November is comign to an end!

I've been, so so so busy these past few days! At the moment , I'm taking a few minutes break from studying for my huge 3rd anatomy exam to write this post. I also got a new seasonal job for this month at clothing store. BUSY month to say the least. I appreciate being busy though, much better than doing nothing.



So as one can see, I haven't had a lot of time to watch movies. I'm only able to catch a few minutes of TV here and there, and that's mostly to watch House MD ;)

Once this week is over, things will slow down a bit again. I HOPE. I think once I have this exam over with, I can finally get to watch something and write a proper post.  My boyfriend told me of the Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) , and it looks really good.

Well I'm off to study some more.


Mabel

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 Countdown!

Check out this countdown I made! :)

http://www.bored.com/makecountdowns/show.php?id=225185

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1! Who else is excited!?

I know it's been a while since I last wrote, my apologies! School has been so hectic, when one test is over, I have papers due, when that's over I have more tests and the cycle repeats. Next semester I'm taking less classes, and going to look for a job. I'll be a nice to work for a bit and gain a different experience.

" It All Ends Here"

Anyways, I had to come back and write about how EXCITED I am about Harry Potter 7 part 1!

Part 1 is released on November 19, 2010 and of course me and my friends already got our tickets online for the midnight showing! :D I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan , this is going to sound corny but since I've been 8 years old Harry Potter has been in life to always add a little magic and fantasy :) and I love it for that. I was always the same age as the characters in the book when they were released, and I always related to them and the series has really followed me for so long.

It's a bittersweet moment for me, I'm really excited to see both parts of The Deathly Hallows but at the same time I don't want it to end, as the poster says " It all Ends Here" <--- :(


In just 3 short weeks me and my Angie ( best friend) will be going to the midnight showing ( probably dressed up in our costume. Yes we can have our nerdy times too ;P) and jumping up and down with excitement like we're 5 again! I can't wait. In the meantime I'm trying to get through the whole book series ( I know.. i'm ambitious) , but with all the work from school it's really hard. I'll try to make it happen, as Tim Gunn from project runway would say " Make it work!"


Here is the trailer! Enjoy:




OMIGOSH! I'm so excited :D

Who else is going to a midnight showing and who else is a Harry Potter fan!?

It seems like just yesterday I first watched The Sorcerer's Stone :)

Mabel

Cuba: The Accidental Eden PBS episode

Hi everyone, I know it's been so long since I last wrote :(  , I finally got some exams over with so I have some free time again to write.

I want to write about this amazing episode of the PBS show Nature titled Cuba: Accidental Eden.

A Cuban Toby.

 

I saw the episode on On Demand, and I HAD to watch it. I was born in Cuba, but left when I was very little so never had the chance to explore the beautiful nature of Cuba. It hurts many of us to know of what the people of Cuba go through on a daily basis, but this shows how they are at least blessed with such amazing unspoiled nature and wildlife.

Here is a preview:

The show calls Cuba " The Jewel of the Caribbean" I couldn't agree more!

I was specially impressed by the Cuba biologists and marine biologists who make an effort to research and conserve with the little they have. You will see in the episode a man who has made it his life's mission to safely hatch green turtle eggs and safely get them back in the ocean. 

Here is a picture of a baby green turtle which will be released into ocean.
Picture from pbs.org

 
I really recommend everyone to watch! Don't think about politics, as the show doesn't get into it much. Its about how beautiful nature is when it's healthy and unspoiled, and how it's something we are all missing out on with the little concern we put into the environment.


You can watch the full episode at pbs.org. Here is the link:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/cuba-the-accidental-eden/video-full-episode/5834/


I hope you enjoyed :) And if you watch the documentary let me know what you thought of it.

Mabel

Black Swan

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I've been able to write, I've just been super busy with school. I can't wait for the weekend to start again! I wanted to write up a quick post because I saw a trailer of a movie titled Black Swan and it looks amazing!

Check it out:



Doesn't it look really good?? It comes out in December in the US, and I'll be in Europe in December with my boyfriend so I won't get to watch it at theaters. I'll rent it when it comes out though, or maybe they'll have an early screening of the movie before December. Either way it looks like it'll be a fantastic movie and I can't wait to see it :)

Bye bye

Mabel

Nutrition and what's out there?

Hi everyone :)

     Thank God it Thursday and I don't have school anymore for this week! I'll still be very busy since I have tests coming up next week, just now I finished reading a chapter from my nutrition class. Really interesting stuff, very informative. I'm working to improve mine and my family's diet with the things I learn. I'll share a fact I learned with you all, maybe you can all work for better nutrition as well ;). Yogurt is good.. eat it! The probiotics ( beneficial microorganism) in yogurt can alleviate common digestive disorders ( constipation, ulcers ect.) and even protect from colon cancer!

I'm not going to lie, I really used to dislike the taste of yogurt. Only recently have Ive gotten used to eating it. If you don't necessarily like the taste of yogurt, you can add fruits like in the picture.

 It can't be all work and no play this weekend of course, so I'm thinking going to the movies but I don't really know what to watch. Here I'll make a list of the possible candidates:


1. The Switch







 This movie looks really cute and funny. This can be a good movie to relax and laugh to during the weekend for fun, I'm definitely in the mood for a comedy. Number one option for me right now!





2.The Last Exorcism

I have a feeling this is going to be a flop, like most exorcism movies after the original The Exorcist (1973). I like scary movies though, gets the adrenaline going. I'll see this if my friends choose it, but I don't think I'll choose it for myself.

3. Machete

From the trailer it seems to be another violent, action filled, revenge story. Nothing I haven't seen before, but it might be entertaining at least.

4. The Other Guys

No thank you. I can't stand Will Ferrel.



5. Going the Distance

Romantic comedy about a long distance romance. Seems like a good date movie.


6.Resident Evil: Afterlife

Could be fun to watch. I highly doubt a masterpiece though :P just another summer action flick.




Those are some of the movies that are available for this weekend, and I'm definitely going for The Switch as my number 1 option. If I go i'll let you all know what my friends and I saw :)




Hope you enjoyed reading

Mabel

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) review and a long weekend

Hello :)

I haven't been able to write for the past few days because I've been busy. I had a great long weekend, Saturday I went to see my cousin's new baby girl, she was so beautiful! Sunday my friends and I celebrated our friend's 21st birthday and it was a blast! We took him to his favorite wings restaurant then we hung out at one of our houses  singing karaoke and having a good time.

Me and my best friend singing " Your my best friend" by Queen :D

                                                       

                                                                                                                               





For this post I'll be writing a movie I recently saw titled " One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" released in 1975 and based off the novel by Ken Kesey. A brief summary: Jack Nicholson plays Randle Patrick Murphy, a prisoner. who is sent to a mental institution to be evaluated due his involvement in fights at jail. Murphy shows no signs mental illness, and they suspect he wanted to go to pass the time in the mental institution instead of jail.

Here is the trailer! :




     One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is considered by many an American Classic and it won five Academy Awards. I didn't know of its popularity when I decided to watch it, I chose to watch it because of Jack Nicholson, gotta love him he is such an outstanding actor! This movie is no exception for him, he was perfect for the role and really delivered. His character is definitely a difficult person; he is causes a mess, he is violent and has little regard for rules and authority. Yet, he is one of the few people who sees the patients in the hospital as more than "crazy" people and works to bring the morale up in the men. He also makes it his mission to make the staff's job impossible, picking up fights and rebelling against Nurse Ratched's strict rules. Murphy's active and optimistic personality really contrast against the sterile and depressing environment.
     I think one of the most important things about the story is that it shows how mental institutions back in the day caused more harm than good to the patients, and more importantly how a healthy person can be diagnosed "crazy" and be hidden away in a mental institution.It definitely had me looking at psychiatry more cautiously. While I thought Murphy did great showing us the negative aspects of a mental institution, I felt that with everything going on, one didn't really get to connect with him and he remained a character that wasn't that likable. I don't want to say much else as I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that I enjoyed the movie and I recommend it! Let me also recommend " Girl Interrupted" to people who liked this movie, I thought that was another excellent movie concerning mental institutions.


Rating: 4 stars!

I hope you all enjoyed this post :) and of course let me know what are your thoughts on this movie!


Mabel

Splice (2009)

Thank God it's THURSDAY! :D No more school for the week, and it's a long weekend! Happy early Labor Day ;)  I really need this long weekend, I had such a busy week. Wednesday I had two labs, and in my anatomy lab we got to work with a cadaver ( I was so nervous and scared, but most of it was covered), so while it was an interesting day it was a long day nevertheless . This long weekend my friends and I are celebrating a birthday , so I'm definitely looking forward to that.

So this post will be about the movie titled Splice, which I saw recently with my boyfriend. The movie was released in the US in 2010 and was filmed in Canada. Here is the trailer!



Now.. I have to say the trailer did not prepare me for how weird and often disturbing this movie was. Aside from that, the movie was definitely interesting and thought provoking. This is a sci-fi horror, and the main idea is these two scientist ( a couple) ( Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley) who work in a laboratory splicing DNA from different animals to created hybrids. The main purpose of creating the hybrids is to extract proteins of out them to be used in medicine. Everything is all right with their work until they get too ambitious. They want to make a hybrid with human DNA, as they believe it is the next step in creating medicine, but of course the company funding the research gives them a bit fat no. So what do they do? They do it behind their backs of course.

Here we see a clip of when Dren the human hybrid is born.:


     As we see in the trailer, this experiment gives birth to a hybrid human (Dren) with characteristics of other animals. I will not go further into the movie as I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I will say that up this point in the movie it's very interesting. Genetics is very interesting and this movie is almost foreshadowing what may be in store for us in the future of science. To me personally, the movie starts getting bizarre in the end. Warning: the movie was strong sexuality and of course there is the whole hybrid business which might make some people uncomfortable. If neither of those things bother you, then you might enjoy the movie as it is very unique. So I can say I enjoyed the movie, it was only the last 30 minutes or so that I found very weird,  and if you see the movie you will know what I mean by that.

Splicing: For those that don't know what splicing is , I read into it a bit to be able to explain it. To simplify it, DNA is "cut" with a restriction enzyme ( the "scissors") , these restriction enzymes will recognize a specific DNA sequence and "cut" it out leaving a space in which scientists can add any sequence they wish and with a ligase enzyme it's all put together. ( Here is a good website if you want to read more on it: http://library.thinkquest.org/19037/therapy2.html)

Overall, I'm not a huge fan of sci-fi but this was interesting. I also think Adrien Brody is a great actor, even though after The Pianist ( great movie!) he has chosen some strange roles. I recommend it to people who don't mind being shocked by a movie, and definitely not for children. It is rated R, so17 and up.

 I hope you all enjoyed and of course let me know what you thought of the movie if you saw it, or if your not interested why is that?


Bye for now :)

Mabel

Wit (2001)

Hi everyone! :)

It's been such a tiring day, with my 6am anatomy class and all. I will never get used to waking up that early. I should probably get a less annoying alarm, being abruptly kicked into consciousness is not a good start to anyone's day.Thankfully I'm home and able to write again.

I thought that my very first post should be about the last movie I've seen.I will be writing about a movie titled Wit , it's a television movie and was broadcast by HBO on 2001.

Here is the trailer, check it out! Warning: It's a pretty lame trailer, don't let it fool you, the movie was fantastic.



      As you saw in the trailer the movie is about a brilliant English professor who is diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. She embarks on a experimental chemo treatment for the cancer, and we get to watch her experiences in the hospital. I got recommended to watch Wit from a nurse, she told me that it was shown to her in a class about death and dying.I love medical dramas, so this movie was right up my alley.
     Now you may be saying to yourself that the movie looks sad and depressing. To that I say, yup it's sad, be ready to shed a tear or two, or a lot. However, I must add that there is a lot more to the story than just a sad account of a cancer patient. Much like Emma Thompson said in the trailer, the script was incredible. Her character's language was so sophisticated and very sarcastic at times. The way the movie is set up almost makes you forget your watching a movie, it feels like your really in there with the character and as she looks at the camera and talks to you. That really helps the viewer connect to her even if shes not the warmest person.
     I specially enjoyed the part when she's remembering a moment from her past and the past and the present blend, you get to see her in the present with her hospital gown teaching one of her past lectures about her favorite poet John Donne. I thought that was such a cool and clever technique, really enjoyed it.

Here is a clip that really shows all that: Her sophisticated language, the connection with the viewer and the blending of the past and present. Here she is remembering how her father got her started with her passion for words.



Random fact! That's Hugh Laurie's (House MD) daughter playing Vivian at age 5 :) Isn't she cute? 

    I also want to mention that I really liked the character of the nurse in the movie, she was very compassionate but strong and cool headed, everything a good nurse needs to be. Of course I'm always paying close attention to nurses in movies, for I want to be one. 

Here is a picture of me in some scrubs, what do you think? Good thing they are comfortable cause it's such a hard job.

Well that concludes my post on the movie Wit, I hope if you are interested you go ahead and see it :)
If you've already seen it , what did you think of it?

Be back again soon,

Mabel

Where I see em!

     I'm writing today because I want to let you all know how I get to see so many movies. I go to the movie theaters with my friends as often as I can and I love collecting DVDs, but with the economy lately I find my wallet empty!

 









So to save money and to have a greater access to movies, especially foreign movies, I got netflix! It was love at first sight, and I recommend it to any movie buff out there. I only pay about 9 dollars a month and get to watch movies online and also have them shipped to my house, the whole shebang. So I just wanted to inform everyone on my main resource for movies, just in case questions come up :)

If some of you don't know what netflix is, it is a website ( netflix.com )that rents DVDs and also has a selection of movies to watch online on your PC. You have to register and pay a monthly fee.

I'll be back soon :)

Mabel

Welcome!

     
      Hi folks, in this first post I will introduce myself and where I plan to go with this blog. My name is Mabel and I'm a college student and I love movies! ( As you can probably already tell :P) I love watching all types of movies, discussing movies and reviewing them.
  
    A lot of my friends are not movie buffs like myself, so I thought creating a blog to share my love for movies with others was a great idea. I know a lot of great movies are coming out at the movie theaters, but I don't plan just to write about those. Aside from new movies, I will be writing about older movies, some very old , some not so old. I'm very buys with school, but I ALWAYS make time to get comfortable and watch a great movie, and of course to take a trip to my  nearest movie theater!
   
     I hope readers enjoy the blog, and I really would love to get comments about what you thought of a movie or what you thought about what I wrote and really get a great discussion going.
    Below is a picture taken by my great friend Angie ( isn't she a great photographer??) just so you can see the face behind the words. I'll be writing again very soon!
   
      Mabel