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.

Journey 2 was quite the Journey

Sorry for the delay in posts, I have been admittedly busier than I had previously thought...But, the show must go on!

This past Valentine's day, my best friend and I decided to go see "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island." You see, we hate Valentine's day. I don't really know why, we just kind of think it's overrated. We usually celebrate what we have come to call, "Anti- Valentine's Day." Basically, we wear black, go get wings and eat at sports bars, we make fun of mushy couples and see some sort of non romantic, usually horror and or adventure movie as to step away from the stereotype of going to a romantic movie. And before you say anything, yes we are single, but even when I wasn't, Valentine's Day just isn't that big of a deal to me. I like Arbor Day better.

Soooo, we ventured to see this sequel to the popular, "Journey To The Center of The Earth." It was the only non romantic movie we could go see and I am a big fan of Josh Hutcherson so we figured it'd be a good choice.

The movie centers around a young guy named Sean who is on a mission to find his grandfather and the "mysterious island," hence the title. He doesn't like his step father and would rather be anywhere than where he is at the moment. Soon, his step father and him go on a trip and low and behold, they find the mysterious island and things get intense from there.

This movie is full of action and adventure and it is a definite must see for any fan of this genre. There a lot of references to historical things and myths such as the lost city of Atlantis. The movie has a bunch of cool twists and turns that keep you guessing. Josh Hutcherson as Sean is the perfect antagonist of the movie. He is believable as a young man on a mission to find the truth and his action filled moments give me great hope for his action scenes in "The Hunger Games."

The Rock, or Dwayne Johnson, plays Sean's step father, and he was just plain great in the role. I love how The Rock went from playing harsh roles like "The Scorpion King" to acting in more family oriented movies. My favorite was when all of a sudden he showed up in that Disney movie, "The Game Plan," wearing a football jersey and a ballerina tutu (that whole tough and scary wrestler image quickly subsided). Also, does anyone else love the fact that whenever he is in a movie, the trailer usually calls him, DWAYNE 'THE ROCK' JOHNSON? For some reason I always chuckle to myself remembering the days of playing wrestling video games with my brother and when WWE was WWF. Well, anyway, he was hilarious in moments and personally, I thought a great fit for the movie.

Michael Caine played the long lost grandfather and all I can say is, Michael Caine can do no wrong, I mean "Miss Congeniality" anyone? I'm quite partial to the moment in the movie when he walks through the streets of New York swinging his hips saying, "Don't I feel pretty!"...CLASSIC.

Finally, there was Luis Guzman and Vanessa Hudgens, who played a father daughter duo who got dragged along on this adventure. I thought it was a little odd that Luis Guzman played her father, as my friend sarcastically said at the theater, "Yeah, like I'm supposed to believe they are related." However, their relationship was sweet and endearing. As for Vanessa, ever since her days of "We're All in This Together," I haven't been the biggest of fans. In fact, she kind of annoys me...like a lot. Anyway, the cast, for the most part, pulled off the sci-fi-esque(yes I made that up) movie perfectly.

Truthfully, my favorite part of the movie was Josh Hutcherson, who is beyond adorable and will be playing Peeta in the highly anticipated Hunger Games movie. I just can NOT wait for that movie and anything this 19 year old does makes me giddy and excited like a five year old on Christmas Eve. However, the entire movie was cute and I liked all the twists in it, it wasn't the best thing I have ever seen, but trust me when I say, it was not the worst either.

The New York Post said, "You know we’re in serious trouble when even old pros such as Michael Caine and Luis Guzman can’t do anything with the uninspired and unfunny script"

I'd say go see it. Josh is adorable. The Rock is hilarious. The story line is a cool mix of mystery, action, science fiction and adventure. I give it two thumbs up. Although, let me just say, I never saw the first movie, but don't worry, you really don't need to, to follow this one. So go check it out.

Next movie on my list...THE VOW! Stay tuned for a full on sob fest review coming at you soon!!

XO

"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" is Extremely Emotional & Incredibly Heart Wrenching

A story about one of the most infamous days in the 21st century, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," is a heart wrenching and powerful movie about the human spirit and the love between a father and son.

The story centers around a nine year old named, Oskar Schell, who has autism. He is a smart and curious boy with many fears and reservations about the outside world. His father, Thomas Schell, tries to get him to open up and explore the world in new and interesting ways. Along with his mother, Linda Schell, the trio play a happy little family just living their lives in New York City. When his father dies in the terrorist attacks in September 11th, 2001, Oskar tries to find any way he can to stay connected to his father and not let his memory die. He finds a key and is adamant about finding the lock that it fits, convinced it's a sign from his father. He travels the streets of New York and searches for some meaning in his father's death.

The movie is long as it is about 2 hours, which makes shelling out the $11.50, worth it. It dragged at points, and certain resolutions could have came sooner in the film. However, the acting was impeccable. Tom Hanks as the father and Sandra Bullock as the mother, were the perfect match in this movie. In the few scenes they were together, their chemistry as a happy and in love married couple was not only believable, but endearing. With other supporting actors such as Zoe Caldwell as Oskar's grandmother, and Max von Sydow, who earned an Oscar nomination as The Renter, without even uttering a single word, the film was filled with emotional scenes filled with heart.

However, the true star of this movie was Thomas Horn, who played the key protagonist, Oskar Schell. In his first film, Thomas not only captured the emotions of the nine year old autistic boy, but he brought the entire movie to life. He was in almost every scene and carried this story to fruition. His emotional outbursts were believable, and his eery disconnection from the outside world was haunting. He was the star of this movie, and it leave one wondering if any other child star could have pulled it off as seamlessly as he did.

The movie deals with some powerful issues like autism, death and fear. An important part of this movie was the setting in which it took place. The attacks on September 11th, are something that everyone can relate to. The movie captured the sadness and overwhelming fear the world felt at that time in 2001. It was emotional to relive the day ten years ago that brought the United States to its knees, but the movie handled it delicately enough, that it wasn't inappropriate or too much.

The movie's resolution was heart warming and the movie in it's entirety reminds one of the impact a devastating event can have on a young child. The movie is definitely worth a watch; if not for it's impeccable acting, but for it's emotionally charged message.

Jane by Design is Designed to Pretty Entertaining

So, I admit, when the commercials first popped up for this show on my TV, my initial reaction was to laugh it off. It looked like another one of ABC Family's attempt at original content that was so completely different from anything else out there that it would be like I don't know, groundbreaking (may I remind you of The Nine Lives of Chloe King?).

However, the other day, on a recommendation from a friend, I reluctantly opened the ABC Family on Demand and started to watch the series from the pilot on. And, my thoughts on the television drama? Actually pretty entertaining.

The show centers around a high school student named Jane Quimby (played by Erica Dasher), with a sunny disposition, a quriky personality, and a keen eye for fashion(serious, I am jealous of almost everything she wears). Basically through a mistaken identity, she goes in for an internship and comes out as assistant to one of the head honchos at that fashion company. Not only does the mix up and the fact Jane needs to pretend to be an adult even when she hasn't graduated high school yet make for an interesting dynamic; but the fact this young girl has landed her dream job (and may I say a job that many people would kill for) and it willing to do whatever and whenever for it, is kind of refreshing. She juggles school, work, the fashion life and her high school drama, and literally pulls it off amazingly.

The show has a cute plot line and I love the whole "Devil Wears Prada," aspect of it. Who doesn't love Anne Hathaway, frumpy assistant turned glamazon? The only difference here is Jane knows who she is and she knows what she loves, and that's fashion. And as someone who considers herself a fashionista in training(emphasis on training), I can appreciate her pure love for all things cloth.

The relationships are nicely developed in the show as well. Jane with her brother Ben, have an adorable sibling love and dependency that would make any parent swoon. Her best friend, Billy, is like a pet, he does everything for her, and yet, I kind of love it. Their best friendship would give Turk and JD a run for their money(except not really because I mean, GUY LOVE, hello? Also, that was a SCRUBS reference for those of you who are unaware). She of course has an enemy, which all protagonists do, and in a crazy twist her arch enemy is kind of in love with her best friend. So.Much.Drama.

The show is also not lacking of romance. Jane has got two guys she kind of has eyes for. There's Jeremy, the uber talented and cute British designer who works with her at the company. Then there is Nick, your typical high school jock with a god complex and cute hair. Girl has got her work cut our for her; yet having two guys pining over you doesn't seem too horrible, now does it.

Anyway, the show is only a few episodes in, and I actually really like it. It's fun and upbeat with just enough drama. The fashion is probably my favorite part of the show and I love seeing the "inner workings" or the fashion industry(even if it is fictional). So, my verdict is to check this show out; you may just be surprised at how entertained you actually are.

And, on a related yet completely random and ridiculous note, Jane balancing two insane lives and running from high school to a high profile job, all in a day, makes me feel so much better about my insane schedule right now. In a weird way, Jane has reminded me that, if there's something you want, it doesn't matter how insane life can get, you go for it no matter what, and enjoy the ride.

Jane By Design airs on Tuesdays at 8pm.