'House at The End of The Street' Review

Hey guys! So, I know it has been quite a while and I can explain why! You see, I have been working and interning and going to school and doing a million other things that unfortunately, my blog has fallen off the map! However, the good news is that I miss it and I want to really get back into it on a weekly basis like I did a little while ago. So, at the risk of sounding too ambitious, I plan on picking things back up!

For my first post back, I have decided to post a review I wrote for The House at The End of The Street starring Jennifer Lawrence of The Hunger Games fame. It never got published in my school paper because someone else wrote the review when I was assigned it. Anyhow, I'm taking it easy for this week, but this weekend, I will have another post up...I promise!

Enjoy!
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It’s October, which means it is the time of year when the best and worst horror movies and thrillers get thrown into theaters for all to see. A movie that has been hyped so far this season is House at the End of the Street starring The Hunger Games’ Jennifer Lawrence and The Pacifier’s Max Thieriot.

The story revolves around a young girl, Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) and her mother who move into a home surrounded by woods. In the house at the end of the street, a young girl murdered her parents year ago and the rumors run rampant through the town. The girl’s older brother, Ryan(Max Thieriot), still lives in the house to try and maintain a connection to his parents. When Elissa meets him, she feels instantly connected to the broken boy despite her mother’s obvious reservations. As she becomes closer to the boy, she learns that the story of what happened at the house at the end of the street, may not be over just yet.

This movie is one of the best thrillers that has hit theaters in a long while. It has its typical moments and guessable plot points that any movie goer could point out in a second. However, there are twists in the movie that no one could call. When one thing happens in the story and you think you know which way they are going to take the story,  something else entirely seems to take shape and turn the movie on its head.

Jennifer Lawrence proves that she is not just the girl who won the 74th Annual Hunger Games. She puts on a great show as a typical teenage girl with a quick wit and a sharp tongue. She even sings a little bit in the movie and not surprisingly, this actress has quite the chops. The movie is a far cry from the blockbuster that is The Hunger Games, but it holds its own thanks to the great writing and acting. Max Thieriot is also believable as the misunderstood boy who Elissa befriends. He hasn’t done too much in the past but this movie definitely brought him back into public consciousness.

The acting was great, but by far what made this movie was the ending. There are no words for how this movie ended up. The final scene had everyone in the theater gasping for air and shocked into submission. If there is one reason to see this movie, it would have to be the crazy twists and the turns
that lead into the ending scene.

Now, that being said, I do have to say it wasn't the best horror movie I have ever seen...and I have seen a lot!! It is kind of typical of the genre and nothing too earth shattering happened. Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times said, "What could be so bad about a new Jennifer Lawrence movie that its distributor opts to keep it away from critics and release it with minimal ad support? Please, allow "House at the End of the Street" to answer that question."

Overall, it may be no Psycho and it certainly does not have the ferocity that Paranormal Activity had in its heyday, but it is definitely worth a watch if you are into thrillers with a great plot and even better actors! Definitely one to see this fall season!

Big Time Movie!

Let's go big time!

If you remember back in November, I had done an album review on the Nickelodeon band, Big Time Rush's new album, "Elevate." I told you how much I loved the album and could not stop blasting every song as I drove around with my friends. Well, four months later, and I am glad to report that absolutely none of that has changed. In fact, I'm pretty sure we blasted a few tracks last night!

Well, since that moment my admiration for the popular boy band has grown tenfold, which is something we don't really need to get into. Anyway, their new TV movie, aptly titled, "Big Time Movie," premiered on March 10th, and yes, I did watch it. So now, I am here to tell you how ridiculously cute this movie was!

Starring James Maslow, Kendall Schmidt, Logan Henderson and Carlos Pena Jr., this movie is one of those adorable movies that you want to watch everyday! LA Times said, "And the leads -- Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, Logan Henderson and Carlos Pena, roughly the Smart One, Cute One, Clever One and Wacky One, in their early 20s now but typically meant to read younger, which is to say, suitable for tweens to dream upon -- are quite charming."

(From left to right: Carlos Pena, James Maslow, Kendall Schmidt, and Logan Henderson)

A good looking crew, no?

Basically the band, Big Time Rush, are going on their first world tour. They get sent to England first and have very strict instructions to do nothing and get into no trouble. This being a Nick movie you can bet that didn't last long. The boys soon find themselves thrust into a spy movie with only a few hours to not only save the world and a "princess", but to save their first world tour from getting cancelled! The guys described the movie as a mix between James Bond and Austin Powers; and it definitely had those elements in there!

The movie is filled with some great action scenes and some legitimate laughs. There's even a little love interest in there! And, as I have so kindly pointed out about five times in this post already, this movie does not lack those, "Aww," moments. The boys acting was so good in this one, too. Their comedic timing is perfect, their chemistry is flawless and their expressions are priceless.

Carlos pretty much plays the adorable and kind of gullible one; he is the one who is initially convinced they are in a spy movie. James is the dumb, yet lovable ladies man, who admittedly, in real life, would be the kind of guy I want to punch in the face repeatedly. Lucky for him, in real life he's charming and his character is too funny to hate. Kendall is the leader and the most solid of the group; his adorable scene with his little sister, Katie, made me melt like nothing else. And finally, Logan is the smart one...oh and he's cute too.

In my opinion, the best part of this movie was the music. Two words...THE BEATLES! Yep. They covered a whole bunch of songs by the fab four, and did a fantastic job. Even my mother the  eternal Beatles lover said they did the songs justice. Some of the popular tunes they covered included, "Can't Buy Me Love", "We Can Work It Out", and "Help." They didn't try to overdo it with the vocals, and they really let the original songs shine through. They kept the integrity of the music and didn't try to make it their own too much. I think that's where people mess up. It's a BEATLES song...no one can top them...so don't try. I totally have these songs on my iPod, and I regret nothing.

So remember my admission to a undeniable love for boy bands? Yeah, well, this is where that comes in. I loved this movie, and so did my friends. It reminded us of "Spice World" from the 90s, and that is not a bad thing. That movie may have made no sense, but to hell if I don't know every word and watch it whenever it comes on cable!

Anyway, this movie gets two adorable and effervescent thumbs up from me! It rocked...BIG TIME! Too much?

Call Me Maybe?

Back from a couple weeks of school, and work, and a long and relaxing, yet stressful spring break, here I am with a short music post about something that has been on my mind...or iPod.

Ever sit in your car wondering what song would be the perfect song to roll down the windows to and just belt out at the top of your lungs?

Lucky for you, I think I have helped to solve this plaguing question.

Carly Rae Jepsen has just recently a new single called, "Call Me Maybe," and it is quite possibly the most addictive song out right now.

Never heard of Carly Rae Jepsen? Well, neither had I before this song. But so you are all caught up, here is a little background on the Canadian songstress. She came in third place on the reality television show, Canadian Idol. She released her first album, "Tug of War", in 2008. Her second album, "Curiosity," was released in February of this year. She recently came to the U.S. and signed with Interscope and Schoolboy Records. Something tells me, this won't be the last we hear of this girl.

I admit, when this song first graced my ears, I was quite skeptical about the overtly pop tune. The lyrics were a little ridiculous and frankly, it gave me a solid case of the giggles. However, the tune was infectious and soon I found myself tapping my toes to the beat and fist pumping like the best of them.

The song soon disappeared from my mind, until one day, a video showed up in my subscriptions on YouTube. Ever heard of Carlos Pena from Big Time Rush? No? Well, how about Justin Bieber? Now I got your attention, huh?

The two pop stars are good friends and they made a music video to the upbeat song. The video features the adorable boy-bander, the teen sensation, and a few other celebs, like Selena Gomez, Samantha Droke and Ashley Tisdale, to name a few. The video is one of those adorable, I-was-bored-one-day-and-decided-to-sing-into-my-Macbook-type, of music videos. Check it out here:

Now, my two best friends seriously are obsessed with this little video and the song in correlation. And I will admit to you, that it started to get to me, too. And finally, the other day...I caved. I purchased the song off of iTunes, which was in the Top 10 songs!! From then on, well, it was all downhill.

With the lyrics, "Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here's my number, so call me maybe?," this song quickly became one of those anthems you just can't shake. Not only is the melody of this song very upbeat, but with this smooth chorus; everything about it makes you want to scream out your windows and try to pick up strapping young men you just met and get them to call you maybe!

Personally, I think you should check it out. If you're like me, at first you will literally scratch your head in wonder; but after a few more forced listens by your best friends, and a few of your own Photo-booth music videos, you too will be playing this song all night long!

And look, I know this is fast, but I think I can say this to you...

...here's my number, so call me maybe? (new pickup line? I think yes!)

MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR.

Let's talk The Hunger Games...shall we?

But first, the book...when the movie comes out...we'll discuss the cinematic version of one of the best young adult series ever!!


Today, I decided to bring the book with me to work, as I love re-reading my favorite parts of it and I am ridiculously excited for the movie to come out.


So, I started reading it and decided that this is one of my favorite series and books right now, and that I should share a little review or something with all of you lovelies who actually sit here and deal with my craziness on the daily.


THE HUNGER GAMES.

What do I say? Where do I begin? Well, to start, I wrote  review on this novel back when I first read it over a year ago, so I will bring some of that on here and just kind of edit it along to how I am now. If you feel that this is recycling material..well you'd be right! But, it's all my opinions and writing, so same diff...besides, I literally hardcore edited it, so only 1/3 of the original review is left!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is all about what feels like a post-apocolyptic sort of version of North America.

The entire plot feels like a mix between an episode of Survivor, Day After Tomorrow and I don't know, perhaps, Romeo and Juliet. Now the funny thing is, I usually don’t read these types of books. Despite my constant cynicism, I tend to lean more towards those types of sappy romance novels, coming of age stories or, yes, vampire books. But, this book was amazing!

I read it last year out of pure curiosity, and I am so glad I picked it up at Borders that night. It is a book that takes a little bit of time to get into; so for those of you who give up if a book is hard to get into, be forewarned. Once you hit the action, this book could not move any faster if it had legs and drove a racecar...funny joke? No? Okay, moving on.

It surrounds a girl named Katniss Everdeen and her life living in this society called PANEM. There are 12 districts and she lives in the saddest and poorest part of them all, District 12. In order to show the distcricts just who owns the,. .every year they have these games that they compete in. Can you guess the name? Well anyhow, these HUNGER GAMES(there's that name),  is meant as a means of pure entertainment for the Capitol which is the head of Panem and kind of like the big bad wolf in this case. 

What are the hunger games you may ask? Basically a boy and a girl from all 12 districts get randomly chosen to literally fight to the death on national television. Think one of those Road Rules challenges MTV puts on but way more violent and cruel. 

This novel has so much suspense, my heart was literally beating like crazy the last couple of chapters. When the games actually start, the book moves fast. There is so much that happens within a few short hundred or so pages, and you literally can not read it fast enough. Then there’s a little bit of romance, which perhaps is one of my favorite parts, because like I said, I like those types of books. Peeta Mellark is the baker's son who is picked as boy tribute for District 12. He is literally Katniss' antithesis. He is sweet and kind and strong, while she can be cold and well, she is a survivor, so. Their romance starts off in an unorthodox way, and for those of you who haven't read it, let's just say it may not be what it seems...even to Katniss or Peeta themselves. Thinking about the cute scenes and the heart ache of the games makes a tear slowly roll down my cheek as I type. I kid, I kid.

Reading  this book, I can’t help but think I would never survive The Hunger Games, myself. This fact, both makes me laugh and scares me a little...maybe Suzanne Collins was on to something? 

So in conclusion? The book may not be what normally jumps out to me on the shelves of B&N, but I could NOT be happier I chose to read this! I laughed, I cried, I literally bit my lip off in anticipation and when it ended I literally screamed! As for the real meat of the book, I won't really give anything away...I want you all to experience it yourself. And, unlike my friends, book spoilers are one of my big pet peeves, so I won't do that to you either!

For Danielle's book review, I give this novel, 4.5 out of 5 stars! Yes, I loved it THAT MUCH! And I usually only reserve those high ratings for Morganville Vampires books(OBSESSED...next post?) and anything and everything BTR related.

The cast of The Hunger Games

As for the movie...let's just say...I am counting down the days! It looks incredible and so true to the book, I might cry!

See...a non movie post...I'm doing better! =P

Too Many Movie Reviews...Time to MIX IT UP!

So, I apologize, because it seems that this blog has turned into a bit of a movie review blog. That was not my intention, but when your brother works at a movie theater and you can get into almost any movie you want with only having to pay for your small fishbowl sized diet soda and cookie dough bites, you tend to see a lot of movies that could use a bit of a review.

Anyway, I am in a "write-y" mood right now, so I am going to mix it up!

This post is the pre-cursor, if you will, to the next post, which will be the actual mixed-up post...if that makes sense?

Basically...this was a prologue to explain why I have so many movie reviews up, and that the next few posts will be different...

So, now that that is straightened out...ON TO THE NEXT!

The Vow is Heartbreakingly Adorable

The Vow starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams came out in theaters on February 10, 2012.


The movie was deemed the perfect Valentine's Day movie and I can see why. It was full of sweet moments that made you go "awww," and moments that made you want to call up that special someone and make sure they remember you...no joke intended.

Channing Tatum plays Leo and Rachel McAdams plays Paige. They are one of those cool and adorable couples that seems to cherish the small moments and have fun everywhere they go. Their relationship reminds me of the type I would love to have and the kind anyone would be lucky to be in. When they get in a car accident, luckily they aren't harmed physically, but Paige wakes up with a different kind of injury. Paige doesn't remember anything from the past few years of her life and doesn't remember her marriage to Leo. The result is a movie full of sadness while Leo tries to get her to remember him and to fall back in love with him.


Without giving too much away, I just have to say that this is a big tear jerker, but not as much as one might have originally thought. I was preparing for a huge sob-fest or some big ugly crying, but what I got was a few tearful moments and movie that just made me smile.


The acting was flawless in my eyes. Channing isn't someone who you would think could pull off such an emotionally charged role, but he does it with such believable vulnerability that I think he did a great job. Rachel McAdams is always amazing. She makes you love her no matter what the role is, and this one is no exception. The supporting characters just add some color and character to the movie, but they aren't the focus at all. And the whole plot, while completely true, is heartbreakingly beautiful. I mean, a woman who falls in love again with her own husband...it's like you can't write that stuff(even if you did).


The New York Observer said, "This movie is not for pessimists who consider sentimentality a subtle form of subversive manipulation, but I embraced the feel-good heart it wears on its sleeve. At a time when we’re surrounded by a surfeit of cinematic pretentiousness, depression, vulgarity and mean-spirited violence, The Vow is a welcome antidote to cynicism, and a bracing tonic that proves love hasn’t disappeared from the film experience completely."


Basically, I agree. The movie gives hope in a hopeless situation, and shows that love can prevail, even if it seems that there is no way in hell it can.

I went with a group of my girlfriends and we found ourselves constantly saying, "aww," and making inappropriate comments whenever Channing Tatum would show up on screen. As a complete cynic and hopeless romantic(yes I know the two are not exactly compatible traits), I actually really enjoyed the movie. Despite myself, I kept smiling and tearing up when the sad moments came up.


I say to go see it. It may be no "The Notebook", but it was definitely a good romance movie with a great true story and phenomenal acting. I think the movie really shows us all how easy it is for something you love to be gone within a moment, and how moments really shape us more than we know. I also think movies like this show everyone out there, what true love and a true relationship should be...even if it fictional.

RIP Whitney Houston

Since this a blog about all things pop culture, I think it is only fitting that I throw in a post about this.

On February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston was found dead in her hotel room in LA.

The news quickly hit the web and twitter-verse and people were going crazy.

I happened to be out with my best friends when I first heard the news. A friend saw Drake's tweet saying something about RIP Whitney, and all of us immediately were taken aback. Is it another hoax? Is he joking? If he is joking, why would you joke about something like that? We all logged onto twitter on our respective smart phones and saw the flood of tweets and trends about the issue pop up. Then, that fateful tweet that confirmed she was dead at 48. Disbelief was all we could muster up. I mean, she was WHITNEY HOUSTON! It just seemed unreal.She was a pop icon and her songs are legendary.

For me, it probably meant something different than for other people. I loved Whitney's songs and one of my favorite past times was blasting, "I Will Always Love You," in my car with my friends and screaming it at the top of our lungs attempting to hit those crazy notes she hits. As a senior in high school, we did a dance to a whole mix of Whitney songs, so it just brought me back to that moment, too.

It is just very sad and unbelievable. It reminds me of when Michael Jackson died and the entire world just kind of stopped for a minute.

The trending topics on twitter were surrounding Whitney's death for hours and the number one song on iTunes was immediately Whitney's greatest hit, "I Will Always Love You." People still love her and will continue to listen to her music forever.

Her songs will live on and my friends and I will continue to belt out her tunes the best we can, which admittedly isn't that good.

RIP Whitney Houston. You will be missed and my thoughts go out to your family.