It’s Palm Sunday everyone! Not going to lie, I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to post this Sunday, but then I got it. We’re all at home and some of us have nothing to do, so what’s better than a list of recommended movies and TV shows and other things to do to clear up those quarantine blues and boredom that may be growing?
MOVIES
As far as movies go, here’s a couple of movies I recommend. If you’re not really into chick flicks and rom-coms/comedy and Disney movies, this may not be your list. And if that isn’t the case, maybe this is a list of movies that you consider? I was going for a feel-good, happy, something-to-make-you-laugh bunch of movies with this list, so if that’s something you’re looking for, here are my recommendations:
Clueless
Mean Girls
Miss Congeniality
Police Academy (1, 2, or 3)
Parental Guidance
Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter is Dead
Bad Hair Day
Adventures in Babysitting
Storks
Boss Baby
Wreck-It-Ralph
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Cinderella (live action and animated)
Frozen
Frozen II
TV SHOWS
As far as TV shows go, I was going for a similar, feel-good, pick-me-up vibe for the most part. I’m not really all that big of a TV person, considering that school is typically my entire life, but when I do have time for TV, there are a couple of things I watch. If you’re gonna watch a TV show, binge watching can be a lot of fun, but I’d try to limit it to an episode or two, for health’s sake.
9-1-1
Game of Thrones– definitely NOT a happy show to watch though, heads up
Lego Masters
The Good Place
Schitt’s Creek
Saturday Night Live– I recommend watching older seasons. In my opinion, they were just more funny then.
BOOKS
I’ve been reading a lot more lately, and honestly, I recommend that you all do the same. I’ve always loved reading but school literally sucks up so much of my time and it’s sad how little I’ve read over the past year and a half. This quarantine has given a lot of people so much free time. You are free to do whatever you want with your free time, but I’ve really seen this as an opportunity to develop (or redevelop) some new and more healthy habits, involving less screen time. One of those habits, has been reading, and so I’ll share some of my favorite reads of all time and as of lately that may interest you:
The Selection series by Kiera Cass
The Siren by Kiera Cass
Heartless by Melissa Meyer
The Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard
The Jewel series by Amy Ewing
The Winner’s Kiss trilogy by Marie Rutkoski
The School for Good and Evil series by Soman Chanani
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins- she’s making a prequel to the series!!
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling – these are good movies to watch as well
Unstoppable by Maria Sharapova
Rafa by Rafael Nadal
With All Due Respect by Nikki R. Haley
Driven: A Daughter’s Odyssey by Julie Heldman
And if you’re looking for something else to read, this blog is another option. 🙂 I’ve been posting for the past five years on this blog and I update it every Sunday, so if you’d like to receive email notifications when I post, you can subscribe at the link below! I promise you won’t receive any annoying emails, just notifications for when the next post goes up!
Make of the most of this quarantine and good health and time with family. Most importantly, I hope you are all taking care of yourselves, friends, and family. Despite the fact that I just shared a bunch of books and TV shows and movies for you to enjoy during this quarantine, I encourage you to get outside if you can and get some fresh air and enjoy nature. We all need it. If you feel like you need someone to talk to or want to see your idea as a blog post, you can always reach me on my contact page and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. 🙂 Stay happy and stay healthy. I’ll see you all next week.
The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Animation Studios
I actually went and saw Frozen 2 the day it came out, but I decided now was a good time to post. It would be an easy blog to write and I need an easy blog right now because finals are coming uppppp. Part of the reason I decided to write about Frozen 2 now is also because I wanted to write this after a lot of the reviews had gone out and hopefully more of you have seen it by now. This post will be spoiler free (for the most part) for those of you that haven’t seen it, so with that said, I’m gonna talk about my favorite movie right now. 🙂
The plot with Frozen 2 was incredible. I loved the maturity of the film and I really feel like I grew up with Frozen so to see to characters be six years older too was a really cool connection. I think I was in 8th grade when the first one came out and I was obsessed with it then, so here I am now as a sophomore in college and not much has changed in regards to my love for Frozen or Disney. Haha.
The end was not at all what I expected it to be but it was also better than anything I would’ve ever fantasized the ending to be. Just incredible and oh so cute. I really appreciated what Disney did with Elsa. She hasn’t needed a love story and I’m truly happy that they decided to stick with her story as a strong, independent queen who doesn’t need a man to feel good about herself. The story of her discovering the origin of her powers was extremely powerful and her continuing journey of self-discovery was so fun to follow. Her transformation toward the end and her outfit with her hair down is my favorite of all time. Anna’s dress in the end is also very pretty. Disney crushed it with the design of the characters and the animation for this movie in general. Wow, just wow.
The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Animation Studios
I really enjoyed the message too. Or at least, there were certain things that I took from the movie, that I really appreciated. Elsa was so dedicated to figure out where powers came from and her dedication and determination to what she wants. Her courage to venture into the unknown and discover herself is something that I hope to have. That kind of drive is something that I hope to have in life. I strive to be a courageous and kind person and I see that through Elsa. I hope that little girls who’ve loved Elsa, as well as Anna, see that in her too and want to be same way. And with Anna, she was persistent in her goals throughout the movie and even when she thought she lost her sister, she wanted to do what was right, even if it was tough. She put herself at risk to free the enchanted forest, even if that meant she may lose her home. And with Anna and Elsa, their bond and their relationship as sisters is something that I hope all girls out there with sisters see and strive to have. Elsa and Anna are so good to each other (for the most part) and they’re so protective, supporting, and loving toward each other. It reminds me a lot of my relationships with my sister. 🙂 Love you Allyson!
The music of Frozen 2 is also incredible. I liked the music in the first movie, but this music was also just more mature and more in touch with what I like. Currently, I’m listening to the soundtrack too! Haha. My favorites are “Into the Unknown” (which is now nominated for a Golden Globe!) and “Show Yourself”. Both are beautiful songs. I also really like Anna’s song, “The Next Right Thing”. Kristen Bell CRUSHED it.
The new characters in Frozen 2 were a good fit and I feel like there wasn’t anything truly unnecessary that was added. Often times, I see that sequels are worse than their predecessors because they add a bunch of poorly-developed, weak characters in an effort to just take advantage of the market for the movie. Frozen 2 didn’t have any “bad” characters in my opinion. I really liked Bruni, Elsa’s cute little salamander, that was introduced in this movie. SUPER CUTE.
On an unrelated note from the movie, I really hope that Disney cuts it off at Frozen 2. In the end, Elsa herself says something about being all done, so I hope that that was Disney’s way of saying goodbye to making anymore Frozen movies. If there are more shorts, I wouldn’t mind those but I feel like the ending of Frozen 2 was the perfect ending. Nothing more is needed.
So will I go see Frozen 2 in theaters again? If anyone wants to go with me, I’d love to. 🙂 Will I be getting Frozen 2 on DVD when it comes out? Absolutely. Frozen has always been something very special to me because the bond between Elsa and Anna reminds me of the bond that I have with my sister. It’s kind of freaky how similar Allyson and I are to the royal sisters of Arendelle. I love it though. I hope you all have a chance to see Frozen 2 at some point. It’s a fantastic movie with a great message and incredibly talented people. Have a great week everyone.
Childhood. Oh wow were those the years. My sister and I had a wonderful childhood and looking back on it, I wish that the kids of today had the chance to experience what my sister and I had the chance to live through. From playing outside to movies to toys and also games, I really enjoyed my childhood. Family, of course, made life great too. We spent a lot of time in Farmington, New Mexico with my grandparents and aunt and uncle on my dad’s side. Several of my favorite memories from Farmington include hunting for grasshoppers in my grandparents’ backyard, writing letters to Santa with my aunt, and having tea parties with my grandma. My sister and I grew up without cable TV and so any time we went to our grandparents’ house, we loaded up on our Disney Channel shows, Spongebob, and Animal Planet shows.
When Allyson and I had the chance to watch cable TV, like at our grandparents’ house, we caught up on shows like Phineas and Ferb, Hannah Montana, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Wizards of Waverly Place, That’s So Raven, Kim Possible, Sonny With a Chance, Shake it Up, Good Luck Charlie, Spongebob (duh), The Replacements, The Powerpuff Girls, Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers, Totally Spies, Fairly Odd Parents, Codename: Kids Next Door, and The Magic School Bus. There’s a lot of shows and that’s probably still not all of them! Off of our good old satellite TV at home, Allyson and I had access to PBS which gave us great shows like Dragon Tales, Clifford, Martha Speaks, Word Girl, Fetch with Ruff Ruffman, Cyberchase, and Arthur. It’s kind of disappointing to see where Disney Channel has gone. The shows just aren’t as good as they used to be! I feel like once Sonny With a Chance (starring Demi Lovato) ended, Disney Channel took a turn for the worst. I also really liked it when the actors would draw out the Disney logo with their magic glowing wands. That was something I always wanted to do as a kid!
As far as movies go, I remember going to theaters to see the first Incredibles movie and also Finding Nemo. When Cars came out, my aunt and uncle took me and that was a really fun movie too. Honestly, going to see most Disney movies in theaters is fun. I truly feel honored to have been a kid at the time of the Wizards of Waverly Place movie, Princess Protection Program, Lemonade Mouth, Camp Rock and its second movie, The Hannah Montana Movie, the High School Musical movies, The Cheetah Girls (Dorinda was my favorite), Princess Diaries, and so many more. I also enjoyed all of the Disney princesses and their movies, Mary Poppins, Robin Hood, The Fox and the Hound, The Aristocats, Tarzan, Lilo and Stitch, Treasure Island, Fantasia, and Peter Pan. Aside from Disney, I also loved several movies including: Thumbelina, Anastasia (after all that is my name!), the Bratz movies, and all of the Barbie movies. Yes, I absolutely LOVED Barbie. From The Princess and the Pauper to Swan Lake to Magic of the Pegasus and Barbie and the Diamond Castle I was all in. One year for Halloween, Allyson and I dressed up as Anneliese and Erika and that was pretty great. Kind of like Disney, it’s been sad to see the path the Barbie movies have gone. The animation is very different and the movies are all too flashy and artificial to me. It is what it is though, and I’m glad I got to see the movies I did.
Anneliese and Erika from Princess and the Pauper. This was definitely my favorite Barbie movie as a child. 🙂
Moving on from that block of a paragraph, I also remember having a blast with a variety of toys like Polly Pockets, Bratz, Zhu Zhu pets, Barbies, Webkinz, Littlest Pet Shop, Liv dolls, and frogs. Yes, frogs. You might ask, “What do you mean by that?” No worries, I got this. There’s a way you can fold index cards to make origami frogs. My sister and I made an actual village of these frogs. They all had names and some had kids and we had a very particular way of naming them and getting them married. We were weird about our frogs. Oh boy. Liv Dolls were a brand of dolls that you could take the hair off and give them new hair and they were really pretty but very short lived. I think there were five of them named Sophia, Alexis, Katie, Daniela, and Hayden. They all had really pretty eyes and were really flexible dolls. It was disappointing when they stopped producing stuff for them.
I honestly think I can say that I lived through the golden age of Webkinz. That was back in the days when there weren’t deluxe memberships and all the stupid, colorful, and flashy plushies. I was a big Webkinz fan and I think I had about 80 of them. They all had beautiful rooms and I was SO dedicated to my Webkinz. I’ll never forget that Christmas when I got my first Webkinz, a chocolate lab, named Choco. Yes, I know I spelled it wrong but that’s how I spelled it as a seven-year old. I’m pretty sure I still have most of them in my basement too… Haha. On the topic Webkinz, which had the virtual pet world, I was reminded of Club Penguin. Club Penguin was a magical virtual world where you were a penguin and you could chat with others in real time and enjoy life as a penguin. Several times, my parents bought me the membership and that was when Courtney98 (my penguin) lived her best life. She had the best igloo and puffles (those were her pets) and cutest clothes. She was also a secret agent and tour guide for the island. Not too long ago, Club Penguin shut down for good and being the dork I am, I actually went back to Club Penguin to say goodbye to Courtney98 and a big part of my childhood. On that day we finally tipped the iceberg and it was great. If you played Club Penguin, you’ll know what I mean about the iceberg. 🙂 Another website I loved spending time on was Pixie Hollow. You could make your own fairy and have her travel around the world of Tinker Bell and that was pretty great too. Thinking about computer games, my sister and I also played games like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Zoombinis, Bella Sara, Poptropica, and on the Build-A-Bear website. Once again Barbie had a great website with good games, Girls Go Games was pretty great, and also the American Girl Doll website was a lot of fun. There was also this fun but really weird math game we played that involved monkeys and this group of kids trying to stop Mathra and bring back the goo. Hopefully, some of you have played this and know what I’m talking about. Unfortunately, we never finished the game because the disk had issues.
In addition to all of this, my sister and I spent soooo much time outside. We played pretend with our friends in my backyard or in the cul-de-sac I live in and it was a great time. We spent hours on end outside and I wouldn’t trade any amount of social media followers or power-ups in some silly game for that. We also played a variety of board games that kept us occupied that were very, very fun. There was this one Disney princess game that helped you get ready for a ball that was really fun. I always loved playing that and really any game involving princesses. I honestly feel like many of today’s little kids are occupied by their iPads and virtual game worlds. They’re focused more on making their game character successful and happy than actually enjoying the real world. Some middle school kids, I feel, are even more worried about being cool and technology than spending time in the real world, enjoying Mother Nature. I’m getting a little off topic here, but I just feel like kids need to spend more time being kids nowadays. They need to put down the iPad, get away from the TV, and enjoy childhood, just like I did.
Back on topic now! Not only did we play outside a lot, but we enjoyed reading a lot. The summer reading program at my local library was one of my favorite things to do. I loved the Wishbone series, Junie B. Jones, the Boxcar Children, some Nancy Drew, Harry Potter, Magic Tree House, Emily Windsnap, The Lightning Thief series, and the Twilight saga. I know I read many more books than what I’ve listed here and I think my love for reading then is what has allowed me to be the bookworm I am today. Books are great. 🙂
Finally, I’d like to talk about the music I listened to. As a kid, it was all about the Jonas brothers, the good version of Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, the Cheetah Girls, Jesse McCartney, David Archuleta, and several other amazing artists and singers. Radio Disney was where the good music was at. I remember being in the car with my parents and any time 1690 AM wasn’t on, I would ask for it to be. Taylor Swift was really good at that time too. Some of her music today is alright, but it’s just not what it used to be, in my opinion. I loved her work as a country artist and even in her early pop years, but now, no thanks. Vanessa Hudgens also came out with some really good music and there were several other people and groups that my sister and I really liked, like Ashley Tisdale, the Black Eyed Peas, Katy, Cher Lloyd, Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and Shakira. I really loved Shakira when I was younger, and I still do! According to my mom, I did a really good Shakira impression!
Well after all that writing, I hope you’re still reading! This was a fun trip down memory lane. I hope you all enjoyed it and for some of you, I hope this was a trip down memory lane as well! I’m really glad that I grew up in a world without as much technology as some of today’s young children. They’re missing out on all the fun! I remember when iPods came out for the first time. That was pretty cool. And now see where we are today! It’s crazy what technology has done for us and allowed for humankind to do. I hope you all have a good week! Thanks for reading! 🙂
I’m a really big movie person and I absolutely love getting wrapped up in a great movie with an interesting plot and getting lost for a few hours. There’s a myriad amount of wonderful, talented actresses out there but for this I could only have five. Here are my five favorite actresses, and they are not in any specific order.
Audrey Hepburn
I feel like Audrey Hepburn is a favorite for many and I’m with the many. She was such a talented and funny actress and in general, she seemed like a great person. I loved her in My Fair Lady and Roman Holiday. She is such an iconic and inspiring and also gorgeous actress and I feel like everyone could learn something about class and grace from a fabulous actress like her.
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence was the star actress of The Hunger Games trilogy and that’s where I grew to love her as an actress. She is so funny and also very talented. She performs wonderfully in any role she’s thrown into and I think I would enjoy almost any movie she’s in.
Julie Andrews
This amazing woman has been in so many iconic and spectacular movies including Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, The Princess Diaries, and many more. Like Hepburn, Andrews is a graceful and very classy woman who has a beautiful singing voice and a lot of talent to share. Her movies always make me so happy and I would consider her as one of my idols.
Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley is another one of my favorite actresses because of her kick-butt job in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. I loved her as Elizabeth Swann. When I was younger, I really wanted to be Keira Knightley for Halloween because I loved her so much, and I still do!
Emma Watson
I know I talked about this great actress last week but I just can’t stop! Emma Watson did a fantastic job in the new Beauty and the Beast and I loved growing up with her in the Harry Potter series. Emma Watson is an incredibly kind and smart and wonderful person and I also really look up to her.
And there you have it! There are my five favorite actresses. There’s so many other great actresses that I love watching, not only in movies but in TV shows too. I’m currently really into Criminal Minds and I love AJ Cook in that show. She’s also a great actress. I haven’t seen her in anything but that show, but she’s a good one. I would recommend checking out Criminal Minds if you enjoy crime shows. I would warn you though, there can be some violence and definitely some thrills if you’re up for it.
The long-awaited return of Ghostbusters is now over. The new Ghostbusters movie hit theaters July 15th and since its release there have been mixed emotions and reactions about it. Even before the movie came out, many people were angry or upset with the new film and the trailer became the most disliked video on YouTube. What?! It only received a 5.4/10 from IMBd, a 73% from Rotten Tomatoes, and a 60% from Metacritic. When I first heard that a new Ghostbusters movie was coming out, I was really excited and looked forward to it and then when I heard all of the criticism and negativity towards it, I decided I needed to go see the movie for myself and prove people wrong. Here’s what I thought about the new Ghostbusters movie.
Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, and Leslie Jones are all very funny women and that can be seen in the shows and movies they star in however, the humor they tend to share is dirty and inappropriate for a younger audience. I was worried about that going into the movie, but once I had seen it, it was actually pretty funny. The jokes were clever and Chris Hemsworth, who played the receptionist, was hilarious. There were a few bad words and a scene where a man showed a certain finger but other than that, the movie was fine. The cast appeared to have great chemistry on screen and the characters were all well-developed and interesting.
The plotline loosely followed that of the original Ghostbusters movie and it was easy to follow. My family and I were entertained throughout the entire movie and it was awesome to see several of the original cast members making appearances in this movie. I’m doing my best not to spoil anything, haha.
As far as special effects went, the ghosts looked pretty cool however it was easy to tell that they were fake. The lasers from the proton packs and guns were also cool but they too looked fake. There was a scene where McCarthy and Wiig were in a portal and it was difficult to focus on the dialogue or take it seriously because the green screen effect was not as great as it could have been. Other than those few things, the special effects were well-executed.
With all of those factors considered, I would say that I enjoyed watching the new Ghostbusters movie. It was funny, entertaining, and a good time all around. To those of you who are Ghostbusters fans that haven’t seen the new movie or interested in sci-fi or fantasy movies, this is the movie for you. Happy ghost busting!
During this past week, I heard a lot of criticism and negative reviews for the movie, Alice Through the Looking Glass. Being an avid Disney fan and someone who enjoyed the first movie, I was shocked when the media remarked that the movie had “flopped”. I had to go see it for myself and here’s what I thought.
Alice returns to the magical world of Underland, only to find the Hatter in a horrible state. With the help of her friends, Alice must travel through time to save the Mad Hatter and Underland’s fate from the evil clutches of the Red Queen and a clock like creature, known as Time (IMDb).
In my opinion, Alice Through the Looking Glass was well executed, the actors did a good job playing their roles, and the messages throughout the movie were motivational and inspiring. One of them was, “You can’t change the past, but you can learn from it”. This is true and it could be taken into consideration and applied to one’s life. Being able to learn about the past in Underland was very exciting and interesting. I loved finding out more about the White Queen and Red Queen’s past and relationship as young princesses. The costumes were beautiful throughout the movie and the animations for characters and scenes that required it were professionally and beautifully done.
While I did enjoy the movie for the most part, there were too many scenes where actors appeared closeup and the flaws of their makeup could be seen. It looked sloppy and unprofessional. This wasn’t that big of a deal, but if the actors were further back on screen, the movie would look neater.
Overall, I would recommend seeing Alice Through the Looking Glass if you enjoyed the first movie and like Disney movies. It’s filled with action, some laughs, and has a good story line. If you do decide to go see, enjoy!
