When The Game Stands Tall (2014)

Synopsis
This film is based on the true story of the Spartans; the football team of De La Salle High School. This football team amazingly had a 151 game winning streak which is better than any professional sports team ever. It follows the coach, Bob Ladouceur (Jim Caviezel) and the members of the team.

My Verdict
There were some great things about this movie and some not so great things about this movie. Let's start with the great things. It's very inspirational; there was no lacking there. That was really the main good thing about the movie and that's great. This movie is supposed to be inspirational and it is, so good job.
Another thing I like was that there were men genuinely expressing their feelings. It didn't seem forced or that they were trying too hard to show that. It felt real.
Lastly, this is a football movie and the way they shot the football game scenes were amazing! I felt like I was actually watching an NFL game and it was awesome. They did such a great job with that.
Here are the things that were troublesome. It seemed to lack focus. Certain members of the team had storylines but for some of them they just abruptly ended and we didn't hear from them again. Even if we see them again we don't find out what happened to them. They showed a little bit but there could've been more. There was also a storyline of a player that left me with some unanswered questions and that was really frustrating. And, the only thing that connected all the storylines were the football team but that wasn't a strong enough connection.
I was confused on whether this was a Christian movie or not. You would think that this was a movie that has Christian themes but to me it didn't (not that the themes were bad). It was just, the coach was their Bible teacher, even though they never confirmed that, and there was a church scene and that was it. There was no "trust in God/believe in God" moment.
Now this is based on a true story that I don't know much about but these stories are round because real life stories are round and come full circle. I just didn't get that full circle feeling with the way they portrayed the storylines.
I'm giving the movie a 5/10. It was predictable and I was entertained, it just wasn't super great or super bad. Oh, it's no "Remember the Titans" and I'm going to leave it at that.

IMDB page, Pic credit

Fall TV Schedule 2014

It's that time again; fall TV time! Here's my list of the show that I'll be watching this fall. There are trailers for all of of the new shows have trailers just in case you haven't seen it or want to watch again. I will live tweet every show. I'll also review each new show after 2 episodes unless it does a 2 hour pilot.
KEY: New Shows, New shows I may check out, Returning Shows 



Monday
Gotham - September 22nd, 8pm, FOX Trailer
(Jane the Virgin - October 13th, 9pm, CW) Trailer
State of Affairs - November 17th, 10pm, NBC Trailer
Sleepy Hollow - September 22nd, 9pm, FOX
The Blacklist - September 22nd, 10pm, NBC

Tuesday
(Forever - September 23rd, 10pm, ABC) Trailer
(The Flash - October 7th, 8pm, CW) Trailer
The Mindy Project - September 16th, 9:30pm, FOX
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - September 23rd, 9pm, ABC (NEW TIME!)

Wednesday
Red Band Society - September 17th, 9pm, FOX Trailer
Black-ish - September 24th, 9:30pm, ABC Trailer
The Goldbergs - September 24th, 8:30pm, ABC
Modern Family - September 24th, 9pm, ABC
The 100 - October 22nd, 9pm, CW

Thursday
How To Get Away With Murder - September 25th, 10pm, ABC Trailer
Gracepoint - October 2nd, 9pm, FOX Trailer
Scandal - September 25th, 9th, ABC (NEW TIME!)

Friday
Grimm - October 24th, 9pm, NBC

Sunday
(Utopia - September 7th, 8pm, FOX) Trailer
Resurrection - September 28th, 9pm, ABC

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Synopsis
All the humans and the government think that the Autobots are dangerous human killers. So whenever one is found it should be reported and eventually destroyed. Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) is a mechanic/inventor who's looking to invent something that will give him enough money to pay for all his bills and to send his daughter, Tessa (Nicola Peltz), to college. He find an old truck that ends up being Optimus Prime and instead of handing him over to the government, he escapes with him. Now his family must fight with the Autobots against the people that want them destroyed.

My Verdict
I liked this movie but I think the 3rd transformers was better. This movie was just too long. It was about 2 and a half hours which doesn't seem like a long time but it felt like it. It also took too long to figure out what the big problem was. It was almost 2 hours in before we found out who the real villain was and what was really going on. After a while I just really wanted it to be over. I know that sounds bad but I just wanted them to get to the point, defeat the bad guys and be done.
Also, it was predictable and there weren't enough twist and turns for me. There was one twist but it wasn't shocking at all and it was kind of obvious. They also kept talking about the creator of the Autobots and what they created them for and I'm thinking 'how long before we see them?' Are they really going to give us a 5th movie just so we can see the creator of the Autobots? I mean, all I want to know is who created them and I don't know if I want to sit through another 2 and a half hour movie to find that out.
I'm giving this movie a 6/10. I was really expecting something better and all I got was this long predictable movie. I will say the CGI was great and that was the only good thing about this movie. For now I'm just going to watch the 3rd one a leave it at that.

IMDB page, Pic credit

Switched at Birth - And Life Begins Right Away

This finale was the most shocking season finale this show had to date! (I feel like I've been saying that all season) This is a great thing because who wants a show that doesn't get better with each episode? Alright, let's get into to how I felt about it. 

First, Regina kissing Wes and almost going to Hawaii with him. I always felt that Wes had a thing for Regina ever since he first showed up so I wasn't shocked when he kissed her. Do I think she's going to Hawaii with him, probably not considering what's going on with her daughters. I think Wes needs to chill. Angelo just died and Regina is going through stuff with Bay and Daphne now. Also, I can't forget all those times Wes was a complete jerk to her. 

I wasn't shocked that Carlton was closing. Everyone is graduating so they don't really have a reason to show Carlton anymore. The closing just brought more sadness to the graduation. There were tears in my eyes for that scene, especially when Sharee sang 'Stand By Me' and when Travis' mom came. 

Now let's talk about the most shocking moments of the episode. Daphne got arrested and she started to take responsibility for her actions. I mean, finally! Finally she realized that what she was doing was wrong and now she has to suffer the consequences. 
The moment that I think no one saw coming was Bay taking the fall for it all at the police station. Why would she do that?! I get that she doesn't want Daphne to have this on her record, but does Bay realize that she is probably going to go to jail for this. Also if she gets caught they both will be facing serious consequences. I can't even imagine what their parents are going to think of this. I mean John was just crying about Daphne, this might give him a 2nd heart attack! And again I'm asking myself when will Daphne face the consequences for her actions. I don't want her to go to jail but she's the one that vandalized a work site while she was on probation. What did she think was going to happen?! Now we have to wait and see what happens next and I have no clue. 

This second half of season 3 brought out the best episodes of this show. In the other seasons there have been one or two episodes that were really good but in this half of this season almost every episode was amazing. I'm just really happy that they stepped it up this season. And all the issues that this show tackled, I mean this show is amazing. I'm so happy this show got a season 4 and I can't wait to see what it brings. 

Pic credit

Belle (2013)

Synopsis
This movie is about the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). Her mother was Black and her father was a royal navy admiral and the story takes place in 18th Century England. Dido was raised by her great uncle, Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson). The film takes place around the time of Dido's coming out when she influences her great uncle, a Chief Justice, to make changes that eventually end slavery in England.

My Verdict
I thought this movie was pretty fantastic. Dido was an amazing person and I wish I learned about her when I was in school. Gugu Mbatha-Raw's performance was fantastic. I was blown away. This movie was tough to watch mainly because of the time period when it took place, but that shouldn't discourage you from watching. It's an important story that people should know and it does have a happy ending. There's also a bit of a love story as well, so people who like that will be pleased.
The writer, Misan Sagay, gets my seal of  approval. I just love the fact that it was written and directed by women.
I'm giving it a 10/10. All I can say about this movie is that it's great and I think everyone should see it, multiple times! So there's my short and sweet review, but I do want to say one more thing.

Movies like this are really important. but rarely told. I didn't know who Dido was until this movie came out and that's a problem. My hope and wish is that more stories like this one are told and that more people support films like this one.

IMDB page, Pic credit

Switched at Birth - The Girl on the Cliff

It's the penultimate episode and everyone is going through something. 
First Bay and Emmett were voted prom king and queen and Bay wasn't having it at first. But the bigger issue was that the school implemented a dress code saying girls had to wear dresses and boys had to wear suits. Bay really wasn't having this, so to take a stand all the girls wore suits and it was awesome! The only question I had was why didn't the boys wear dresses? Sadly that jerk teacher wouldn't let them in, but the had their own prom outside so it all worked out. 

Toby and Tank were having problems because Toby took a DJing job at a party Tank's old frat was having. Of course Tank was upset about it, but they ended up making up pretty quickly. They got a little bromance going on. It's really interesting but if that means more Tank then I'm here for it. 

Now on to the problem child. Bay finally told the parents about everything Daphne has been doing and they had a sort of intervention for her. Everything came out in this intervention. Everything about Regina working with Coto and the gun and Daphne doing coke, it all came out and not one person knew everything. I'm just happy everyone finally knows about Daphne so she can get the help she needs. That was the only thing good that happened in her situation because after that she took oxy from the clinic and that got her fired. Then Wes got camera footage of the person who destroyed the worksite and Regina saw it and discovered Daphne was apart of it. Then Daphne and Regina got in a huge fight and Daphne went missing. Luckily they found her and now she's finally coping with Angelo's death. Daphne is suffering the consequences of her actions, which is what should happen, but it sucks because that means she might go to jail. 

Overall this was a good penultimate episode. Some crazy stuff is coming for us in the finale so let's talk about that preview. Yay for graduation but Daphne is going to get arrested! Toby is crying for God knows what reason and Regina kisses Wes! What in the world?! I have no idea what's going to happen and none of it looks good. Also, we have no clue as to what happens with Bay. Hopefully the sneak peaks will give us something. Until then, I'll be praying for Monday to come quickly.  

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Divergent (2014)

Synopsis
Tris (Shailene Woodley) lives in a society that is divided up into 5 factions; Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Erudite, and Dauntless. Each year, when they reach a certain age, the children take a test to determine what faction they belong to and then they choose a faction to stay in for the rest of their lives. When Tris takes the test and finds out she doesn't fit into one faction (Divergent), she has to decide what she's going to do to keep herself safe because being Divergent is extremely dangerous. This movie is based on the book of the same name.

My Verdict
I read the first 2 books last year so I was really excited to watch this movie. The only problem I had was that because I read the 2 books back to back, they sort of bled together in my head. So, I had to remind myself of what happened in the first and second book so I wouldn't get disappointed if I didn't see something.
Overall I really enjoyed the movie. Of course there were parts of the book that didn't happen in the movie and I've learned to except that with book adaptations. Also these changes didn't affect the plot in a major way. The one thing that I was really excited about seeing were the simulations and I thought they did an amazing job portraying them.
I'm giving this movie an 8/10. I didn't think it was epicly amazing but it was a good movie. Since I read the book before seeing the movie I was really looking to see if they captured the book and for the most part they did. I'll talk about what didn't happened that upset me in the spoiler section below.

I know a lot of people were comparing this movie to the Hunger Games, but I will not because I think they are 2 completely different movies with different themes. All I will say is that, if I had to choose, I would rather live in a Divergent world than a Hunger Games world. Also, I relate more to Tris. We live in a world where people are always trying to put people into a specific box and I don't fit into just one box. I am Divergent.

Spoilers
First off, when Al died in the book I was sad, but when he died in the movie I didn't feel that way. In the movie they kind of made him seem like the jerk that tried to kill Tris.
Second Tris was really upset when she killed Will and had a bit of a hard time doing it. The people who didn't read the book won't really understand why it was so hard for her. It wasn't just because they were friends but Christina liked Will and they were together (if I'm remembering correctly). They didn't show that in the movie at all.
They also didn't show them getting their revenge on the jerk that is Peter. He got stabbed in the eye during initiate training. I waiting for that and it didn't happen.
To end on a good note, I didn't like when they showed her zip lining and the capture the flag scene with them climbing the ferris wheel.

IMDB page, Pic credit

Switched at Birth - You Will Not Escape

The only thing I could say while watching this episode was "oh my gosh" and "what is happening?!" 
So, Kathryn and Regina go to New York for this event Kathryn's publisher is having and things get crazy! We find out that Kathryn had a wild past because one of her past lovers shows up and tries to spend some time with her. In order to get him to leave her alone she pretends that she and Regina are lesbians and they even share a kiss. (What is happening?!) I seriously thought it was someone else that was kissing Kathryn, but no, it was Regina. I think the most shocking thing about it all was that John wasn't bothered by any of it. Even the rumors and the twitter talk; he just saw it as a funny joke. I did not see that coming at all.

Bay is freaking out because she's finally seeing a doctor to see if she has an aneurysm or not. While waiting to get her results, at senior ditch day, the girl who she thought was Mandy shows up and tells Bay that she dumped her boyfriend because he didn't love her like Emmett loved Mandy. That makes Bay jealous and she breaks things off with Emmett. These 2 are always breaking up and making up. On top of that, on the way to get her test results Bay gets in a huge argument with Daphne and Daphne shoves her to the ground! (Oh my gosh!) Luckily her test showed no signs of an aneurysm and I'm happy about that. I don't know what I would've done if they put Bay's life in danger and gave her an aneurysm. Now she and Emmett are back together and she's decided to follow him to Cali for school! I don't know how I feel about that. I'm just mad that she only applied to one school. There were so many other schools she could go to and get into but (it seems like) she only applied to Pratt.

Lastly, let's talk about Daphne's shenanigans. I have no words for this girl. She's pissed at Regina for wanting to take Angelo's life insurance money and she pissed because Nacho played her, so she gets drunk and kisses Travis! (What is happening?!) Anyone who tries can't help her and everyone else is blinded by their own problems and life stuff to realize that she needs serious help. That fight she had with Regina at the end had me like "whoa!" I really didn't think it was going to come to that. I don't know what's going to happen to her. I hope it's not too bad but it seems like that's the only way everyone will see that she needs serious help.

Overall, I thought this was a good episode. I thought it was going to be more intense but it was just crazy. I'm just waiting for people to finally get Daphne the help she needs and it looks like that's going to happen next week. 

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