Film Review: Divergent

Photo credit: http://www.hypable.com

On Friday, March 21st, the highly anticipated book-to-film Divergent opened up in theaters. In case you've been missing out on the trailers, Divergent is a young adult book written by Veronica Roth that takes place in post-apocalyptic Chicago, where the city is divided up into five factions based on what traits they value most: Amity (peace), Abnegation (Selflessness), Erudite (intelligence), Candor (honesty), and Dauntless (courage).
It specifically focuses on a 16 year old girl, Tris Prior (played by Shailene Woodley) and follows her as she struggles to find her self in the faction she chose-- Dauntless. She finds out she is Divergent (doesn't fit into any one of the factions) and must keep her identity a secret because she is seen as a threat to the government. She falls in love with her Dauntless trainer (played by Theo James) and together they learn that the government plan to eliminate all those that are Divergent to keep the factions from joining forces.

As someone who was a huge fan of the book, I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the movie.

First of all: Casting ( I kind of have a lot to say).

Main Characters:

I'll be honest and say I am generally not a fan of Shailene Woodley. Maybe it's because I can't shake some of her previous works (That ABC Family American Teenager Pregnancy)out of my head, or maybe it's because I think she's just not the right fit for Tris. She's a talented actress and there were moments where her acting really shined, but something about her didn't click as smoothly with the character of Tris, and I can't really pinpoint what it is.

I was a bit taken aback that Ansel Elgort was casted alongside Shailene Woodley as Tris's brother, Caleb Prior. I thought the two of them looked great as siblings, but what irked me was the fact that they're also casted alongside each other in a completely different book to film movie, The Fault in Our Stars written by John Green.  This will definitely be another blockbuster teen flick, and it's just something that makes me wonder: Are there are not enough teen actors in the acting pool to choose different actors for these roles? COME ON!

Siblings in Divergent.... Photo Credit from justjared.com

Lovers in The Fault in Our Stars Photo Credit: Dailymail.uk

Theo James who plays Four was someone who I definitely did not imagine as Four though I do think he did a great job of capturing Four's cool and intimidating persona. Not exactly my first choice for Four, but he played the part well.

Secondary Characters:

Photo Credit: http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/

The actors for Christina (Zoe Kravitz), Will (Ben Lloyd Hughes), Peter (Miles Teller), and Al (Christian Madsen) were great casting. I thought the actors for Will, Peter and Al all generally looked the same though, so it was hard deciphering who was who while watching the movie. I actually wasn't too sure about the casting for Christina, her first sarcastic appearance might have been too strong as I imagined her to be a lot bubblier with a hint of sarcasm. However, she grew on me throughout hte movie and I thought her and Will looked great together (of course my heart broke at the sight of them together.)

Jai Courtney as Eric was almost exactly how I pictured Eric and Jair Courtney made it extremely easy to hate his character. Another great casting choice was definitely Ashley Judd as Natalie Prior who's bad-assery was almost more kick ass then her daughter, and Kate Winslet who fabulously played Jeanine Mason as the cold hearted Erudite bitch leader.


Setting/Cinematography/Pacing:

Photo Credit: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com

SO MUCH CHICAGO, IT WAS PERFECT. I'm particularly in love with the city of Chicago, so I was expecting to see a lot of Chicago landscape and scenery and boy did this movie sell it. I'm so glad they didn't ruin one of my favorite scenes, the Navy Pier Capture the flag scene. There was enough Chicago appreciation, enough cringeworthy relationship development, and epic music.

The only thing that I wasn't a fan of was the sometime incredibly shaky camera and the overly-close zoom ins on the faces of the actors, which is something I noticed that Summit Entertainment likes to do.. (remember Twilight?)
The pacing of the movie seemed to drag on, especially in the beginning. I feel like this is something that couldn't have been avoided because there are so many scenes that were necessary to include for the those that haven't read the book... but in reality the movie just felt too long.

Soundtrack:
Can we talk about how great the soundtrack was? Ok, so maybe there was a little (ok, a LOT) of Ellie Goulding, but Zedd, Snow Patrol, A$AP Rocky and Skrillex? YES THIS IS GOOD! *gets soundtrack immediately*

Overall, I'd give the movie a 7/10. It lived up to my expectations, but some things just didn't click right for me.

Let's talk about movie theater etiquette

Hi.
I just got back from watching the new Divergent movie at the AMC Marina Theater here in Long Beach and want to do a quick blog post about my night. I'll probably do a movie review on the actual movie in a separate post, but I wanted to make a quick post about movie theater etiquette.

As someone who has been to plenty of movie theaters in the past, I have never experienced such a terrible environment at Long Beach's AMC Marina theater tonight. I understand it was a busy Saturday night and obviously the crowds will be bigger, but tonight's movie watching experience was so terrible, I felt the need to rant about it on the internet. So, here I am. Sitting here typing up a post about my night. It's mainly prompted by the entire row of kids and family in front of me who's maturity level deemed a lot lower than their actual appearance. Divergent is a PG-13 movie, and though they looked well over the age of 13, they seemingly felt the need to be obnoxious throughout the entirety of the movie by whistling during sexual tension scenes, clapping unnecessarily, and laughing at a level that is obviously not a normal volume. Each ticket was probably around $15, so to have my family movie night wasted by a group of obnoxious wahoos seemed like a waste of a ticket. If you're not mature enough to enjoy a movie without disturbing everyone else, then maybe you should have saved everyone else the trouble and irritation, and just stayed home.

Don't be one of those people. People like that, for lack of a better word, suck.

I'm compiling a list of things that should and should NOT be done at a movie theater.

DO clap for epic scenes of victory or accomplishment or total bad-assery.
DONT clap randomly for moments in the movie, just for the sake of clapping.

DO laugh at scenes that you think are funny.
DONT overdo it. As in don't laugh at every single scene because it gets to the point where it's not even funny anymore, it's just annoying.

DON'T whistle/make stupid comments about the relationship scenes.
It's okay to laugh/chuckle at some of the weird sexual tension moments, but to constantly whistle every time the two main characters kiss or when Shaileene Woodley takes her sweater off/shows skin is inappropriate and obnoxious.

DO turn your phone off/put it on silent.
DON'T check your phone throughout the entire movie. Even if your screen is on the lowest light,  EVERYONE behind you can see it. there's a reason for the "Switch your phone to silent" commercials, kids.

DO whisper little comments to your neighbors.
key word: whisper.

DO put your feet up on the seats if no one is sitting in front of you.
DON'T put your feet up on the seats if someone is sitting in front of you.
or-- DON'T be the person who chooses to sit right in front of someone using the seat as a pedastool, when there are plenty of other seats in the house.


I'm sure there are more, but as for right now that's all I can think of.
DON'T BE THOSE PEOPLE!

Long Overdue Album Review: One Directions' Midnight Memories

Hi internet.
It's been years. not really, but it's been getting quite busy on my end over here. I'm currently in Week 9 of the quarter, and a lot is happening. We've got a dance concert coming up next week, two huge papers due, dance concert auditions on Wednesday, more dance auditions on Saturday, and just a whole lot of dancing and writing and studying.
With that said, I'm gonna go ahead and post an album review I wrote for my HC club a long time ago, that ended up never getting published on the internet... SO!
Here you go: Long Overdue, Album Review on One Direction's semi-new album Midnight Memories.

Photo Credit: http://3888.voxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/One-Direction-Midnight-Memories-Single.jpg

Biggest boy band of the year has done it again! On November 25th, One Direction released their third album, Midnight Memories. To promote Midnight Memories, the guys of 1D hosted a 7 hour long live stream two days prior to the release date, where dedicated fans all around the world tuned in to watch the guys attempt to break world records, answer fan Q & A’s, and perform songs from their albums. The album that has been highly anticipated by fans is finally out, and whether you like 1D or not, Midnight Memories is a record that you might actually want to consider giving a listen!

For starters, it’s a great coming of age album— they have definitely come a long way from hit single “What Makes You Beautiful.” Struggling to maintain a clean sound for their younger listeners while still embracing the idea of growing up, they manage to find a nice blend to satisfy all their listeners, no matter what age.

 If you listen to the radio at all, then you probably have already heard their two latest singles “Best Song Ever” and “Story of My Life.” Both singles are contrastingly different from each other, as “Best Song Ever” is still very reminiscent of their former pop albums with it’s sugary sweet catchy chorus that’s bound to get stuck in your head. Only a few other songs on the album like “Why Don’t We Go There” and “Little White Lies” have their familiar pop sound that we’ve all grown to know and love. Their recent single, “Story of my Life”, is an accurate preview of what's new in their album, with prominent influences from bands Mumford and Suns and The Lumineers. If you like that acoustic folk pop, then tracks “Through the Dark” and “Happily” are your go-to songs. Similar, to “Story of My Life”, they’re the kind of songs that would be in the soundtrack of a teen indie flick. You’ll feel “infinite” just by listening to them (Yes, I just quoted Perks of Being a Wallflower. I went there.)

The album takes a surprising edgy turn, with songs like “Alive” and “Little Black Dress” paying tribute to classic 80’s rock. The guys get cheeky with their double entendre lyrics, and even come about 99% close to swearing in some of their songs, including album titled song & single “Midnight Memories”: “ People talk shh but we don’t listen.”   Although older listeners may not have a problem with it, I don’t think boss Simon Cowell is ready for the boy band to be swearing in songs just yet (sigh). 

             Besides the different music styling’s, the guys got to personalize the album with their own words. Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson all contributed to the album as co-writers to 15 out of 18 tracks. Though they still have professional writers by their side, you can really hear the guys pour their personal stories into songs, especially in “Don’t Forget Where You Belong” where their lyrics reflect their on-the-road tour lifestyle:

 “Living out the cases/Packing up and taking off/

Made a lot of changes/But not forgetting who I was.”

This was a huge step for the guys as they were finally able to get a bit of a voice in the music they’re putting out. A big cheers to the surprising Louis Tomlinson, who was one of the biggest contributors to the album, co-writing 12 out of the 18 songs.  

Overall, It’s refreshing to hear the band attempt to showcase a level of maturity in their sound while still maintaining a young “live life to the fullest” attitude in their lyrics. Although I miss the bright bubbly pop sound that the boy band is known for, it’s clear that the guys of One Direction want the world to know that they’re growing up, and they want you to grow up with them. Though it's a bit drastic of a change in music stylings, it's definitely an album you should give a chance. The album was a big risk to take, and they did it successfully.

Unmentioned songs that you should listen to: "Better than words", “Half a Heart”, “Strong”, and “Diana”.

Dance Visions

Last week I performed my first show in exactly a year since Billy.... and of course, I got to perform with my lovely Etude Ensemble!

Let me tell you, words can't even begin to explain how great it was to perform again. I MISS IT!!

Photo Credits: Skye Schmidt

ooh SO lush-- Brazened Honey Face Mask

Hi internet.

It's been an incredibly stressful week trying to balance midterms and my schools dance concert... But I'm making it through!

I just wanted to do a quick update on this blog with one of the products I've been using recently! 

I went to Lush a few weeks ago and made one of my first purchases-- Brazened Honey Fresh Face Mask. 

It's one of the best purchases I made that day! Because of the stress of midterms and dance concert happening all at once this week, my skin hasn't been doing too well-- and the makeup from the shows isn't doing much to help... But I've been using this face mask for the past couple nights after getting done with my dance show and it literally makes my skin glow and feel brand new.

Since this face mask is primarily for those with oily skin and my skin has recently been oily due to the stress, I opted for this face mask. 

What I've been doing: 

After I wash my makeup off from the show, I get this little guy out of the fridge. 

Then I proceed to lather it all over my face-- but not overdoing it as I want to save some of the mask for later use. 

I usually let it sit on my face until the mask slightly hardens before washing it off. You can really feel a slight tingle in your face, which is obviously the exfoliators doing their work. Once it hardens, I usually wash it off with warm water and towel dry. However, what I've been doing the past couple nights to save time is jumping into the shower when it's time for me to wash it off. 

Then to complete the night, I put on some facial toner (I use Boots Expert Sensitive Gentle Refreshing Toner) to finish tightening my pores and then moisturize my face with night cream (Elizabeth Arden's Good Night Sleep Restoring Cream). Voila! Afterwards, my skin feels nice and replenished, ready for the next day :) 

My only concern is that since Lush is so fresh and organic, their face masks have an expiration date. It's a bit unfortunate because I feel pressured to use the face mask more often that I normally would just so that I could make use of the entire container. But in a way, it's good because my skin is already looking better. 

That's all! This isn't a normal update, but I am just in love with this product and wanted to share it!  Hope everyone has a nice end of the week.