US vs UK: Cooking Competions

I am an avid watcher of the Food Network. I have Chopped, or Cutthroat Kitchen, or Guy’s Grocery Games on whenever there is nothing specific I want to watch. I love watching the meals come together in the span of thirty minutes. When people don’t make the cut for the next round, it’s usually because they had to use cotton candy as their starch. You get to watch the competitors’ faces as each plot twist and limitation is announced. When the Great British Baking Show was put onto Netflix, I decided to give it a try. I realized quickly, this was not going to be like an American cooking competition. First, competitors received time limits anywhere from and hour and a half to five entire hours for baking. In America, there’s just a standard half hour. An entire hour maybe for the more elaborate stuff. But that’s pushing it. The contestants also get to prepare and know what they are supposed to bake in advance. You’ll see them reading off of recipes and showing off the molds they made and brag about how much they practiced. It only makes the failures even more sad. There are technical challenges every episode that can’t be prepared for, but those aren’t make or break. Meanwhile there are American shows where the only time you are given the recipe is when you are on Worst Cooks in America. The Great British Baking Show is a lot more relaxed as well. Every competitor is so supportive and nice, and the atmosphere is so calming. Everyone just really loves cooking, and it’s quite lovely. In the finale, all the ex-competitors have a picnic to cheer on the final three, and the judges, while strict, are still so friendly. The foods created are also much more traditional with small variations and are quite... quaint. I am not sure if that is exactly the right word, but they are definitely not making steaks and soufflés like on other shows. Everything is just simple, pretty, and refined (or at least it’s supposed to be). Everyone has a great sense of humor and camaraderie. I enjoy it as much as I enjoy all the rivalry and shade of American cooking competitions. I don’t know if I can say one is better than the other, though. I do so love the ridiculousness of Cutthroat Kitchen. I don’t think anything can truly rival it.

Inside Out

When I first saw the trailer for Inside Out, I was a little dissappointed. I honestly thought it would be like Osmosis Jones or something, and would be a boring designed to keep children distracted. I did not expect it to handle the heavy stuff like depression, moving on, and forgetting. The movie focused on acknowledging emotions instead of covering them up to make others feel better. It showed that it is okay to feel sad, and happy, and be afraid, angry, and disgusted. The movie ended in the emotions helping each other and balancing each other out. The movie was definitely relatable, from the childhood nostalgia to the loneliness, and those bittersweet memories. The scene on the bus, when the emotions realized they couldn’t make Riley feel anything at all, not even fear, It hit hard. I think it’s important to show movies like this to children- to tell them it’s okay to be sad, to not fake emotions, and to help them understand why others may be depressed. Mental health isn’t talked about enough, and movies like this help establish a dialogue. That said, the movie still has a lot of humor, and the heavy moments are well placed.

            I also liked the animation. The textures of the emotions hair, Bing-Bong’s body, the clothing, it was all very beautiful. Also,, at first I thought the emotions were furry or something, but the are actually dissipating and dissolving at the edges. It’s such a small detail, but it’s effect is so nice. You can tell the people who made this movie really loved what they were doing, and wanted to perfect it.

            Overall, it’s an excellent movie that is great for all ages with valuable lessons and great animation. It has a sense of humor that balances out all the moments that make you cry. It is incredibly relatable and important. I would so recommend it.

My Must Watch Movies of 2016

Deadpool is of course on the list. From what's been released, Ryan Reynolds knows what he’s doing and is staying true to the character, even going as far as confirming that Deadpool is pansexual, which reflects Deadpool’s sexuality in the comics. Reynolds is seriously committed to this movie, and I think it’ll show in the final product.

Captain America: Civil War is another comic book movie I’m excited for. With Winter Soldier’s writers, It will hopefully avoid the issues Avengers: Age of Ultron had with seeming more like a mash-up or fanfiction than it’s own movie. There will be new characters (new to Avengers at least) like Spiderman and Black Panther, and I’m excited to see Black Widow being properly written.

This year is definitely dominated by comic books, because the next movie on the list is Suicide Squad, the Harley Quinn central movie. With a diverse cast and (gasp!) multiple female characters, I am really excited for it. Margot Robbie, Will Smith, and Jared Leto have all got me pumped for the release of this movie.

And then there’s the all female Ghostbusters reboot. With the people who wrote The Office, and actors like Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, this movie should be really funny. I’m also all for nostalgia and all female reboots, so this is a can’t lose situation. I hope this will inspire more female centered films in traditionally male centered genres.

While there’s lots of new animation coming out this year, what I’m most excited about is the new Disney princess movie Moana. She’ll be the first not white princess since Tiana, and the writers, directors, and producers promise for a great movie. Lin Manuel Miranda will be writing the songs and with his most recent project becoming a Broadway hit, this movie's soundtrack should be spectacular. Dwayne Johnson will be the voice of Maui, and the directors have a good track record with Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and Hercules.

Okay, there’s one other animated movie I really want to watch. The Secret Life of Pets is a super cute movie about what our pets do when we aren’t home. In this case, stop an evil bunny from overthrowing humanity with his army of ex-pets. Adorable. The trailer doesn’t include much of the plot, but the premise is clear and I definitely want to watch this movie.

The Raven King, and why I can't wait

This year, one of my favorite book series is coming to an end. It is called The Raven Cycle, and it is so much more than it seems.

When I first read the blurb on the back, I put the book down. I was then told it was really good so I read the blurb again. And put the book back down. Finally, after an hour getting frustrated with my library’s reading selection, I picked the book up again and decided to read it. That was either the best or worst decision I could make.

See, the blurb makes you think it will be all about a Miracle Romance™ with some kind of love polygon. I thought the book would be a total sausage fest, and it also makes the book seem like it takes place in some fantasy land, or 1900s New Orleans (okay, that's not really a bad thing). The blurb forgot to mention, however, that Blue isn’t actually drawn the Aglionby students because of any dark or mysterious reasons. It’s because one of them asks her out. The romance between main girl and boy isn’t the center of the plot either. The supernatural mystery of the ancient beings sleeping beneath the small Virginia town of Henrietta is the focus of the plot. While the main narrators are a girl and three guys, there are many female characters in the books. An all female house of psychics, a US senator, an all-knowing older sister, a secretive aunt, a pink wearing criminal, and a few others who may be spoilers.

The reason this book is so devastating, though, is that the main boy will die. It’s on the back of the book, it's in the first chapter, it's mentioned every other chapter. He will die. And the way he finds out is so sad. It’s guaranteed this last book, The Raven King, will make me cry. On that note, I recommend you read it. The depths of everyone's personalities and how their past affects them is so well written. There’s gay and bi characters. All the pieces of the plot are like puzzle pieces, and fall into place perfectly. Everything is hinted at, and every sentence means something. I feel like I could tell you exactly what will happen in The Raven King, if I only knew how to put the puzzle correctly. I already have my own predictions, of course, but I’ll have to wait until the book comes out in April.

The Future of This Blog

Happy New Year! I’m back from my winter break, and I have some adjustments I'd like to make for this blog! First, I’ll be changing the name. I’ve been throwing some names around, and I’ll make an executive decision soon. Hopefully. I feel that this blog has evolved the more that I’ve written, and I would like the title to reflect that. I want the title to reflect a focus on books, and I may wind up changing my blog theme as well. I’m still deciding on that, we’ll have to see.

              Second. I’ll begin writing more about my own adventures reading books and watching movies, regardless of whether or not they are remakes or reboots. I won’t stop writing reviews of terrible movie remakes, but I’m hoping to add a more personal touch to my blog, and share some of the books and movies I’ve really been enjoying of late. I want to post recommendations, talk about authors, and gush about movies. I may also have a rant about the Oscars in the works (there’s lots to talk about). So stay tuned.

              I’m also going to try to get back to three posts a week. I’ve been busy with school and such, so I had some trouble posting reliably. Sorry about that. Don’t be afraid to get on my case about getting posts up every week. Oh, and let me know what you think of my posts. Do you disagree, am I too repetitive, are there other things you’d like me to address? Feel free to comment! Even if it’s something as small as a typo, let me know! I’m awful about proof reading! I’ve also been curious about the traffic I’m getting. I’ll see that people are reading my blog in Portugal, Mexico, and France, among others. If you’re one of those readers, let me know why you’re reading my blog. I’m curious about how it’s viewed in your countries, and what about my blog interests you.

              Alright, did I cover everything? Name, blog posts, audience, that should be it. I really like where this blog is going, and I hope you’ll stick with it as it changes and evolves. Have a great 2016, and thanks for reading!

January Movies List

There are mostly just limited releases of movies in January. The majority of movies out are left overs from the Christmas holidays. Here are two movies coming out in January. They are very different, so be warned.

50 Shades of Black

Out January 29th, 2016

This movie is a spoof of the book and movie Fifty Shades of Gray. It makes fun of the series in every possible way, making light of a franchise that probably doesn’t need a spoof to prove its pretty dumb.

Kung Fu Panda 3

Out January 29th, 2016

Next in the Kung Fu Panda trilogy, Po is reunited with his family, much to his adoptive dad's annoyance. When a new enemy looms, Po must train his family in the ways of Kung Fu. It’s easier said than done.

Krampus

This scary movie version of a tradition in the southern Germanic area of Europe is a funny movie with very strange special effects.

First, background information. Krampus was Santa’s elf who handed out switches to all the bad boys and girls while Santa gave presents to the good ones. He is mainly part of christmas in southeast Germany and Austria. He did not kill children, he was only meant to scare them.

The movie was just strange. After a kid decides he didn’t want christmas Krampus came and tormented the entire neighborhood, or possibly more- it was never really explained. In the grandmothers description of her past experience with Krampus, he only killed her parents, not everyone in town. The way the grandmother and language were treated in the movie was weird, too. The grandmother spoke only german with the family, and they spoke english back at her. Even though Omi, her son, and grandson all knew both German and English. There were subtitles used for the german, but only half the time. And it was always for the very simple phrases, like ‘Danke’, but not for the thirty second rant.

One thing that bugged me throughout the movie, was that it was trying to be funny. Not once was there an attempt to truly be scary, only to create a humorous situation in which people are being attacked by christmas decorations. I like movies that try to be scary but fail miserably. I felt cheated by this movie. I loved the special effects, though. The jack-in-the-box was super creepy and weird looking. It seemed like CGI was only used when necessary, the rest was practical effects.

The actors were great as well. The horror movie screams were awesome, and they managed to keep a straight face while acting, which is impressive.

I don’t know if I would say this movie was amazing, but it had its good points and lots of humor.

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen

This regency romance adaptation has everything you could ask for. A daring heroine, a love interest rich in both awkward kindness and money, an embarrassing family, misunderstandings, proposals, confessions in the rain, comedy, drama, scandal, it's everything you could want in a single beautiful movie adaptation of the classic Pride and Prejudice.

There were some changes in the adaptation to allow it to be conducive for the big screen. The dialogue was altered quite a bit. A few scenes had the same wording as before, but most were modernized somewhat to allow for a modern audience to understand what was going on in the story. Another change was for pacing. Many scenes were skipped or shortened to adjust the length of the movie. In Jane Austen novels, a lot of time is spent devoted to explaining the background information, or explaining the process of travel, or the details of a social event. The movie simply left out anything it deemed too cluttering. It wound up being less nuanced, but more flowy. The cinematography was beautiful as well. The scenes in the rain, and at Elizabeth's house, and at the ball in all those rooms, the movie looked spectacular. The Bennet’s weren't as poor as the movie made them out to be, though. The house in the movie, while of a nice size, looks incredibly worn out, and there are constant references to their clothing. The Bennet’s had to be careful with money since their father spent much of it, but they weren’t poor.

I liked the movie’s portrayal of Darcy. He was cold, and awkward, and unsociable. It was both funny and endearing. The book Darcy was still a little bit of a jerk, but I think it was because you never saw him outside of what Elizabeth saw.

Pride and Prejudice was a wonderful movie adaptation and I highly recommend it.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens *with spoilers*

This highly anticipated Star Wars reboot broke records in ticket presales, and personally, I think it’s worth the excitement. With a mix of oscar winners and newcomers, this movie stays fresh. It also avoids the mistakes of its predecessors, keeping the technology within it similar to the original trilogy and allowing for a little bit of the original cheesiness to seep through. In the intro, the famous scrolling type giving you the background information sounds like it was written by the exact same person that wrote it for A New Hope. Similar phrasing and cheesiness. Not once in the movie did J.J. Abrams try to make the movie seem unnecessarily mature or serious (like in the prequels), leaving The Force Awakens with a mix of nostalgic emotions and new curiosity.

            The movie parallels the fourth in many ways. It begins with an attacked revolutionary giving a droid essential information, who in turns winds up in the hands of someone who lives on a deserty planet that protects them until they are returned to their master. The revolutionary is interrogated and tortured for information. Han Solo makes an appearance. There is a Death

Star 3.0. It is bombarded with, well, bombs, until it blows up. The underlying plot, however, is different from what we’ve seen in the past, so these parallels feel more like nods than blatant copying. While certain aspects of the plot require some elaborating (like why Luke left a map, who is Reys family, is Poe gay) I am hopeful that it will be explained in the next movie. The only thing I wish was different, and would be very hard to fix at this point, is the Leia is not a Jedi. In Return of the Jedi Luke was told his sister had the potential to be a Jedi, she just needed training. It would have been really cool to see her wielding a lightsaber.

            Kylo Ren is another mystery as well. I’m curious as to what direction his character will take. He has potential, but I don’t want him to get off easy if he winds up being redeemed and joining the light side. He's done some really awful stuff, he should pay for that.

            Overall, this is a really great movie, and I love the main character. Her dynamics with Finn and Han Solo are awesome, and Rey’s very well treated compared to other women in sci-fi. She’s not defined by her appearance, she’s not sexualized, and she’s not a damsel in distress. I can’t wait to watch the next movie in the trilogy and see how she and Luke get along.