing and dancing dressed as an early 1900's newsboy. He's not half bad as a singer actually. I heard also, that Bale was not exactly thrilled to be doing this movie at the time because it was a musical. I'm sure if someone was to ask him today what he thought about it the feedback wouldn't be the best. Anyways, the movie takes place in the early 1900's and I believe it is around the time of the depression. It follows a group of orphan newsboys and the daily lives they lead. The man who runs the newspaper, Pulitzer, ups the price of a newspaper for the newsboys. They are not pleased with this decision and decide to go on strike. The rest of the movie follows the newspaper big shots trying to keep the prices of their newspapers up while the newsboys are on strike and lead a pretty big revolution in the industrial revolution period. Anyways, I love this movie and think it's hilarious to see Christian Bale singing and dancing.

Green Street Hooligans

I watched Green Street Hooligans the other day for probably the 5th time. I really really like this movie! It stars Elijah Wood and takes place in England. Elijah Wood's character gets kicked out of Harvard because he got the blame for something his roommate did. He travels to England to live with his sister, who is married and has a baby. He meets her English husband for the first time and he introduces Elijah to his brother. The brother is kind of in a gang in England, but gangs over there aren't like gangs over here. They each support a soccer team and when those teams play each other is usually when the gangs meet up and things start to get violent. Elijah surprisingly enjoys being part of this gang and continues to hang out with them regardless of his sister and brother-in-law telling him it's not a good idea. I don't want to give away the ending, but secrets come out about the brother-in-law and there ends up being a huge fight at the end between two rivaling gangs. I thought it was a really good, interesting movie. It has drama as well as some action and some humorous parts. Overall it was just a really great movie!

Taken

I saw Taken a while ago and I thought it was great. It stars Liam Neeson and is quite the action packed thriller. Liam Neeson plays Brian, a retired preventer, who is trying to get close with his daughter. A preventer was someone who worked for the government who prevented bad things from happening. He's very skilled at what he does, but his job would take him away from home a lot. He missed the greater part of his daughter growing up. After he retires he moves closer to his daughter who lives with her mother and step father. His daughter ends up traveling to Paris with a friend where she gets kidnapped and sold into female trafficking. Her father finds out through a phone call from his daughter and embarks on a quest to find her before she is sold forever. Of course it is a fast paced movie with lots of action sequences. I thought it was just really amazing and Liam Neeson did a fabulous job!

80's Films

For some reason I love 80's movies. I'm not really sure why I love them so much, but maybe it's because it's a way to experience '80's culture. Some of my favorites are Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weekend at Bernie's, Can't Buy Me Love, and Back to the Future. Molly Ringwald is definitely one of my favorite actresses. And she was huge in 80's movies. I never get tired of these movies, I could watch them over and over again. It's interesting to watch them and see how movies have changed over the years, like what's different and what's the same. Especially high school movies and the issues high schoolers dealt with in the '80's versus what present day high schoolers deal with today. Overall, I just love '80's films and can't get enough of them!

American Idol

I don't typically watch American Idol, but my mother loves it, so I agreed to watch it with her tonight. They were in Orlando tonight and the guest judge was Kristin Chenoweth. And I have to say I absolutely love Kristin Chenoweth! She's hysterical and just so unbelievably talented. For those who don't know who she is, she is very well known on Broadway. She was in Wicked as Glinda, the Good Witch. She also made a guest appearance this season on the television show, Glee. She's won a Tony and more recently an Emmy. She has this very squeaky voice, but when she sings it is like the most amazing voice you've ever heard! She is just truly, truly talented.

But back to American Idol...some of the people are hilarious! I really don't understand how they think they can sing. They must be tone deaf because absolutely no one would say they have a good voice. One guy tonight was convinced that he was an amazing singer. Well, when he found out that he wasn't, he refused to leave! He just started singing all over again! Eventually, they called security and they dragged him out and then put him in handcuffs. And all the while he kept yelling that it was completely unfair. One word to sum that whole escapade up: WOW!!

Scott Brown Wins!!

I don't want to offend anyone in this post, but I am really happy that Scott Brown won! I'm not really into politics all that much, but I really wanted Brown to win. I just thought overall he was the better candidate. And this was definitely history in the making. He came from 30 points down and pulled out the win, which whether you support him or not, that is pretty amazing and rare in a political race. I hope that with Scott Brown's win, there will be a lot of change in where our country is headed right now. I think Martha Coakley ran a good race, but her tactics weren't quite as good as Brown's. The best thing Brown said during a debate, when the interviewer asked him how he felt about possibly filling Ted Kennedy's seat, he said that it's not Ted Kennedy's seat, it's the people's seat. And he is absolutely right! We pick these people because we think they will best represent us, it's not about the person in the seat and what they want, but it's about them listening to the people and speaking on their behalf. Way to go Scott!!

Teen Pregnancy

It seems like a hot topic on television these days is teen pregnancy. I'm not really sure why, maybe teen pregnancy is on the rise or something, but I didn't know anyone who got pregnant in high school. Almost every television is somehow incorporating pregnancy in high school: Secret Life of the American Teenager, Glee, Life Unexpected, and Teen Mom. Maybe it had something to do with Juno. After Juno came out, the topic of teen pregnancy exploded. Juno got a lot of positive feedback and a lot of people really liked it. It just seems like after this movie came out all these television shows came out with teen pregnancy being at least a factor in it if not being the basis of the whole television show.

Huey Lewis and the News

My all time favorite band is Huey Lewis and the News. I know it's a little strange because they're a band from the '80's and really not all that well known. Most people know of the duet with Gwyneth Paltrow and that's how they know of Huey Lewis or they know the song "Power of Love" from Back to the Future. But I really love his music. I think it's a perfect combination of big band music and rock. The harmonies and musical interludes are just amazing.

I saw them in concert once a few years ago. It was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. I went with my mom and most of the people there were older, but it was still pretty awesome! They sounded just how they sound on radio. That's hard to do, most concerts I've been to, the band hasn't sounded like how they sound on the radio. Anyways, I was extremely happy with the concert and I don't think I will ever dislike Huey Lewis and the News.

Harry Potter

I just watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and I thought it was pretty good. I think each Harry Potter movie keeps getting better and better. When I saw the first one when it first came out in theaters I hated it, but it is starting to grow on me. I haven't read any of the books, so I really don't know what to expect when I see any of these movies. They keep getting darker and darker and they're are actually more intense deaths in each film. This surprises me because I thought these were supposed to be childrens' books and movies. Although, I do remember the controversy when the fourth book came out when one of the characters died.

Anyways, I did like the most recent one I saw. The special effects in the film are really outstanding. And despite being a pretty dramatic film, there were some humorous parts. I don't think it was as good as some of the other ones, but it filled in a lot of the gaps in the whole plot. Overall, I really enjoyed it and would absolutely recommend it.

Hairspray

One of my favorite movies is Hairspray. What can I say? I love musicals and comedies. It's the story of Tracy Turnblad, an overweight teenager in the '60's. She tries out for the dancing show, Corny Collins and ends up making it. She soon becomes famous, but extremely controversial because of her weight and her support of civil rights for the black community. She goes through different trials and tribulations while trying to stay true to what she believes in and stay on the show. It has an all star cast including Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes, and John Travolta as Tracy's mother, Edna. Yes, John Travolta in drag. If you like musicals you'll probably like this one. It has upbeat music and quirky characters that you absolutely fall in love with.

Chasing Liberty

Although it is an insanely cheesey movie, I can't help but love Chasing Liberty. It stars Mandy Moore as the President's daughter and Matthew Goode as a secret service agent. Mandy Moore is tired of leading a very public, yet secluded life so when her and her family go to Europe she takes the opportunity to "runaway." She meets a boy who helps her escape from her secret service agents, but what she doesn't know is that he is actually a secret service undercover. The President demands that she come back after one night of freedom, but Matthew Goode doesn't receive the message. So, they travel throughout Europe with no money or phones trying to get to the Berlin parade.

It is definitely a chick flick, but also shows some amazing European scenery. I've never been to Europe, but I've always wanted to go. Hopefully someday I'll be able to go and seeing movies like this just make me want it that much more. It looks beautiful and like it would be an amazing experience. Right now though, living through these movies will have to suffice.

Return to Paradise

In the film, Return to Paradise, one of the main characters is faced with a difficult decision. After vacationing in Malaysia, Sherriff, played by Vince Vaughn, goes back to working as a limo driver in New York City, while his friend, Lewis, played by Joaquin Phoenix, is stuck in jail because of the drugs that were found in the cabin that they and another man named Tony shared. Lewis is sentenced to death unless Sherriff and/or Tony come back and agree to each serve 3 years in jail. Tony agrees to go back, but Sherriff has a difficult time making up his mind. He eventually decides to go as well, and after arriving back in Malaysia Tony changes his mind and leaves Sherriff there to serve the whole 6 years himself. Sherriff says he will take the 6 years, but because of an article in a newspaper about the trial, the judge decides to hang Lewis anyways. If I had been in Sherriff’s position, I would have also made the decision to go back and take the 6 years in prison.

The whole reason Lewis ended up in this position was because Sherriff had trashed the bike that they had borrowed. I would feel responsible for Lewis being in jail because I was being careless. And I mean you’re talking about a man’s life being at stake. It’s not just a slap on the wrist because you did something bad; this is being sentenced to the death penalty. If I knew that there was even a slight chance that I could stop it, then I would go. Of course Lewis’ lawyer lied to them and didn’t tell them that she was his sister, so Tony was right not to trust her. But even if the fact was that I would be the one hanging instead of Lewis I would still go back. He was not solely responsible for what happened and should not be the only to receive the consequences.

Psycho

I finally saw the original Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock today. It was not really what I expected, but still a fabulous film. It really set the standard for horror movies and although I am not a huge fan of horror films, I thought this movie was really good. I was surprised that it kind of had 2 plots. In the beginning of the movie you think the movie is going to be about the $40,000 that Marion Crane stole, but then it switches into being much more about Norman Bates and the murders he's committed. What I thought was really interesting too was that you never really hate Norman Bates. I mean you should because he's been killing girls for really no reason, he's killed his mother and stepfather, and houses his mother's corpse in his house still. But I honestly felt no hatred or ill feelings towards him throughout the movie. If anything I felt kind of bad for him because he seemed so lonely and just quiet and shy. I don't know, maybe I'm the only one who felt that way, but that's the feelings I got through the film.

Leap Year

I just got back from the movies, where I saw Leap Year. I actually really enjoyed it. It was fairly predictable, but all the same I still loved it. I mean, it's probably because I love chick flicks and this was the epitome of a chick flick, but still I can't help it. It stars Amy Adams and Matthew Goode, both of whom I love. And it takes place in Ireland which is just absolutely beautiful. I would totally love to visit Ireland someday. From what I've seen in movies and in pictures it looks absolutely gorgeous and picturesque.

So, I don't want to give anything away in case any one out there is planning on seeing the movie, but I'll do my best to give a synopsis without revealing anything too important. But like I said, it is fairly predictable. Amy Adams is a Boston native with Irish heritage and is expecting her boyfriend to propose. He doesn't and leaves on a business trip to Ireland. This is right around the 29th of February (leap year) and there's an Irish tradition that women can propose to their boyfriends on February 29th during a leap year. Amy Adams decides that she will fly to Dublin to propose to her boyfriend on leap year. Anyways, she ends up in another town and convinces this taxi driver, Matthew Goode, to drive her all the way to Dublin. They end up ruining his car and have to figure out other ways to make the trip. Of course by the end of the film she has fallen in love with Matthew Goode's character and must decide whether she wants to be with him or the boyfriend she came to propose to. So, overall I really liked it, but it is a typical chick flick, so I don't expect it to win any Oscars.

Snuggies

So, this past Christmas I heard that one of the hot ticket items was a snuggie. I don't really understand snuggies I guess. I mean I know it's meant to make it easier when having a blanket on, because it's a blanket with arms pretty much. But it looks really weird. And couldn't you get the same effect if you just put your house coat on backwards? I think so. Also, won't your hands get cold? I realize it makes it easier if you're eating or need to pick up the phone or something, but still I feel like your fingers will be cold. I don't know what all the hype is behind it, but I just really dislike snuggies.

Adventureland

I watched the independent film, Adventureland today and it was alright. It was about this boy named James who just graduated from college. He was planning on going to Europe for the summer and then going to Columbia for grad school. Unfortunately, his dad gets a demotion at work and they can't afford his trip to Europe (which was supposed to be his graduation gift) or his grad school tuition. The only place he can find a job is at an amusement park called Adventureland where he works a game booth. He meets this girl named Em, played by Kristen Stewart, and falls in love with her. Of course it is never that simple and Em is sleeping with Connell, the maintenance guy, played by Ryan Reynolds. And naturally Connell is married. Confusion and deceit among the characters ensues. It was a decent movie. I enjoyed it while I was watching it and it was definitely comical. But I probably wouldn't watch it again.

That 70's Show

I love the television show, That 70's Show. I think it's really funny and was a really creative idea. So many sitcoms have the same premise, like a funny show about a guy or girl and his/her family and all the issues they deal with or a show about high school students and the problems they deal with while growing up. This is definitely a show about high school students and their problems while growing up, but it takes place in the 70's.

This show represents the time my parents were in high school. They are actually high school sweethearts and remind me quite a bit of Eric and Donna. We all love this show and enjoy watching it together. It reminds my parents of their memories in high school and kind of gives me a glimpse into what my parents went through as teenagers. The technology age wasn't as big back then as it nowadays, so it's interesting to hear about what they did without computers or cell phones. It also shows that no matter when you're growing up, we all go through very similar issues. All the friends in this show are really tight and I think we all have at least one friend like one of the characters and probably know of someone like the rest of them. I think what makes this show so great is that the characters and material is so relatable.

Taxi Driver

I watched Taxi Driver the other night and I thought it was a very good movie. It is directed by Martin Scorsese and stars a young Robert DeNiro. I had actually never seen Robert DeNiro in his younger years before, so I was kind of shocked when I saw him. He was so skinny! For those who don't know what the movie is about here's a brief synopsis: basically DeNiro plays a taxi driver who falls in love with this girl who really does not like him. He drives around in his cab all night and eventually sees this young prostitute and makes it his mission to save her. It was a bit of bizarre movie and I'm not completely sure I understood it. DeNiro is a crazy stalker in this film and at the end I'm not really sure if it's real or if it's what he's dreaming. I don't want to give too much away, but the character DeNiro plays is just really hard to figure out.

Apparently the guy, John Hinckley, who shot President Reagan was inspired by this film. I guess he identified with DeNiro's character, Travis and was obsessed with Jodie Foster, who played the teenage prostitute. In the film, Travis targets a senator running for President and then focuses on saving Foster's character. That's where I got confused in the film. I'm not sure why he is targeting the senator because he has nothing to do with the whole prostitute situation. But anyways, Hinckley apparently stalked Foster for many many years and was convinced she would be with him if he became more famous. Hinckley then chose to stalk President Jimmy Carter, attempting to follow in Travis' footsteps. After Carter left office, he continued his stalking with Reagan and then ended up shooting him after only a few months in office. They later found out that Hinckley had a mental disability and put him in an institution. It's kind of crazy how a film can inspire someone to do something like shoot someone they don't even know.

Pirates of the Caribbean

I love all 3 of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I think that each one is equally as good as the one before it. And it combines my two favorite genres: comedy and action. Johnny Depp does a fabulous job as Captain Jack Sparrow. He is absolutely hilarious. I remember seeing previews for it when it first came out in theaters and not really wanting to see it. It actually looked kind of scary and dark and I usually don't like those types of movies. But my brother and sister wanted to see it so I went and was pleasantly surprised. It was nothing like I thought it would be.

I heard they are making a 4th one actually. Although I do love these movies, I don't think a 4th one is really necessary. I mean I will absolutely see it and I will probably love it, but I think movies should typically be capped off by the third one. I mean it is a whole new story line, but on that basis they could do that for every movie. Just use the characters in different stories and go from there. I'm sure the company funding these films just wants to make as much money as they can, so as long as these films keep raking in the dough they will keep filming them.

True Blood

My sister loves True Blood, so tonight I watched a few episodes of it with her. I'm still not sure if I like it, but it is quite addicting. It's one of those shows that you never really not for sure what's going on, so you have to keep watching to see if the next episode will shed any light on the issues. I know vampires are all the rage right now and that this is a pretty popular show. From other vampire things I've seen this is definitely more adult oriented. I've seen Twilight and I've also watched some episodes of Vampire Diaries, and they do not have quite the adult themes that True Blood has. True Blood has a lot to do with death and sex. It seems almost every episode someone is either dying or someone is having sex or sometimes even both happen in one episode. I guess I'll have to keep watching to see if I can decide whether or not I really like this show.

Night at the Museum 2

I just watched Night at the Museum 2 and loved it! I thought it was hilarious! Usually sequels aren't that great, but I really thought this one was just as good as the original. In the first movie, Ben Stiller plays Larry, a night guard at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. There is a special tablet that makes the statues and figures in the museum come to life at night. Some men are trying to steal the tablet and Larry and all the exhibits in the museum must stop them.

In the second movie, most of the statues and figures are being shipped to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. to be put in storage. One of the figures steals the tablet bringing everything in and near the Smithsonian to life. An Egyptian prince is trying to take the tablet from them in order to gain control over everything in the museum. Larry learns of this and flies to Washington D.C. to try and save his friends. I love how they combine all these unlikely people into working together or being friends, like Ivan the Terrible, Al Capone, and Napoleon Bonaparte. There is also Colonel Custard and the cavemen, and Larry even teams up with Amelia Earhart. Overall, I thought this was a fantastic movie and definitely recommend it!

Winter Classic

Yesterday they held the Winter Classic at Fenway Park. I watched the game on the television because tickets were way too expensive. I think the cheapest I heard was like $300 for one ticket. The Bruins played the Flyers and were able to pull a 2-1 win in overtime. For those who do not know what the Winter Classic is, let me explain. Each year for the past 4 years the NHL picks a city and builds an outdoor ice rink where two professional teams will play a game. It's pretty cool because they're bringing hockey back to it's roots where most of these guys grew up playing pond hockey. Even though it's not on a pond, it is outside and is quite different than playing in an arena. This year they held the Winter Classic in Boston and built the ice rink in Fenway Park.

Today they held the legends game which had bruins alumni, such as Cam Neely and Don Sweeney, and celebrities like Dennis Leary and Keifer Sutherland. I was able to attend this game with my family and it was pretty cool. The commentators were funny and even the guys playing cracked a few jokes. It was a pretty tame game, there were a few fights (fake of course), and I believe the black team won. It was freezing especially in all this snow/rain stuff, but it was a great experience! It was really cool to see the park with a skating rink, I mean who knows if we'll ever see that again and apparently 30,000 people agreed with me and braved the weather to watch an alumni game. So, even though I froze my butt off, it was totally worth it.

Every Avenue

For my birthday this past October, my roommate surprised me and took me to the White Tie Affair concert at the Paradise in Cambridge. And I do like the White Tie Affair, but not enough to really warrant going to their concert. She had really taken me there to see one of the opening acts, Every Avenue, one of my favorite bands ever! It was a surprise right until we got to the door and I saw the list of band playing. Needless to say I freaked out a little and the bouncer thought I was quite entertaining. There were 3 other bands before Every Avenue came on and they were all actually pretty good. The first one was called The Lives of Famous Men and they were from Alaska. The second band was called Runner Runner and I actually really liked them. They added a bit of techno to their punk sound. And the third band was Stereo Skyline, they were alright, actually they were quite young as each member of the band had black X's on their hands showing they were under 21.

And finally it was Every Avenue's turn! They came on and were amazing! They played some old stuff and some stuff from their new album. They are typically a punk band and although I do love the punk band music I have to admit that most of it sounds very similar. I feel that most of the singers aren't really that great of singers and the band just needed a singer, so they picked out the guy with the best voice already in the band. The difference about Every Avenue is that not only can the lead singer really sing, but the other band members can as well. They actually use harmonies with their voices in their songs and I just think that gives them a bit of a step up on the other punk bands.

After Every Avenue came on, my roommate and I were waiting in the crowd for the White Tie Affair to come on, when she looked at me and smiled and said "turn around." I did and walking towards us was the lead singer from Every Avenue. I'm kind of shy and would have never approached him, but she went right up to him and asked if we could get a picture because it was my birthday. He said sure and took a picture with us and wished me a happy birthday. Overall, it was my best birthday ever!

Here is my favorite song from Every Avenue called "Think of You Later (Empty Room)":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHFhNne6sNU