As Halloween approaches, by each passing night, horror films are aired through-out in preparation of one of the most scariest nights. From a classic Frankenstein to a modern re-make of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – the genre of horror films is an interesting niche within cinema that mirrors and alters life as we know it.
Recently, I reviewed a documentary titled Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of The American Horror Film. The documentary discussed the connection between the mind of social concern in relation to horror films. The director, Andrew Monument, interviewed a variety of writers and directors of a diverse caliber within the genre and dissected individual films from key periods that mimic turning points within the American culture.
Director: Andrew Monumet
Narrator: Lance Henriksen, Larry Cohen and Joe Danet
People have always been attracted to horror films. The question is, why? Perhaps it is the twisted minds of the writers and directors who envisioned these stories, or really, is it a projection of reality?
Friday was date night for my husband and I. Unfortunately, due to the fact that my last 3 picks of movies had been disastrous, I was at the mercy of his selection. Which may not seem to be a big deal how-ever our tastes are drastically different. If I could sum up his palette of films it would be; Mall Cop, Coneheads, Super Troopers and Hot Tub Time Machine; not my thing. Ironically, we comprised (the joys of marriage) and decided on The Change Up – a semi-romantic comedy. Ha! Little did I know what this movie would really entail.
The Cast:
Ryan Reynolds > Mitch Planko
Jason Bateman > Dave Lockwood
Leslie Mann > Jamie Lockwood
Olivia Wilde > Sabrina McArdle
The Rundown:
Two best friends (Dave Lockwood and Mitch Planko) meet up for a night of male bonding over beers, football and gossip (who ever said men don’t gossip like women are de-lussional). Lockwood is a married man of 3 beautiful girls and a lawyer by profession. Planko, is an over sized child who refuses to grow up. He’s an, a-hem, actor who lives the bachelor life fully. Hence, the 20 minute gossip fest the two share over beers at a bar while Planko indulges Lockwood about his sex-capades with various women. As if the stories itself aren’t good enough, Planko pulls out his cellphone and proceeds to show Lockwood multiple sexts (sexual text message pictures) of him in complicated sex positions that I’ve never even heard of. Perhaps these ladies never got to see the MTV commercials on the dangers of sexting – if you haven’t, check it out here.
At this point, the movie is “cute” and has its moments of funny until our boy Lockwood turns into the typical i – hate – married – life complainer (insert the roll of my eyes). Here is where the movie lost me. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not biased based on the fact that I’m married – I’m annoyed by the fact that men seem to forget that they are not the only one’s who have to sacrifice in a marriage. Perhaps this may be a shock to some of you, but most little girls do not lie around and day-dream about growing up and cleaning after their husband, cooking dinner every night, running a house-hold, maintaining a career, birthing his children all with a smile. I’m pretty sure when both parties walk down the aisle – they both are making that pledge to one another – so why is it acceptable for men to complain about these little details of life and yet the women are expected to suck it up and deal with it?
Lets face it, no one is ready to deal with the truth that 9/10 women probably feel the exact same way as men do. But, a movie like that would never be made. If a woman is complaining about her marriage, complaining about motherhood and secretly plotting to have sex with her assistant; that all seems uglier than if it were coming from a man. The true ugliness lies in the acceptance that society bestows upon men and over shadows on women. If there is to be a discussion on marriage, even in the genre of comedy, show both sides. No doubt, it was funny when Jamie Lockwood (the wife) sauntered into the couple’s master bathroom in sexy lingerie, the husband instantly prepping himself for a night of dirty deeds, only to have her sit on the toilet with the door wide open as she began to have the worst bowel movement I have ever heard. But, how about depict a time where the husband steps out-of-bounds? I have one > they’re snuggling in bed, she’s getting in the mood…when she looks over and see’s him picking his nose! Ew!
Can some one say fair game?
Over all, the movie was predictable. The only good that came out of this was, the movie was so horrible, it put me and my husband back on equal playing field for picking horrible movies. Next one, we’re flipping a coin. 🙂
This dawned on me Friday afternoon as I sat in my cubicle at work – eyes glazing over as my company Outlook email over-filled with multiple requests at 4:55pm – 5 minutes to spare before I could clock out of the job.
Never Never Land.
I took a few deep breaths and gazed at the picture of my husband and myself on our wedding day beside the desk top. Where was that girl? The one who had the ambitious dreams and goals of being a writer – the one who busted ass in college writing thousands of papers – editing those paper – re-editing – and finally, the one who had started this blog with the goal of fulfilling my own dream (even if it simply meant writing for this blog) – where was she? Oh yea, that’s right, she grew up and got a job.
Weeks after graduation, I was fortunate enough to land a corporate job within a bank with an awesome salary in the heart of Midtown (NYC).
What more could I ask for? Well, a lot actually. Now, three months later, the misery has set in. The responsibility of life has taken over my Never Land.
I looked up as the Boss strutted out of her office – face set into a frown – and stood in front of my cubicle. My face flushed. It was only 70 degrees out but I instantly felt like it was 105. Her piercing gaze blazed at me with an expectation that I was not prepared for.
“Johcalyn, the production numbers are horrible today!”
5:15pm.
Officially, I should have been gone but in reality, there is no clock out time with this job. What I wouldn’t do for some Pixie dust right now. Did she really expect me to answer that? I can’t go into too many details – but – I was sold a lie when I interviewed for my job and in actuality my company is suffering…badly. Numbers are down – we’re down in the ranking which means the Big Bosses are down on my Boss.
5:30pm.
“Get them on the phone, now,” she yelled. Within minutes, I had conferenced all 17 managers in to be berated and beat down upon. I muted my phone as the beat down continued and made several attempts to calm the aching that was pulsing behind my eyes.
I thought back to those infamous words..”all you need is faith and trust.” Is that what has happened? Did I lose faith and trust in myself and my dreams? Perhaps life had gotten in the way. I may not be in my dream job as of yet but life is not over and neither is my determination to strive forward through this journey.
2010 was a wonderful year for cinema. There are some outstanding films that were made based off of well written screen-plays, extraordinary acting and prolific directing. Although the academy no doubt will have their own opinions, who do you think has been the most impressive? Bellow is polls for each category, select who you would like to see win.
The term “higher education” has taken a new meaning in the current economic state. With the growing number of people laid off from work; the doors of educational institutions are busting at the seams. State and city colleges across the nation are seeing record numbers of enrollment and because of this, they’ve had to turn many students away due to full capacity. So what’s next? Years ago, if one couldn’t find a job and couldn’t go to school, the next option would be to enlist in the military. Well, being that our country is currently involved in a war, not too many are running out to sign up and “be all that they can be”. Well, thanks to Wall Street, we now have a new option; “For Profit Education”.
When I first heard of “For Profit Education,” I didn’t know what that meant. After doing some research, I found out that the term refers to post-secondary institutions that are run by private individuals and/or companies with a specific purpose; to make money.
From a philanthropic stance, one might say that the purpose of these institutions is a dis-service to the students. However, as a business model, “For Profit Education” has turned out to be a gold mine of wealth.
In my opinion, after seeing the documentary titled Frontline: College Inc, and in doing additional research, I believe that it is a cheap form of education that is sold to the student at such a high stakes price.
For example, lets take a look at colleges in New York City which are composed of CUNY (City University of New York), SUNY (State University of New York) and Private (i.e. Saint Joseph’s College). If a student enrolls in a baccalaureate program at a CUNY campus, after four years, their estimated costs of tuition would be $13,000. If a student enrolled in the same program but at a SUNY campus, their estimated costs of tuition would be $25,000. As for the private school, costs can vary from $50,000 and up. If the same student enrolls in a “For Profit Education” institution, costs can be upwards of $40,000 but majority of such schools are not accredited.
What’s accreditation? According to the United States Depart of Education, accreditation is a process in which a third-party evaluates an institution to ensure that they are meeting the standards set forth for post-secondary education. In order to check if you school is accredited, check out the U.S. Depart Of Education’s website.
The problem with these institutions is that they are not held accountable to the same standard of quality as other schools since they are privately owned. As previously mentioned, for Wall Street, it’s a gold mine. For example, Frontline interviewed Michael Clifford, an investor who buys struggling schools. By providing shares, Clifford is able to attract other investors in on his adventures. As capital is injected and shares are bought within the school, Wall Street takes notice.
In the documentary, Clifford discussed how his mentor, John Sperling (the founder of University of Phoenix) guided him on how to duplicate his own model. The University of Phoenix has a unique system that many schools have now adopted. For example, their school term is year around with classes beginning every 5 weeks. There are multiple campuses; its mentioned in the documentary that there is campus’ within 20 minutes of one another along all the major free-ways, specifically built this way in order to provide convenance. The University of Phoenix is able to flourish because they do not provide their professors with full benefits, they are hired on short contracts, there is no tenure granted and they do not have to go through a board process in order to create new curriculum.
Although this school is accredited, it still falls under the category of “For Profit Education”. The brand of the institution was created on the sole purpose of making money. Here is a clip from the documentary on Sperling’s beginning.
So, why is the enrollment so high with these schools? There are many tactics used with these schools in order to seduce students in. First, they promise a quick time frame. Next, if you don’t have the money, no worries, sign on this dotted line and they’ll give you a student loan faster than you can say “thanks”. Finally, the sales tactics. Recruiters of University of Phoenix were compensated based upon the numbers of students they had enrolled, because of this, one can wonder if enrollment was fangled. See a summary of the lawsuit and settlement here : WhistleBlower
Over all this is a very good documentary on what schools to avoid; I would rather take out massive loans and attend a City or State school than to take my chances with one of these.
Also: See this clip that aired on Good Morning America on University of Phoenix.
On a side street in Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts, just as ordinarily as it is to have a cup of coffee on a brisk morning, a bank is being robbed. A quiet neighborhood, surrounded by a coffee shop and a multitude of beautiful red brick houses that sit back along the tree-lined street, an old white colonial building that houses a bank is invaded with four men holding their weapons drawn.
Within minutes, Dough Macray (Ben Affleck), James Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), Albert Magloan (Slaine) and Dez Elden (Owen Burke) had forced their entry into the bank. Once inside, they grabbed the bank manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) and demanded that she unlock the timed safe. The frame zooms in on the safe as the beautiful brunette steadies her shaking hand in order to spin the correct combination. First try; fail. Coughlin, the hot head, sends a round of bullets off into the ceiling out of anger and threatens her and the others with death if she doesn’t get the combination right. Keesey, frightened even more, proceeded to attempt the combination again but before doing so, Macray puts his gloved hand over hers, offering comfort. A gentlemanly thing to do in such an awkward moment.
Second attempt; success and her life as well as the others is put on hold as the robbers filled their bags with blocks of green crisp bills. During all of this, some one signaled the alarm. Frantically, the robbers rushed out of the bank with Keesey blind-folded as their insurance.
Finally, the blind fold is untied and Keesey found herself out by a river, alone, bare-foot, distraught and thankful to be alive. They had let her go but not without taking her license and threatening her again for her silence.
Here’s a clip ~ see what happened after the boys rounded up together after the robbery.
The film moved along as Keesey met with Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) who is the F.B.I agent assigned to the robbery. After taking the report, Keesey attempts to move on with her life but she never suspected that a prowler may be lurking behind her and subsequently mets Macray in a laundromat where he charmed her during a mini-cry. No doubt, his good looks and witty personality won over this damaged woman and within days they were hanging out on a consistent basis. Macray began to lose sight on what his objective was with Keesey; to ensure that she didn’t know any damaging information on the robbery or to acknowledge the feelings that had begun to grow? But little did Keesey know that her horror had been staring her straight in the face.
Here’s another clip of Keesey as she confesses to Macray about her experience of being robbed just days before.
But she didn’t recognize his voice and Macray didn’t tell her. Rather, he carried the burden and continued to see and sleep with Keesey. He started to feel torn between his old life and the possibility of a future with her. The life as a robber had an expiration date and Macray was up on it. He wanted to change his life, leave Charlestown and start over. He didn’t have much of a family; father was locked up and his mother had left him as a child (there’s a twist at the end on his mother). His baby’s mother, Krista Coughlin (Blake Lively) – Macray’s gang mate, James Coughlin’s younger sister, had their young daughter but was drugged up on a list of things. Leaving Charlestown was his best option. But sometimes when the streets call, you have to answer, and Macray had been summoned up on another job that he couldn’t walk away from. This is where Macray’s life took another turn.
Coughlin, in the heat of the moment, shot a cop during their second robbery.
Here is a clip of Frawley questioning Macray on his whereabouts during the robbery.
An intellect by the name of Charles Darwin once argued the idea of nature vs. nurture in that a person is molded by the values that is instilled in them from their family or is molded into what ever their environment is. Unfortunately for Macray, he never had a chance. He didn’t have any type of family to help raise him once his mother had left and his father had been involved with crime as well. His environment, Charlestown, was filled with shiesters and everyone had a scam that they were running. At this late in the game, in Macray’s old age, one would wonder if it was too late? Even if he wanted to leave, could he?
In the end, there were many twists and an unexpected ending to this film. I would definitely recommend as a must see while it’s still in theaters.
The popularity of the Twilight saga is undeniable. Probably the main reason why I initially resisted the epidemic. Teenage girls and their mothers all over the world gushed, cried and screamed while wearing their “Team Jacob” or “Team Edward” t-shirts at every premiere and opening of the films. For me, vampires were never my thing. It didn’t seem sexy to have someone gash out my neck. Having grown up on Interview With a Vampire with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, left a slightly scarier version of vampires in my mind. So whats the big deal with Twilight? My friends ( age range from 22-30) have all read and seen the movies; shocked that I never had. Until a week ago.
(Insert creepy music and rewind the date to two Fridays ago)….
Friday night. Gorgeous weather out, Sangria in my cup, lounging out on my friend’s deck while the BBQ sizzled on the grill. As the sun was going down, the humidity lessened, and the smell of the flower garden intensified. Melissa and I were catching up on random chit-chat – but the topic of tonight was Twilight. “I don’t get how you’ve never been intrigued to see this,” she said. Under my Coach sun-glasses I rolled my eyes. I shrugged, “It doesn’t seem to be my thing. I told you. I’m not into the vampire shit. Plus, if it gets too gory with the neck biting, my stomach goes,” I said.
Melissa flipped a burger on the grill. The plan for the night was to stuff our faces and watch a movie; she pushing Twilight. “It’s not even violent like that. Listen, your into movies, you gotta at least check out the first movie. If you don’t like it, bash it.” I took a swig of the Sangria and thought this over. I’m 25 years old and I didn’t think I had any business watching a teenage love flick. How could I relate? And what is the under-lined meaning with “The Saga”…become a vampire???
By this time Melissa was done cooking, we decided to settle down and eat dinner. After we had finished and cleaned up, I embarrassingly felt anxious. To me, it felt like a cult. Once you joined, you were always a “Twi-heart”. We settled in her family room where two couches filled the room. Her on one, me on the other. By this time it was dark out and I stared at the TV with wide eyes. Melissa looked over at me and laughed. “What! Dude, I don’t know what I’m about to see,” I explained. She shook her head and pressed PLAY.
(The Movie)
As I watched the movie, I have to admit, I became interested in the connection between Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. It reminded me of a dark love story like Romeo & Juliet. Two individuals, bound by love and yet doomed by its existence. I sunk back into the cushions as the plot played out. The cat and mouse games of love from high school. Bella’s realization of what Edward was. The vow between the two to never be apart. My midnight I was clutching my friend’s over-weight kitty out of anxiety as Bella fled Forks, Washington (her home) to evade The Hunter. My stomach dropped the moment she was bit and I knew it had to be over. I scrunched my nose up in disgust as Edward sucked the poisonous venom out of her blood stream. By 12:45 am they were arm-in-arm headed to the prom, happy as can be. By the end of the film, I had so many questions, when Melissa simply handed me the book.
“Here,” she said. I took the book, which felt like a weight, as heavy as it was. “The book is gonna explain everything. That’s my only gripe with the movie is that it doesn’t tell you everything.”
“Yea, there were moments I didn’t get,” I said. I called it a night and headed to her front door. Close to 1:00 am. I said good-bye to Melissa and walked down her front steps.
“Read the book!” she whispered. I giggled, looked around the darkened street and walked to my car. Was I really looking for vampires now?
I got home around 1:15 am. Dressed in PJs – I climbed into bed with the book sitting on my night stand. I eyed it. Did I want more details? I was curious. But tired, so I went to sleep. The following day, a heat wave had begun in New York and I refused to go outside. With a glass of home-made iced tea, I relaxed on my couch and began to read. With a few breaks here and there, after 2 days, I had finished the book. Impressive. In comparison to the movie, the book succeeded in developing the bond between Bella and Edward. Due to time constraints, film can only do so much. Now, I knew what I had to do next. New Moon.
Growing up, I never felt like I was different. We lived in a middle class neighborhood, my mother was a working professional, I went to private school and every day until I was 15 years old I had a rigorous schedule of ballet and violin practice from 4-7:00pm.
I had friends of every ethnicity; Black, Caucasian, Asian and Hispanic. Slumber parties, birthdays, play-dates, etc; it all seemed normal to me. Perhaps it was due to the fact that my own family is blended with various ethnicities (Caucasian, Black and Asian) never did I feel as if I were “different”.
When I looked in the mirror, I saw a light-skinned, smiley, chubby cheeked girl who had a “pug” nose (I say affectionately). But, as I grew up and became more aware of myself as a woman, I began to see as a person who comes from a back-ground of Black & Italian heritage, there indeed were differences.
High school was an interesting time for me. As a young lady, I became interested in fashion, make-up and hair. My wardrobe changed from Barbie sneakers to Pumas; I went from wearing no make-up to sneaking lip-gloss once I got to school in the mornings, and then there was the hair.
Always, thick and curly, jet black, the girls in my class were persistent that it was a wig! I saw it as fussy and always in my eyes, while my friends, those who were Black, would say, “you have such good hair…”
I would wear it curly (natural), I would blow it out (straight), and I would braid it at night and wear it wavy the next day, multiple hair styles every other week. Sometimes my mom would braid it; other times when I was lazy I would tie it up in a bun and call it a day. All the while, my friends, those who were Black would say, “You have such good hair…”
As a child, my hair never seemed as a big deal to me. I didnt think so and my mother never made it so. But as I grew up, I realized, within the Black community, hair is a big deal.
From weaves, to extensions, tracks, pony-tails and clip-ins; women within the Black community consistently vary their hair-styles within a passing moment. But, what’s wrong with an afro? I pose this question because, when the humidity is just right and there’s nothing in my hair to calm the curls, an afro will break out. So, why feel the need to add additions or chemicals to the hair rather than leave it natural?
In a stunning documentary, titled, Good Hair (2009), Chris Rock interviewed multiple Black women within Hollywood on the subject of hair. Through-out the interviews, they discussed the pressures that are faced within the community to have beautiful, long, silky hair; like Caucasian women.
Each interviewee is placed in front of the camera in a close-up shot, which is, showing the individual in the frame from the waist up, conversing with Chris Rock. What makes this film interesting is that although Rock is sitting out of the frame, when he is dialoguing with someone and there is a pertinent point to be made, the camera person will pan between Rock and the interviewee to re-enforce the point being made.
One of the first hysterical moments within this film is when Rock and Nia Long (Hollywood actress) are discussing the differences between Caucasian and Black hair-salons.
Nia Long says: “There are some white people who are good are doing black people hair, but there are very few that I’ve met (pan to Rock raising his eyebrows). There are very few (Long smiles). So what happens is, you walk in and the first thing you say is,’uhm, so do you have a pressing comb? Do you have a flat iron?’ And they go, ‘oh yea! We have everything here, I can do anything!’ (in a high pitched valley girl voice). Then the process starts and its a little tragic.”
This in particular has happened to me, so I enjoyed this. Living in New York, I find it odd how I can go into a salon with Caucasian hair-dressers that dont have a clue on how to do hair of different ethnicities, and yet, if I can find a salon with either Hispanic or Black hair-stylists, it’ll be alright.
Rock continued the documentary with the introduction of “creamy crack” or, aka, a relaxer. A relaxer is a hair treatment used in the Black community. A chemical (Sodium hydroxide), placed at the roots of the hair and left for 45 minutes to an hour, burning, tingling; but once washed out, a miracle has occurred. Its the solution to naps but deadly to one’s health. It’s called “creamy crack” because once you get a relaxer, your addicted!
A woman would go from this:
To this:
Paul Mooney (comedian) said in the doc: “If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed. If your hair is nappy, they aren’t happy.”
Raven Simone (actress) explained on why relaxers are so popular: “I think your trying to blend in, your trying to make everyone feel comfortable.” Rock interjects and says, “Relaxed?” Simone laughs and says, “Relaxed. The relaxer relaxes people.”
Aside from the psychological aspect of women craving the straightness of Caucasian hair, the economical aspect would shock one even more. Each woman estimated on how much they spend on their hair products and up-keep per month. 1-5,000 thousand dollars per month is an average range of maintenance, based on the item and quality.
The purpose of this documentary is to discuss the dynamics of women within the Black community in regards to altering their hair in order to immulate what they are told is “beautiful”. Long, silky and nappy-free. Not only entertaining, the film is interesting and has educated me on hair products that I had limited knowledge on. If your intersted in this film, check out the trailer bellow and Netflix it 🙂
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