Beyond the Lights (2014)

Synopsis
Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is a pop star with a seemingly great life but this great life causes her to try and take her own life by jumping off the balcony of her hotel building. Luckily, her bodyguard Kaz (Nate Parker) comes to her rescue. This is the start of their relationship and they end up changing each other's lives in the process.

My Verdict
In short, I loved it. It is a great romantic drama with a little bit of comedy thrown in. Nate and Gugu gave amazing performances and their chemistry was equally amazing. The whole cast was fantastic. Minnie Driver played Noni's mom, Danny Glover played Kaz's dad, and we even got some Aisha Hines and I love it when she pops up on my screen.
Another great thing about this movie was the soundtrack. I've never wanted to go out and find the soundtrack to a non-musical movie before this one. I will definitely be rocking out to this music in the future. They really did an awesome job with this and I heard that Gugu did all her own singing. This girl has some real talent!
Lastly, I want to talk about the message of this film. It was very much about choosing your own path for yourself and not letting anyone choose it for you. This was definitely a theme for both Kaz and Noni. Both of their parents were forcing them to live their lives in ways that they didn't want to and they both had to learn to live their lives for them and no one else.
Another theme it touched on was depression ans suicide. Like I said above, Noni tried to take her life and she was depressed. The movie really touched on how you need to get help because you want it and not because someone else wants it for you.
Lastly, the movie also touched on the sexualization of woman in the music industry. This was an unspoken theme as it was seen more than said. We really only got one seen were we saw this and that was it. Honestly, I liked it better that way. This movie had the potential to be a PSA with this, but it wasn't. With all the other themes that were in this movie I think that this would've taken it over the top. It would've become just one big PSA instead of a great romantic film.
I'm giving this movie a 10/10.

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Scandal - Where the Sun Don't Shine

There are so many things that I want to comment on with this episode. This is just going to be one long rant that I hope you enjoy.

So Rowan is cleaning house. Dude is packing up and going God knows where. So he scurried off and left Mama Pope in the hole for Olivia to find, which she did. Now Maya will face the consequences of all her crimes. She didn't see that coming though. She really thought Olivia was going to get her off or something, but no. Olivia is so done with her parents at this point. Maya's getting charged and she wants Rowan dead. Jake is still on the hunt for Rowan and tries really hard to find and kill him but he failed, again. Again I'll say, another failed attempt to kill Rowan. The only person that actually came close was Olivia and let's talk about that scene. Holy crap that scene! First off, Rowan lost all his marbles now. Dude went off the crazy deep end last night! This scene was really heartbreaking. Both of them were willing to kill the other. I'm a little shocked that Rowan was shocked Liv pulled the trigger. He had to think that there was a possibility that she would try to kill him. Why else would he bring an empty gun? Also Joe Morton deserves another Emmy for that scene alone. Some truths were said during that conversation. Rowan said that Olivia was acting just like him and she was. I mean, she said it herself that she was handling things just like her father. I think that now that Liv realized what she's become she will change. When we'll fully see that change, who knows since she's been kidnapped! Jake is as much of a super spy as Katrina Crane! (All you Sleepy Hollow fans will get that.) How in the world did he not hear her getting kidnapped?! He sucks!
And now on to that Kubiak guy and Liz. Everything really was connected because Liz and Andrew wanted Fitz to go to war with West Angola. Why, we don't know. But they want this war so bad that they planted the bombing on Andrew and took the one thing Fitz can't live without, Olivia. And now Liv is gone again and we are all wondering, again, where on Earth is Olivia Pope.
Cy's life almost went completely down the drain because Liz leaked those "sexy time pictures" of him and that prostitute. He even gave Fitz his resignation because it seemed like there was nothing else better to do. That scene was so heartbreaking. Cyrus loved that job and it was the closest thing to him being president. But in the end Olivia gave him the epic pep talk he needed to do what had to be done so he could stay in the white house.
Must mention Quinn and Charlie. These two, these two. I don't know how I feel about their relationship but at least something good came out of it with those B613 files. Maybe now Huck's wife can understand what happened to him and maybe he'll be able to see Javi again. Or it'll just scare the living daylights out of her, but let's not hope for that.
Also Mellie was on screen for like 5 minutes and killed it. I mean, she is still queen of that white house.
Lastly, I want to talk about Olivia and the choice she made. SHE CHOSE HERSELF!! FINALLY! I mean, I have been waiting for her to choose herself and now she's done it. No more #TeamFitz or #TeamJake for her. She only #TeamLiv now and I've been on that team for a while now. This make me oh so happy. Also, is she really happy now? Ever since Maya told Rowan she used to give Olivia popcorn when she was sad I've strongly believed that she was unhappy. Her life isn't that great but all she eats is popcorn so I think of that as an indicator if her happiness. But in that final scene she actually got real food. So does that mean she's happy? What do you think?

Over all this was a fantastic episode! The whole cast and crew deserves all the awards for this. Special shout out to the music department for the "Endless Love" placement and just all the music from the episode. Bravo. Since we have to wait a whole 2 months for it to come back I'm going to leave you with a few of my favorite quotes from last night. Please let me know what you think will happen when it comes back. This may be the only way I survive the hiatus.

"Olivia, watch yourself." ~ Rowan
"Look around, boo." ~ Maya
And any time they say bitch baby! (LOL)

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Scandal - The Last Supper

I'm not quite sure that, even after a second viewing, I've completely processed everything I saw. With that being said, I am going to try to give you some kind of review for this insane episode.

Everything is connected
So Elizabeth North is working with Kubiak who has pictures of Olivia which means that she could know why Olivia's being stalked. They're probably trying to get solid proof that Olivia is having an affair with Fitz so they can take him down and get him out of the white house. My question is why did Elizabeth ask Liv for help? Did she have some kind of hidden agenda because she really could've gone to anyone with that problem. I mean, they probably wouldn't have been able to figure out who was hacking her phone like Huck but they still could help. In the end, she still never found out it was Cyrus. Unless, she already knew and wanted to see if Olivia would lie for him!
Also, she's having an affair with Andrew of all people. (Sucks for Mellie) That is something I never saw coming. I'm pretty sure Andrew isn't 100% okay with Fitz politics, so it makes sense that he would like Elizabeth.
Also, Huck killed Kubiak and I can't wait to see the fallout from that. (Javi is traumatized now and we'll talk more about this later)

Fitz, Olivia and Jake vs. Rowan
How many failed attempts to take down Rowan/B613 have there been?! These people try and try and fail miserably. He will always be 525600 steps ahead of everyone. I wonder what made them think things would be different this time around?
Can we talk about this unholy trinity for a second and how Liv could've kicked them to the curb and take care of this herself. She was the one that came up with a much better plan than them. None of them would've worked though.
So Rowan figured it all out and is not protecting Olivia anymore, but what exactly was he protecting her from. Was it Fitz, because she ended up being with him anyway. It could be Jake because Rowan sent Jake to her. So what was it? Kubiak? What is this great danger that's coming? Trying to figure Rowan out is the most difficult thing ever! He must really think he's god with that whole "you have forsaken me" line. Olivia was definitely the Judas here. Wow, this really was a last supper. (I love this show!)
Also, where is Rowan going and where was he before he came to D.C.? I know he said he was from Detroit so is that where he's going? This all got me thinking, did they ever say where Olivia was from. Like, did she live in D.C. all her life? I can't remember if they said this or not. And how did Rowan and Maya even meet? I just have so many questions! I need more flashback episodes and I hope we get them because we have yet to this season.

Huck
He may have destroyed his relationship with Javi forever. Seeing your father kill a stranger while on a stakeout at his "private detective" job probably isn't the best bonding experience. If this kid isn't fazed by it then he truly is his father's son. It's just really sad because they were just starting to get close and now it's all ruined. This is the worst thing that could happen because he could tell his mom and Huck will be on his way to jail.

Overall this episode was great. It left me with a lot of questions and I have no clue what's going to happen in the winter finale. That promo though! I am so here for Liv with a gun but I wish the circumstances didn't make it necessary. Hopefully we finally find out why she's being stalked because I can't take not knowing anymore. What do you guys think is going to happen in the winter finale?

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Scandal - Baby Made a Mess

Now this was the best episode this season so far. The acting, the writing, everything about it was just fantastic. I laughed, I gasped, I had the feels. Basically I felt all of the emotions and really needed a minute to gather myself back together.

"They came, we fixed, we conquered"
This week we met Abby's ex-husband, Charles/Chip, because Fitz endorsed him for the republican Senate candidate. Leo Bergen also came back because he's running Chip's campaign. Abby was so hardcore in this episode. I mean, from not being shook in Chip's presence to pulling a gun on him. This is why she is my favorite person. In the end, Chip removes himself from the competition, Abby and Leo finally got to smooch and it was about dang time! I guess Dabby is over. And I can't talk about this without saying that Darby Stanchfield gave an amazing performance. I'm happy this is the season of Abby.

"Chicken Fried Mellie"
Old school Mellie is back. The one that always has her political career in mind. The one that thinks that she's functional and not ornamental. (How many thought Fitz was going to give her that speech again?) I just want to see how this all works out because she's going to be like this whether Fitz wants her to or not. Will this all work out or is this all a bad idea?

Baby Huck
I'm talking about Javi, not Quinn. Huck is still playing videogames with his son and they were supposed to meet up but Huck couldn't do it. But that didn't stop Javi from using his computer smarts to track Huck down. Like father, like son. Huck continues to give me the feels. It's just so sad because he's not going to be able to tell Javi the whole truth and what will happen when his mom finds out?! Now that Javi knows Huck is his father maybe they can have a relationship. I hope.

"Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships"
Olivia was trying to get into super max and everyone thought that it was because she wanted to see Jake but really she wanted to see Tom and that scene, that scene. I mean the writing was just amazing. Tom Larsen and that Rowan-esq monologue he gave was just everything. And Olivia, acting like her father to get what she wanted; the truth. If she wasn't my favorite character she would be now. So now they all know that Rowan was behind Jerry and Harrison's death. What are they going to do? How ever they go about bringing Rowan down I hope they are smart about it because their past attempts failed. This time around it seems like they are one step ahead of Rowan, but we don't know what he has planned. I wonder if they will use Mama Pope against him?
Also I want to mention that scene between Olivia and Rowan. Number one, it was shot beautifully. Second, I love how Liv is standing up to Rowan now instead of cowering like a child like she did in the season 3 premiere. She has got her own agenda and she is not about to let Rowan change that. I love it.
Also, Fitz has lost all chill because of phone sex.
And let's not forget that Olivia is being stalked and we don't know why and what ever is coming is going to bad. I wish they would spend more time trying to figure this out. Rowan and Jake seem like 2 huge distractions. I just wonder if this is all connected. Like, is this was Rowan is ultimately protecting Olivia from?

Like I said before, this was an amazing episode. It looks like I was right about them finding out the truth about Rowan, it just happened a lot sooner than I thought. Which has me thinking what in thee heck is going to happen in this winter finale?! The pot has boiled over and all of the crazy is about to spill out! Also, Mama Pope lives! We got world this week that she is set to return and I can not wait to see it all go down! I need it to be next Thursday already! In the mean time, let's discuss theories in why Olivia is being stalked this time.

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