Dark Shadows was anything but Dark

      Today I saw Tim Burtons: Dark Shadows, and honestly I enjoyed it. It kept my attention and I was amused. It’s not my favorite Tim Burton film nor is it the one I like least. I went into the movie went negative expectations because a lot of people were upset about it being a dark comedy rather then it being a full on soap opera. The Film stars Johnny Depp, honestly I am a bit biased when it comes to him because he is one of my favorite actors. Depp plays Barnabas Collins who is turned into a vampire and is entombed for almost 200 years. He wakes up and it is now 1972. He finds his beloved family empire in ruins and the family's fortunes in the seaside fishing town of Collinsport, Maine, founded by Barnabas' father, have dwindled.

  The witch Angelique who turned him into a vampire and  killed his beloved Josette, is doing quite well as the main business owner of the Angelfish Company. Who so happens to be the Collins in direct competition. Eva Green plays her. Green does a good job at playing a believable villain. The Film also stars Michelle Pfeiffer  who plays Elizabeth Collins Stoddard/ the head of the family. Pfieiffer is still beautiful and she brings soo much snobbness and dry humor to her character. There is Carolyn who is Elizabeth Collin’s 15-year-old daughter, played by Chloe Mortez…she was also in Kick Ass. I found her very refreshing and hilarious to watch. she really acted like a 15-year-old girl from the 1970’s with her dancing and her chilled/ whatever attitude. Jonny Lee Miller portrays Carolyn’s brother Roger. He is believable in his role as the deadbeat failure of a father, but there is lack of stage presence.  He has a troubled young son, David (Gully McGrath) who lost his mother at sea. So now he thinks he sees her. And of course there is Helena Bonham Carter who portrays the family's live-in shrink. Dr. Julia Hoffman. She hasn't helped the Collinses much, but she's quite skilled at self-medicating. Then there is the  newly hired governess Victoria Winters (Bella Heathcote) who bears an uncanny resemblance to Josette. The family is full of odd misfits. Depp does an awesome job again. He loses himself in his character and you forget that he is wearing distracting makeup and costume. His whole purpose is to help the family and put things right. This of course is difficult because of the witch Angelique. Who causes problems for the Depp’s Character because she is madly in love with him. She poses a threat on the family if Depp doesn’t choose her.

   I truly enjoyed it I was not bored at all the ending was very predictable of course, and a bit over the top but not bad...and then there is a twist at the end..Dark Shadows 2 maybe?? The story was well written and of course the cinematography was stunning and whimsical. I loved all the gags at 70’s pop culture. There is soo much humor in this its fun for the whole family. Burton’s films always look fantastic and you feel as if you are in another time and place. I like the score not my favorite of Danny Elfman but good still. If you are a fan of Burton go see if not wait for in on DVD.

The Dictator was a hot mess...

I honestly hate writing negative stuff...But I guess all my reviews can't be positive. So today I saw the Dictator starring Sacha Baron Cohen and Ana Farris. Surprisingly the movie is half a romantic comedy and a political satire. Cohen plays General Admiral Aladeen of the North African nation of Wadiya. He owns a huge palace and a thrown full of worshipers, who he executes, with the waving of his hand.  He also has a wall full of people he hooked up with…Meghan Fox makes a small unmemorable cameo during this scene. The film also stars Ben Kingsley who plays Tahi Aladeen's premier, who is the rightful heir to the thrown. He plots to overthrow him. After an assassination fails, Tahir encourages Aladeen to address the United Nations, where he hopes another assassination will succeed. John C. Reilly plays his head security guard in America who tries to assassinate him but instead he fails and just chops off his beard. After being de-bearded, Cohen’s character is stuck wandering around in Manhattan while his body double impersonates him at the United Nations summit. He then runs into Anna Farris character Zoey, who is an over enthusiastic feminist/human rights activist who runs a heath food store. Cohen’s character gets a job at the store. The rest of the movie focuses on their relationship/ his plan to regain power.
 

      This film is “Coming to America” gone wrong! I found myself board and at times looking at my watch, which almost never happens during a movie! Even though the movie was only a mere hour and a half. I felt like I wasted my time and free movie pass. Cohen was not funny in this, again he uses sex references and slap stick comedy for laughs. Some scenes were entertaining. But by the end of it the jokes were tired and repetitive. Cohen’s best roles to date were "Borat" and his role as "Pirelli" in Tim Burtons Sweeney Todd.  As for Ana Farris she was soo boring and annoying their romance wasn't at all believable and honestly Cohen should've wrote her out of the script. There was no need to have her in this film. I will say I did enjoy it more than Bruno...the first film I ever walked out on....Cohen was funniest as the dictator when he was seen promoting the film on various television outlets and when he threw pancake batter on Ryan Secrest on the red carpet at the 2012 Academy Awards...that actually happen! Just wished it was in the movie. The movie did stick to the plot but again this story has been told in various films. The music was clever but that was the only thing I really enjoyed.  I didn't find it offensive, just boring and a bit tired! And honestly can he tell a joke that isn't sexist or racist! Don't waist your money at the show or rent it on DVD.  Wait for it on cable and only watch if there is absolutely nothing on television!...this movie was a hot mess!

Reviews for dark shadows and the dictator will be up soon

Reality check: thought I found a Rhett Butler but in reality I was chasing after Ashley Wilkes!

My first or second blog entry I mention, “Gone with the wind"as my favorite movie of all time. I can relate my life to it in any form orfashion. Most girls relate their relationship troubles to epic tales of“Carrie” and “Big” From Sex in the City...but my quarrels with love andrelationships is more “Gone with the Wind” then “Sex and the city” any day.Scarlet O’Hare who I find to be one the strongest leading ladies in filmhistory, is strong, beautiful, and independent...Like myself. In the film thewrong men always pursued her in her eyes. In my case I find myself always beingpursued by the wrong men.  Scarlet was a women who thought she knew whatshe wanted, and like myself I have always been a girl who thought I found whatI was looking for. Throughout the Film there were these two men that manage toalways stay constant in Scarlet's life you have the brooding, tortured soul,and compassionate Ashley Wilkes, whom was also married and yet Scarlet is so blindlyin love with. Then there is the daring, yet dashing, arrogant, Rhett Butlerwhom is madly in love with Scarlet who was willing to give and do anythingfor her...but she despise this man so!  So you have this epic lovetriangle between these three characters and the clear choice is for Scarlett tochoose Rhett Butler and not the Married Ashley Wilkes because they were made for each other! Spoiler alert! This kindof happens but Scarlett realizes she is too little to late.  She tells Rhett how she feels, and his wordsin Response are "frankly my dear I don't give a damn!"... Such anepic and amazing scene I must add!            

           For years I thought I found my version of Rhett Butler. This talldashing guy that was passionate, romantic and aggressive whom either left mespeechless or completely and utterly frustrated. Like Scarlet and Rhett we bothare very passionate and ambitious and we are both stubborn and reckless people.Today or maybe even a year ago I realized he wasn't my Rhett Butler afterall...what we had was like smoke and mirrors...somewhat not real. Love is soblind lol It really truly is...it consumes us and allows of to see say and do crazy things without fully thinking them through...Again he wasn't my Rhett Butler.  I haven't found my Rhett Butler yet...Hewas my Ashley Wilkes, a man that I have Been chasing after for almost 7years... like Scarlet He was somebody I would plot, plan and scheme,over...which I admit was very stupid and childish. Honestly his name is quiteridiculous like Ashley Wilkes as well...I wont repeat it for your sake, my sakeand of course his sake...I'll just leave it at that.  Throughout the film,Ashley Made all these false promise to Scarlet, which allowed her to latch oneven tighter and she of course didn't realize that the right man was staringher plain in the face. With my situation there is no love triangle and no RhettButler staring me plain in the face for me to make my choice easier…there is orshall I say was an Ashley Wilkes who lead me own with false promises andactions. Again Like Scarlet, I don’t fault him for his actions or his words andfor leading me on as long as he did. I still think of him as a very good guy,but for months or rather years I thought that he was the only guy for me… myversion of Rhett Butler.  Irealized today I have so much time to find my Rhett Butler I am only 24 yearsold. Its not too late and I haven’t missed out…for me its only the beginningYou wont find me like Scarlet at my door watching Rhett Butler leave allbecause I was chasing after Ashley Wilkes.

ill try not to post too much about this movie anymore..but today I honestly had a life lesson.. well an epiphany about something I've been holding on to for a long time...done being bummed and upset about it.  

stay tuned...my review for Tim Burton's Dark Shadows will be up in a few days. 

If You Havent seen the Avengers yet then you must be living under a rug...because its a must see!!!!!

So I of course saw the Avengers onopening day in 3D format. I missed the first five minutes of the movie but allI gotta say is the movie was great !  If you haven’t seen the other spinoffs before this one I think you will be fine, but I highly recommend that youat least try and watch the other movies before you go because you willappreciate it a lot more. Again I wasn’t lost because the plot was easy tofollow and straight to the point.  All the Heroes have the same amount ofscreen time, and they all have their shining moments…my favorites were theHulk: played by Mark Ruffalo, Iron Man: played by Robert Downey Jr. and Thor:played by Chris Hemsworth. Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/ Hulk was so fleshedout. He was smart, funny and terrifying as hell. Hulk was the scene-stealer whenit came to all the actions sequences he really works well with the othersuperheroes and he is very terrifying and menacing when he is on his own. Robert Downey of course was great as always lol his bromance withBruce Banner was funny and pleasing to watch. Chris Hemsworth was also verygood as Thor and just beautiful to look at. I soo have a thing for him..but enough with my silly school girl crush.  His fight scenes as well as hisone-liners were great and you really felt the compassion he had for his evilbrother Loki. My only disappointment was Captain America played by ChrisEvans,  he had some great scenes but he really didn’t have much stagepresence. Scarlet Johansson was kick ass as well as the black widow and reallybrought on the girl power Buffy the vampire slayer awesomeness!! Jeremy Rennerwho played Hawkeye was good in his role but there was lack of stage presenceand I would’ve liked to seen more of Samuel L. Jackson because he was so funny.The special affects or CGI, which is what I call it, was awesome and pleasingon the eyes, I loved the score it wasn’t too loud or too classical but modernand fun. The script was very cleverly written, funny and witty at all times.There were no cheesy or awkward moments. Thank you Joss Wenden…who also wroteand directed the Buffy series. He truly understands humor, drama and action aswell as character development. The 3D conversion was very good…but at times notneeded in dialogue scenes. There were times when the movie was in 2D formatwhen I removed my glasses. I say skip the 3D unless you are seeing it in IMAX.I say go and see it if you haven’t..if there is a movie I like I usually go seeit twice. I really want  to see it again so there you have it! go see it!! your not wasting you money or time on this one..Dark Knight look out!...you got big shoes to fill!

Going to the movies Solo

Going to the movies solo....

 One of my favorite things to do at my own leisure is go to the movies alone. Really it is soo awesome! There is no debate with anyone on what movie I want to see, I can put as much butter and salt on my own popcorn because I don't have to share, and most importantly I don't have to get all dolled up to go!  Honestly going alone is soo much better. When you go alone for the first time it's almost like being kissed for the first time there is all this nervous anticipation and you feel so awkward at first but after you do it becomes a normal retinue that is quite enjoyable.
     I remember the first time I went to the movies alone, I was a junior in high school I saw the fourth Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  I went alone because all of my friends and family hated Harry Potter. I went to the magic Johnson theater on 87th on the south side, This was before I knew of plush reclining chairs and really good popcorn from my favorite AMC theater which so happens to be the River East 21 theater downtown. I remember how nervous I was when I went to purchase my ticket from the booth and I remember what the cashiers ask me..."Just one?" "Yes" was my reply of course! That was probably the hardest and most awkward part that and going to the concession stand to order one small popcorn and coke. When I finally enter the theater and found my seat I still felt a little awkward because everyone in my theater were either in groups of three or two all chatting about how excited they were for the movie to start.  I just sat there sipping my coke and popping popcorn in my mouth waiting anxiously for the trailers to start. Once the trailers started all that awkwardness I felt went out the window. For once I felt at peace! I didn't have to share anything I wasn't worried about being kissed on date and the only opinion I needed was wither or not I liked the movie...which I did. I left the theater feeling liberated and confident and there was also this feeling of independence. I realized then I make my own happiness and it didn't matter what people thought because I was satisfied and at peace.  The next day at school I told all of my friends about it and they of course laughed and thought I was weird...and honestly I didn't care!  

      Since then I almost always go alone to the movies.  I feel more relaxed and I have an even better time being by myself. Look at it this way when you go to the movies you can't talk to the person you go with because you want to hear the movie and obviously you don't want to be that rude person perceived by other movie watchers. You can't see the person in the theater you go with because it's dark and you want to watch the movie. Unless you have other intentions in mind...which I find pointless.  So what's the point!  I still get flat for going on my own from my friends and family and honestly I don't care. So here is the   million dollars question... How many of us have ever gone to the movies alone?  If so how many times? And if you have not I challenge you to go!

Its that Time again....summer movie blockbuster season

It’s that time again!….That time of the year we call summer. when a lot of people have an abundance amount of leisure time…some people will use this time to lay out on the beach, find that summer love, go to a million and one music festivals, BBQ or like myself attempt to see every huge blockbuster at the movies. I love the blockbuster season! Anyone who knows me know that there are three things I obsess about…book, Fashion, and movies. Going to the movies is where I get my fix, my escape. it’s the only place where I can leave all my troubles behind for 2 or 3 hours and not think about anything but if i will like the film or not. As soon as that big screen turns green I let it all go until the end credits roll. I love the smell of popcorn with lots of butter and salt, plush seats that I can almost recline back, the huge screen and of course the surround sound. I even keep all or most of my ticket stubs for all the movies that I like! So this summer blockbuster season I will attempt to see all the huge blockbusters, and give you movie reviews in my crazy black girl perspective. there are so many films this season i want to see… my top five are
1. the Marvel Avengers,
2. Men in Black 3,
3. Dark Knight Rise,
4. Snow white and the Huntsman
5. Pixtar: Brave
  of course i will see others but those are my top five...what are you top five and what else do you want to see?? stay tuned the Marvel Avengers will be my first review!!

About little old Me....

curtsey of MGM studios

My name is Arica I am 24 years old. I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. I come from a huge family I am one of ten...number four to be exact. Growing up I didn't have much, I practically shared every thing with my siblings and we all depended on each other. As a child I didn't go to movies much and the only fashion I knew was my sister's hand me downs...but that all changed when I got older. I've always been a dreamer and a very creative person. I didn't grow up like most girls so it is only fair to say that I am not like most girls...I spent a lot of my teen years obsessing over books and movies which is how I discovered my love for film and fashion. My style reflected the movies I enjoy...in fact it still does. Anyone who knows me know that I am infatuated with anything that is simple, colorful, and whimsical.

Curtsey of MGM studios

      My favorite movie, which is probably the first movie I ever Seen on television is Gone with the wind...if you haven't watched this film please do I highly recommend it. I have seen it probably a million times and every time I watch it I get the same rush of excitement of being transported into the story, investing emotions and time with the characters and just being awed by the visual pleasing ecstatic of the movie itself. There is this scene in the film...which is probably my favorite scene in the entire movie when Scarlet needs to find a way to pay her taxes to keep her family estate known as Tare. She needs to ask her love entrance Rhett Butler for the money but she doesn't want him to know about the hardship she has faced from the civil war.  She doesn't have money to buy a new dress so she tares the drapes from her window and tells her housemaid she has to make her a new dress.  In the following scene after that Scarlet is seen wearing this beautiful green gown that appeared from the drapes, and she looks as if her life wasn't affected by the war at all.    She walks into the room with her head held high and just commands the room. This scene made me realize how much I love fashion and all the drama behind it.

Curtsey of MGM studios

       From then on out I spent most of my time watching movies and reading fashion magazines.   Even today at 24 I can remember box office numbers at the blink if an eye I can tell you everything there is to know about an actor or a film I've seen. Summer and fall movie season is as big as the NBA play offs and as for the movie award season lol that is what I call a super bowl because I challenge myself to see every movie nominated during the award season. I've seen more movies in various genres then the average person that goes to the movies.  I honestly feel terrible if I haven't gone to the movies at least twice in a month. That is why it's only fair that I start this blog to share my thoughts and opinion about fashion and film in a black women's perspective. Educate people about style and film with my movie reviews and fashion styling ideas and tips.