The Great Gatsby: Book or Movie

Recently I have read and watched the movie and book, The Great Gatsby.  At first when I found out that I had to read this book for my AP English and Language class, I thought it was going to be terrible, and hard to read. But when I actually got into the book it was really good. Considering it is such an old book, I thought the teens my age would actually really like it.

The Great Gatsby takes place in New York, where the writer Nick moves in next door to a mysterious man, that nobody knows a lot about, other than he throws huge parties every weekend. Gatsby is a millionaire, so he has everything in life that someone could possibly want, except for one thing, Nick’s cousin Daisy. Daisy and Gatsby used to be in love until Gatsby went off to the war. Daisy married a different man, Tom Buchanan, who is also very rich. Everything is turned upside down when Gatsby asks a favor of Nick, which is to invite Daisy over to his house, so Gatsby can rekindle the relationship he once had with Daisy. Through the book we see everything from love, to heartbreak, to death, all in what I think is a relatively short book.

I thought The Great Gatsby was a great book because I loved the love story that occurred throughout the book. I thought it was romantic how Gatsby did all those extravagant things just to get Daisy’s attention, to try and win her back after he lost her the first time. I like the drama they came with the intricate love triangle. Actually it was more like a love pentagon if you think about it. I also like how the book was written from Nicks point of view, looking in from the outside, since Nick in the book and movie was not rich, so he wasn’t really a part of that life style.

I loved the movie too, because of how closely it relate back to the book, and how accurate it was according to the book. The movie had really great actors in the movie including Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and Joel Edgerton. These actors really made the movie complete. I loved all the colors that were included in the movie, all of the party scenes were so beautiful with all the colorful people and things in the movie. Even though that is a little thing, I think that that is my favorite aspect of the movie, because all throughout the movie I was thinking to myself “this movie is so colorful”! I also loved the way that the movie mostly related the movie back to how it takes place in the 1920’s, so the cars, electronics, and way of life all resembled the way life was in the 1920’s. However some things I questioned in the movie about how they probably would have actually happened or had in the 1920’s, such as the amount and difficulty of fireworks that they had in the movie, I don’t think they would have had that intricate of fireworks in the 1920’s, also just some of the furniture in Daisy and Gatsby’s houses, I don’t think they would have had in the 1920’s.

Overall however both the movie and book were excellent and I highly recommend this book to anybody, especially if you have to read an older book for class, and want to actually enjoy the book you are reading. 
  

Lorde at the Grammy's

Last Sunday I watched the Grammy’s, where there were a couple of unique performances that I think need to be covered, the most important being Lorde’s performance for Royals. Don’t get me wrong I love Lorde and both the songs that I know, one being Royals, but she doesn’t have much of a stage presence. 

Lorde has a great voice for only being sixteen years old, but if she is going to perform at the Grammys, which is one of the biggest awards shows, she needs to learn how to make a good appearance on stage. She did this twitching motion while she was singing which was super weird, it was kind of hard to tell what she was doing, if she was trying to do anything at all, but either way it was just plain weird. I don’t if that is “the thing” in New Zealand, which is where the singer is originally from, but here I just think it was really peculiar. I overheard many people talking about her performance and everyone is saying the same thing, Lorde is “different”.

There were many aspects of Lorde’s performance that I didn’t like, including her outfit and hair that she wore on stage Sunday night at the Grammys. Lorde’s outfit wasn’t the major problem, it was her hair, which was just down, but didn’t look very good because it was frizzy and not well kept. I think that if you are lucky enough to be able to perform at the Grammys, you should at least make an attempt to look nice in front of the entire world. I mean her hair looks fine, almost good, on the cover of her album, so I don’t know why it looked so bad at the Grammys. 

The other thing I think that Lorde should change is her style of makeup. Right now the makeup is doing nothing but making her look worse. The makeup made her look like she was way older than she is. I’m just saying that if you aren’t going to be sixteen forever so she might want to change her style of makeup. She is sixteen and has one of the best songs of the year, plus now she has a Grammy, so she might want to show off that she has a Grammy and is only sixteen years old.

Overall I like Lorde and her music for the most part, but she needs to entertain her audience more while performing, which can make her a better singer and entertainer in the long run. 

  

Netflix

Lately my new obsession has been Netflix. Netflix is an online movie place which you can synch up to your television or phone using the app. On Netflix you can watch movie anytime you wish, with a small payment each month. You can watch all kind of movies ranging from children’s movies to comedies, to horrors. You can even watch entire television series anywhere you please.

I have become almost addicted to watching Netflix, especially in the summer time when I have nothing to do but watch movies all day. I have watched many movies that I would have had to pay for somewhere else, and even have watched many televisions series such as Gossip Girl, Glee, and The Carrie Diaries. Netflix has many great movies, and I guarantee everyone will find at least one thing you would like to watch on Netflix. So if you are a movie lover like me a would strongly recommend trying Netflix. If you are a little perspective of Netflix they offer a free trial for a month, so that you can see if you really like what you will be getting.  

                                

I would say the only downside of Netflix is even though they  have a growing movie selection, the movies are still not the latest movies that everyone wants to watch. If you’re like me and watch Netflix a lot you start to run out of movies and shows to watch because you have seen it all. I feel like Netflix could have a larger selection, and a lot more people would want to get Netflix. Most of the time when I actually have a movie that I really want to watch, Netflix doesn’t have it so I have to settle for something less popular. Usually the rule for Netflix is if the movie you are wanting to watch has come out in the past year or two it is probably not on Netflix, which is why sometimes Netflix can be disappointing.

                                                                                       

Although I have really found myself liking to watch television shows. Whether you want to catch up on a show, or start a new show that you have heard from your friends as being good, you can count on Netflix having the show you want to watch. Netflix has a great way of organizing the shows by the season then in order of the show so you can watch every single episode in order from the very first season, which is very handy.

Overall I think if you love movies, and find yourself constantly going out to by movies, I would recommend giving Netflix a try. 

Has Hollywood run out of ideas for movies?

 

It seems nowadays that all of the “new” movies coming out these days aren’t very original anymore. It seems as if Hollywood has officially run out of movie ideas and is making lamer and lamer movies, which are becoming intolerable to watch. Every movie in this generation is the same concept with the same ending. Every movie is just a twist off of the last movie made, which is really making movies not as fun to watch anymore. Movies used to be where you would expect what was going to happen, and really blew the viewer’s minds but not since we are so used to watching movies, nothing excites us anymore, with of course an exception to some amazing movies.

It seems as if Hollywood has run out of ideas and is just making a series of movies. So if they had a good first movie, they want to keep that going and add like five more movies onto that movie. But we all know that the second movie is never as good as the first one. It seems like this is all the movie writers, producers, and actors film these days are repeats of the first movie. Some examples of my point is Iron Man, Twilight, Anchor Man, and The Avengers. Don’t get me wrong I love a lot of these movies, but seriously the people in Hollywood can’t do any better than this.

Another reason why I think that most of Hollywood has run out of movies ideas is because they just make remakes of old classic movies. Most of the time I don’t mind when they remake movies because you can see more modern actors in the movies, instead of the actors that nobody knows about anymore, but when they completely screw up the movie they are remaking, it makes me really mad. That movie is a classic because of the way it was written and performed so when someone changes everything in the movie, to give it a more modern feel, or to relate it to the audience more, it just plain messes up the entire movie.

On the other hand there are a lot of great movies out there that do get a lot of recognition for being great movies, and truly do deserve the appreciation that they get, because the writers and producers actually took the time to write a great movie, instead of taking a movie already made and changing it a little bit and calling it their own.

Overall I think that if you take the time to write a great movie then it deserves to do good in the movie business, but just like everything else in life, if you slack off then you shouldn’t receive the perks of having a great movie. 

 

Should YouTube be used for educational purposes in school?

Are music videos that are teachers show to students a benefit for a students learning or are they a waste of teaching time in the classroom. Most of the time students enjoy watching these types of videos because they think they are just getting out of learning. But really these videos are teaching the students more ways to look at a subject.

Sometimes students get frustrated because they don’t understand how their teacher is teaching a subject, so they show a different way to learn the concepts trying to be taught. A lot of the videos I like to watch to remember a specific part of a subject is listening to the songs that different people make on YouTube. I personally find these very helpful, because the songs are very catching a are stuck in my head the rest of the day, so you process the material you are trying to learn over and over again, making it easier to remember when it comes to taking the test. 

I haven’t had one teacher that hasn't showed at least one video on YouTube about their subject. I think with YouTube being such a huge thing in this generation that YouTube can be used for so many other purposes, not just funny videos of people doing stupid thing, because really nowadays you can find anything you want to find on YouTube, since it is such a huge website.

I think sometimes teachers are perspective about the use of YouTube in the classroom, and maybe don’t want to use YouTube even for educational purposes. This might be because since you can post anything on YouTube, there are disturbing things out there, that don’t need to be shown in a classroom. But I think that if the teacher watches the video at least once before they show it to the class, it should be fine. So if the teacher really wants the best for the students, then they should give YouTube a chance, and try to find other ways to let their students learn. YouTube can be used educationally in so many ways; such as, through music videos, documentaries, crash courses, online tests and quizzes, and so much more. So I truly believe that YouTube, along with so many other websites, could have a serious benefit to the learning aspect in the classroom. 

Romance Movies: Good or Bad

Recently I blogged about The Bachelor, and whether it is a good thing to watch as a young girl. This got me thinking about all romance movies and books. I am a fan of romance novels and movies, but I also know the cons of reading and watching romance books and movies. Many of you may, just like me, love romance novels, and they may be the only type of book you will read, but this may have some bad effects on your future.

The biggest effect being that when you are in a relationship you will expect the perfect romance in the books or movies that you have seen. Because its true those romances in books and movies are perfect, and would never actually be that perfect in real life. Real life relationships take time, and there are ups and downs that make the relationship difficult but that is what a relationship is all about. This leads me to another subject involving romantic books and movies, there is always a happy ending. In real life there isn’t always happy ending, and these books and movies are teaching young girls that happy ending exist. Which sometimes they do but not the extent that the books and movies show.

Many romantic movies are very predictable, and that’s why a lot of romance movie critics don’t like romance movies, but I think that there is always a twist to the ending other than the girl and boy being together in the end. I think that yeah a lot of romance movies are predictable but the happy ending at the end of a book or movie is what we are all looking for in this crazy, messed up world we live in. Sometimes all we need is a happy ending to a book or movie just to make our day, and hope that our in our life we can find a person just like that that we can have an amazing romance with.

Overall I think that romantic movies are predictable, and could lead to miscommunication in many young girls life, but in the end the directors are just trying to produce a movie that all women will love.

The Bachelor

                                                               

Is The Bachelor a good show to put on television for young women to watch? This is a question that many people, including the people who watch The Bachelor. The Bachelor is an ABC television show that shows a young man on his quest for love. This season’s bachelor is Juan Pablo, who is a single father looking for the right women in his life. The twist about The Bachelor is that twenty six women are fighting for his love. And with twenty six women all wanting the same thing there is bound to be drama.   This show has been around for a long time, and has recently been getting extremely popular. What do so many people find so fascinating about the hit drama, Could it be the twists, the romances, or the drama, or a combination of all of it.

I started watching both the Bachelor and the Bachelorette a few years ago, but not for the reason that everyone may think. I like watching The Bachelor because of how funny the drama is. With twenty six girls all fighting for the same man, every episode is action packed. I just find it so funny how even now it only being week number two of The Bachelor girls are already crying. What shocked me the most about the season premiere of The Bachelor there was already one girl that hadn’t even talked to Juan Pablo yet, and she was already crying about it. I think the most common phrase on The Bachelor is “it’s just not fair, I haven’t even had one date yet”. I just think it’s so funny because they knew what they were getting into when on the came on The Bachelor so they should be expecting that they can’t get everything. I also find it very funny, and my sister Haley and I always laugh the hardest at the girls who say “I know him so well, and I’m here for the right reasons, I just can’t see why he would want to send me home”. It’s like he can’t propose to all of you, and you knew that he is only going to pick one girl, and it may be you but it most likely won’t be.

The other reason I like watching The Bachelor is because of all the amazing places they go on dates. They travel all around the world going on adventurous dates. The only reason I would ever want to be on the Bachelor is because of all the amazing places they travel to. I love seeing everything that you can do in those different countries, I love it so much I have begun to make a list of everywhere I want to travel!

In conclusion I only like The Bachelor because of the funny drama, and the awesome places that they travel to throughout the show. But if you are looking for some serious TV I wouldn't recommend this for everyone.

Should You Read a Book Before Seeing the Movie?

Many people have very strong beliefs on whether or not you should read a book before seeing the movie. Many people would argue that reading the book just ruins the movie experience, because you already know what is going to happen. But I think that reading the book before seeing the movie is the way to go.

You can never go wrong with reading, because reading paints a picture in your mind about what is happening in the book, then watching the movie just brings it all to life on screen. To can see if what you thought about the characters, such as what they looked like, or how you envisioned them compares to what the directors and people making the film envision the characters. I do agree that with some books that reading the book first ruins the movies main disaster that occurs throughout the plot, but knowing what is going to happen sometimes can be fun. Sometimes even the book and movie are completely different from each other and you are still surprised by what happens.

Since a lot of the time the books are completely different from the movies, there are a lot of events that you may be expecting yet don’t occur because of how the director wanted the movie to flow. Sometimes however this can end up being a good thing, because you are surprised by the twist in events which can make the movie exciting to watch, because you have no idea what will happen next. On the other hand though, some people don’t like when directors change any little thing about the movie, when in reality if the movie went directly from the book you would be watching a seven hour movie, and everyone would just get bored. However I can understand when people say they don’t like the changes that directors have made to the movie, because if the book was perfect the way it was, it is hard for people to give up all the things they loved about the book.

One example of a book/movie that was made perfectly, and both book readers and movie goers, agreed one hundred percent on was both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I totally agree with both groups of these people, I read the book trilogy and saw both the movies, and thought they were all good books and movies. This may be one of the only movie/book sets in the modern era that everyone has agreed on, but I’m sure that there will be more movie that book lovers hate, but movie lover love. But there will also be movies/books like The Hunger Games which will be made in our generation. Your interpretation of these books compared to the movies is totally up to you, I’m just putting it out there that sometimes the best way to make your own movie is read a book, and it will paint your own picture in your head.

Transformation Tuesday: Hilary Duff

                                   

A new popular thing these days on social networking sites have been the idea of “Transformation Tuesday”. I find myself looking at my friends cute baby pictures, thinking how this trend even started. So in honor of myself blogging on Tuesday I decided to post a Transformation Tuesday blog post on a celebrity. This celebrity is one of very few that actually turned out okay after being a child star. This week’s Transformation Tuesday is the one and only Hilary Duff. Hilary Duff made her claim to fame in the hit Disney channel original show Lizzie McGuire, where she stared in the show as Lizzie McGuire. Hilary Duff was in many movies throughout her childhood after Lizzie McGuire ended in 2004 including; Cadet Kelly, Cheaper by the Dozen, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Agent Cody Banks, A Cinderella Story, Raise your Voice, In Search of Santa, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, Gossip Girl, Beauty in a Briefcase, and so many more.

Hilary Duff made it real big during her teenage year but slowly fell out of fame and the lime light gradually until present day only making one to two movies each year. But Hilary’s fame didn’t stop at acting, once her acting career had fell and a little during; Hilary began a singing career, and has become an author, model, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and producer ever since. You could basically say that Hilary Duff can do anything!          

But then how has the fame not gone to her head some ask, considering she was such a huge star all throughout her life. Considering that so many other child stars, such as, Lindsey Lohann, Amanda Bynes, and the most popular these days, Miley Cyrus have wowed us all at how they have turned out after being such giant child stars. I don’t understand how Hilary managed to get to where she is today without and breakdowns or acting up, but my guess is she had a lot of support from her friends and family not to act up and ruin herself and her future career. Whatever she did obviously worked considering that now at the age of 26, Hilary is happily married to Mike Comrie, and recently had her first child Luca Cruz Comrie. So now we can officially say that at least one child star turned out okay in the end! I hope you  enjoyed this new addition to my blog, on “Transformation Tuesday”, I hope you enjoyed reading this blog, and tune back next week where I will discuss next weeks “Transformation Tuesday”