High school is a funny place. You see the same people everyday but only make friends with a few. The rest get a nod, a short lived smile, or just a glance when passing by in the hallway. But when something tragic happens to one of your classmates, you can’t help but feel united and be there for one another. An invisible thread starts to pull you together. No words have to be exchanged between anyone, we would all just know what we are all thinking. It’s then you realize just how connected you are to the people you thought you never would be.
One week till spring! Ladies, (and gents of course) get your hair ready!
We all know that our hair never wants to cooperate with us, no matter what seasons it is. Winter makes our hair want to touch everything around us, while summer states we have a foam ball attached to our heads.
Here are a few tips that worked for me in maintaining that god awful stubborn frizzy:
Wash your hair only a few times a week. I tend to wash my hair twice a week, sometimes three if I’m going out and need volume. There are plenty of hair styles out there that you can use if your hair is flat. Don’t be surprised when I tell you that the bun is coming back in this summer. But if your hair really feels oily, I would recommend using a dry shampoo agent. I would stick with Batiste, it works great.
Deep Condition you hair at least once a week for the first month or two. I did it for three months straight you would be surprised how sleek and shiny my hair has become, even in the summer. It also helps with damaged and color treated hair. Normally keep it on for about fifteen minutes depending on the product being used.
Always put on heat hair protection before doing anything to your hair, even towel drying it. It’s kind of like sunscreen for your hair, or well that’s the way I see it. I put it on after I wash my hair or before I blow dry/style my hair with an iron of some sort.
Shine spray your hair brush. Spray your brush and comb your hair through it. Its my number one technique and it works wonders. You can find cheap shine sprays at any store, even the super market from where I’m from. I’m just glad it’s not next to any food items.
Natural oils for your hair is good. Not only will shampoo dry out your hair but it will require you to spend more time at the saloon, and we all know how much of a hit that can take to our wallets now a days. These easy at home remedies will do you some good. Do some research on a few products, everyone’s hair functions differently.
Lana Del Rey - Serial Killer
Wreck it Ralph, Wreck it!
The first time I saw the preview to this movie I was ecstatic! Who wouldn’t want to watch a movie based from their childhood games?! Mario, Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, Pac Man, and so on. These were the games that I feel in love with as a child. Obviously, in seeing characters based on those games in the trailers, I was more than drawn to watch it.
Sometimes though, its best to go into a movie with no expectations.
But lets get to the review, down to the cut of it all.
Directing/Producing: I would have to say that it was fairly put together. I don’t know the layout of directing and producing a animated film, as this is the fist time I’m actually thinking about it, but over all it seemed to be decently done. Now I will say that they should have taken a risk, if the copy right was dealt with, to go about other video games that were just a glimmer glance in the movie. Then I thought about how this movie was intended for the children even though the adults would enjoy it as well. Kids wouldn’t get the references to the 80-90’s games anyways. Then again, they might have avoided that in order to not be sued or something. I’m not a lawyer here. 10/12
Interpretation: What did I get from this movie? Good question. I don’t think I really learned anything or so the moral of the story other than to never give up – which of course is in every animated film to teach little kids. But the fact that they portrayed it to be okay for you to ‘be good at a job you hate’ isn’t something I’m fond at. Ralph hated his job even though he was good at it. He wanted to be the hero yet failed to achieve that in the end because he thought it was alright to be in the position he was. In my opinion, that’s not the best message to send to kids. 8/12
Screenwriting: I thought the movie had it’s humorous parts. The dialoged was just enough for a child to understand and laugh, yet make the adults laugh along with them. That was no problem. But when it came down to the story, the filling, I think they brought it out a little uncooked. There wasn’t enough depth in the movie as found by previous Pixar movies. There wasn’t a strong enough emotional connection to take from the movie. I felt nothing but a few laughs when leaving. 8/12
Shooting: I have yet to study the aspects of shooting an animated film so I have left this out of my review. But I suppose the concept of going about it in an animation was very well done. Not too many choppy cuts. 10/12
Editing: Because I see animation as harder to judge, I would say the editing was fairly done. There was continuity, I was happy about that. 10/12
Directing/Producing: It is important on how the film director sees the movie. Because in the end, that is the way the viewer will see it. They control the film’s aspects; artistic and dramatic. They guide the rest of the crew to how they imagined the movie to be. Most of the reasons a movie flops is because of bad directing or acting. 8/12
Cast/Acting: It didn’t seem to bother me, which was a good thing. But when I think about, they didn’t leave that big of an impression on me. I suppose its because the storyline itself didn’t do enough justice to the character’s voice? 12/12
Costume: Decent, nothing out of the ordinary or exciting. Then again, kids were intended to watch this, I doubt they care what the characters shoes were. Ralph didn’t even have any! 11/12
Soundtrack: Fun and adventurous! Some older songs that I’ve heard before, but perfect for the movie. A few new songs though I didn’t think I’d like, but it fit the character and scene’s well enough. Not emotionally moving, but didn’t hurt to have it there either. 9/12
Strength: Targeting the right audience.
Weakness: Giving the sub-characters too much hype.
Grade: B
Ellie Goulding - Your Biggest Mistake
People always ask me why/how I critic a movie to a certain grade. What makes me want to throw tomatoes at the movie and what makes me want throw a gold metal at it. I’ve only taken one film class in my life in college but it changed the way I though, saw, movies forever. This, as any one who has taken a film class, can both open your eyes to a world of possibilities and ruin you.
Everyone has his or her own way to judge a movie. It’s an opinion of someone, therefore it will always vary. Please keep that in mind. Here is the break down of what I look at when analyzing a movie:
Cast/Acting: This of course, is one of the biggies for me. Casting the right actor for the lead role or supporting roles is very crucial. Not only would they have to look the part but can they deliver the best of the best? What makes them the right pick? There are plenty of good actors out there but there are just as many that are horrible. Picking the right person for a certain role can make or break the movie. [ 12 points ]
Costume: The importance of clothing wear in a movie actually plays a key part in all this. There is no point in watching a movie based in a certain era/period if the viewer doesn’t get to have a glimpse of what they wore and how they wore it. Costume’s also define a character’s personality just as much as their actions would. It needs to fit both the personality of the character and the scene of the movie. Didn’t notice that? Take a closer look the next time you watch a movie. [ 12 points ]
Directing/Producing: It is important on how the film director sees the movie. Because in the end, that is the way the viewer will see it. They control the film’s aspects; artistic and dramatic. They guide the rest of the crew to how they imagined the movie to be. Most of the reasons a movie flops is because of bad directing or acting. [ 12 points ]
Editing: There is big reason why I keep the editing a different category than shooting, because well, there is a big difference. Editing is the way something is put together from raw footage. It is something unnoticed from those who are not editors themselves; “film editing is the art, technique, and practice of assembling shots into a coherent sequence.” Is there continuity? Is it choppy? Where did that scene come from? How was the montage put together? Did they cut too much out? These are questions I ask myself when I’m going through it all. In the end, there are three sorts of editing cuts: editors, directors, and the final. I’d go into detail about those but you really don’t need to know about for critiquing a movie in my opinion; you just need the final cut. [ 12 points ]
Interpretation: What the hell was the moving trying to convey? Did what the direction and screenwriter portray what they wanted to in the movie out to the viewer? What was the point of the movie? What was explicit and implicit about the movie? This is the first thing that comes to my thoughts after the credits are done rolling. How do I feel, emotionally, about the movie? [ 12 points ]
Screenwriting: What is screenwriting? By far, it should be on the top of the list when analyzing a movie. A witty dialog is far better off than one filled with over played cheesy lines. Screenwriters are responsible for creating the story by developing the narrative/dialog. They have the influence to creation the emotional impact of characters and between some and the format of the plot on how it will evolve throughout the film. [ 12 points ]
Shooting: Shooting can refer to the way a camera is position in recording for the most part. Aerial shot, bird’s eye, over the shoulder, point of view, etc. Film shots are help a movie portray emotion, ideas, movements and transition to different scenes without it being too random. It would be boring if all you saw during the movie was one angle. Such movies as ‘Cloverfield’ and ‘The Blare Witch Project’ both have ahigh point of view shots, and in my opinion, are horrible movies. There is a reason why there are very few movies that only take up that aspect of shooting. Directors need to be creative when they point the camera, it’s a big aspect of creating the film. [ 12 points ]
Soundtrack: Music has a powerful impact in our lives. It is almost impossible to ignore it. The right soundtrack to a movie helps the viewer understand the characters, scene, and story of the film. It also makes the action packed scenes all the better with heart beating music in the back. The sound, music in the film intensifies the scene, making the viewer emotionally attached. [ 12 points ]
Book vs. Movie*: Obviously, if I have read the book, I am a harsher judge when I watch the movie. If it is based off a book, it should be just that unless the crew was looking at it in a different angle to begin with. My opinion? Stop making movies off books; it’s a hit or miss, never in the middle with an ‘okay.’
Strength: What did the movie excel in? [ +4 points ]
Weakness: What was horrible about the movie?
Grade: The grade comes from 8 of the 11 categories up there. The strength and weakness are there to help anyone reading get a better and quick understanding of what made or break the movie in my opinion. This grade reflects what I feel, my opinion of the movie. Based off the grade, I will either recommend the movie or not at all.
