Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

The final Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is based on the book series by J.K. Rowling. It is being spilt up into two movies one that has already come out and the other coming out in theaters on July 15, 2011. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is about Harry, Ron, and Hermione going on a difficult quest to find and destroy the last of Voldemort’s Horcruxes. They need to destroy the Horcruxes so that Voldemort can truly be killed.

I’d have to say the biggest letdown that this movie had was that the film didn’t just keep going. I was really into the movie and I felt like it just stoped. After two hours and thirty minutes some people might just get tired of watching, but it didn’t feel like the story was finished. Sure it had a great stopping point but I just wished it kept going. I cannot wait till July 15th! After keeping up with all the movies over the past decade the series is finally coming to an end. In my opinion, this is the best series ever and I’m sad to see it go. This series has the best effects, even in the first movie ten years ago. Since this movie is all about magic, I can’t believe they made the story look so realistic. It’s amazing. I also love the acting of the three main actors. They work really well together throughout all the films and I’m glad that they kept the same actors in all the movies. If you haven’t seen these films, which I highly doubt because you’d be hiding under a rock, you have to see them! The last movie comes out on July 15th and it’s going to be epic! :)

Blogging

My blogging experience is probably different from yours. Since blogging is required in my English 9 class I have to write several blogs about my chosen topic, TV shows and movies. If it weren’t for this class, I probably wouldn’t and never would have created a blog. I believe that having to create this blog for class was a positive aspect in many ways. First, this forced me to do something that I probably wouldn’t have done on my own. Now that I have tried and done a little bit of blogging I will probably continue blogging on my own personal blog. Everyone in our class

had to write their own blog. Reading other people’s blogs is a good way to learn something new about a subject that we normally don’t know about and learn a little bit more about each other. Finally, I believe it is necessary to have a variety of different types of writing in english class. Having just formal essays and assignments makes the class boring. Blogging is something different and I’m glad that our teacher included blogging as one of our assignments this year. I would totally recommend her continuing this particular assignment with next year’s class.

Prom Night (2008)

Prom Night is a movie about the life of Donna Keppel. Donna had a high school teacher whose name is Richard Fenton. He was obsessed with her and would do anything to be with her. In the beginning of the movie, he comes to her house looking for her and he ends up killing her family. Donna was there and had to witness this terrible tragedy. Luckily, he was caught and was sent to prison for life. After three years of losing her family, she is still under psychological treatment, but is feeling much better. She attends her senior prom. It is supposed to be the best night of her life. Donna was with her boyfriend and her best friends and nothing could be better than this night. That is until the psychopath Richard Fenton escapes prison and finds Donna at the hotel. He would kill anyone that would get in his way of him being with Donna, even her friends.

Even though this movie is freaky and scary I totally recommend it. I’m not much of a fan when it comes to scary movies, but this one is the exception. This movie kept me guessing at every event that was happening. It was just unpredictable. Trying to guess what is going to happen is always fun and even though this movie is scary, it’s entertaining.

Cloverfield

The United States Defense Department finds a videotape in what used to be Central Park in New York. The video recordings start off at a going away party. Rob Hawkins’s friends decided to throw him a surprise going away party because he decides to accept a job offer in Japan and is leaving the next day. All of a sudden, there was an earthquake that occurs and the people at the party see the news that a ship has capsized in the harbor area. They go to the penthouse to see what was going on and see the accident. There were explosions that was going on in the city. Getting to safety, everyone runs downstairs. There was a monster destroying New York. The movie is captured on the tape recording that the friend was using to record the party. It follows the group’s night trying to escape. Before escaping the monster, Hawkins needs to save a friend who he’s in love with.

During the movie, I was trying to picture myself in their shoes. Imagining myself trying to escape and survive this event was horrifying. It seemed like one of my bad dreams or something. It’s was obvious that the monster didn’t exist in real life and it seemed like it could happen because everyone says that the world is going to end. I just pictured this movie to be the end of the world. Throughout this movie I felt sorry for the characters because all this movie had was tragic events. Even though the movie was depressing at times, it is still a movie to see.

Life as We Know It

"Life as We Know It" is about Holly and Eric. There was another couple, Peter and Allison who are happily married. Holly was best friends with Allison and Eric was best friends with Peter. Once Peter and Allison had a baby whose name is Sophie, Holly and Eric become Sophie’s godparents. At one point, Holly and Eric were set up on a blind date and it was a disaster. They were not meant to be together. But one night, Allison and Peter both die in a car crash leaving their daughter Sophie to Holly and Eric. This seems absolutely crazy because Holly and Eric just couldn’t be together; But they had to take care of Sophie because she had no one else. Holly and Eric set their differences aside and tried to raise Sophie as best as they could. Of course, they run into some problems on the way.

The one problem I have with romantic comedies is that all the stories seem to be the same. This movie actually proved me wrong. Even though this movie was depressing at times, I still laughed at many different parts of the story. The amusing parts weren’t predictable and were original. One of the qualities of this movie was that it was realistic. The plot of the movie seemed like it could happen to someone in the world.

Salt (2010)

Evelyn Salt is an agent that works for the CIA and is highly respected by many people for the accomplishments she as done for her country. One day Orlov, a Russian defector, shares crucial information with Evelyn; The Russian president will be assassinated when he attends the funeral of the U.S. Vice President. Orlov says that the assassin is a women named Evelyn Salt. This assassination is all apart of Orlov’s plan called “Day X”. This was an operation that has been organized since the Cold War. The operation’s purpose was to destroy the United States. In order for this to happen, Orlov trains a group of young Russian kids. Once the Russians are trained, they are sent to the United States to blend in and work for the U.S. Government. Once “Day X” arrived the Russian group will strike. Salt is a part of this group. But there is something different about her.

When I first watched Salt, I could not believe that the movie ended so suddenly. I was still guessing the events that I thought were going to happen next and it just ended. I was so into the movie that I felt like the story just started. Disappointed that the movie was over, I still thought it was awesome. The action and the stunts that Salt did during the movie were mouth dropping and I didn’t even know that some of the stunts existed. Salt is one of those movies were you have to watch it a second time in order to get it. And it was twice as good.

Make It or Break It

ABC Family’s television drama series, Make It or Break It, is a story about the lives of four gymnasts whose goal in life is to make it to the 2012 Olympics.  These four gymnasts are: Payson, Lauren, Kaylie, and Emily.  Each of these girls live very different lives and have problems of their own, but they all have gymnastics in common.

Payson is the most focused and determined athlete at “The Rock”, which is the (fictional) elite gym that they train at.  Because of this reason, she is the best female gymnast in the gym.  Payson had a back injury in the past and after practicing for Nationals, it flared up.  But since she her determination dominates her, she ignores it and keeps training.  When she competes at Nationals, Payson falls and injures her back. This back injury is very serious and she was told that she couldn’t do gymnastics anymore. Payson has to deal with this career changing news and figure out a way to be the same gymnast she was.

Lauren is a two-faced liar and the one that stirs up all the drama between the girls. She does many things to make the other girls hate her. In the beginning of the season, she betrays all of the athletes in the gym because she goes to another gym with their head coach before competition.  This is very bad because without a head coach, the gym and the athletes are a mess.  Also, she stabs Kaylie in the back because she sleeps with Kaylie’s boyfriend, Carter, which they both fight over throughout the first season.  Even though Lauren acts out and hurts many people, she is the most vulnerable character on the show.  The reason for this is because her mother leaves her at a very young age.

Kaylie is the National Champion.  She would not have achieved this if it weren’t for Payson’s back injury, but since she was runner up, she won.  When Kaylie won, everyone thought her luck was the reason why she won and not because she was a good athlete.  This brought the most pressure for Kaylie because she believed that they were right.  Having to live up to the title when everyone thinks you don’t deserve it brings a lot of pressure and this pressure pushes Kaylie to work harder to beat the best athlete in the world on the China team.  Kaylie has to deal her relationship issues with Carter, as well as her parent’s divorce.

Emily is the new comer and the outcast of the show.  Since “The Rock” is an elite gym, it would be very expensive to train there. The reason why she can even train at “The Rock” is because she earns a scholarship from them. Emily has this scholarship because her family is economically challenged and this hurts her gymnastics career in many ways.  First, it is one of the rules at “The Rock” that the athletes aren’t allowed to have jobs.  Second, she has to worry about her family members and if the electric bill has been paid. Finally, if they want to take their career far, as their coach says “you need to eat, breathe, sleep gymnastics”, meaning they can’t have any other distractions. Having this job wears her out and distracts her from her gymnastics career. Emily’s job at the Pizza Shack soon hurts her and is used against her to take her scholarship away. Another issue that she has to deal with is her experience.  She has only trained at the YMCA in a small town in California.  This isn’t enough and doesn’t compare to the other girls who have been training at “The Rock” for most of their lives.  Training at “The Rock” is a big opportunity for her because that’s the only way that she can become a serious and well known athlete.

This TV show is one of my favorites out of the many TV shows that I watch, so I totally recommend that you try the Pilot.  If you just watch one episode, you’ll be hooked like I was. J

Vampire Diaries

The Vampire Diaries is a supernatural drama-horror TV show that is based on the book series by the author, L. J. Smith. This series is about the Elena Gilbert.  Due to her parents dying in a Car crash, Elena isn’t the same person she was before the accident. She becomes unhappy and distant like anybody who loses both their parents.  But everything changes when a new guy comes to Mystic Falls. Stefan Salvatore comes back to his hometown after 145 years. Now, you probably are thinking that I wrote the wrong number of years right? It’s not possible that someone can live for more than 145 years.  Well, in this case, it’s possible.  Stefan Salvatore is a vampire. Elena soon falls for Stefan and their lives become more and more complicated when Stefan’s vampire brother, Damon comes into town.  Damon is a totally different person from Stefan. Vampires need blood to survive. Stefan denies himself blood to avoid killing, while Damon doesn’t care about anyone and who he kills.  Both brothers begin to show affection towards Elena, but this isn’t some coincidence.  145 years ago when Damon and Stefan were in Mystic Falls and both human, there was a girl named Katherine.  They both fall in love with Katherine, but this turns around when she turns them into vampires.  She ends up leaving them and breaking their hearts.  Since Katherine looks exactly like Elena, history repeats. The main focus of this series is the love triangle between them and the vampire problems they bring to Elena’s world. 

Glee

The musical comedy-drama TV show, Glee finally comes back next week! This show is about a high school’s glee club, located in Ohio, trying to stay alive and not get kicked out by the cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester.  Will Schuester is the Spanish teacher at the school. He has always liked to sing and dance like the kids in this glee club.  Throughout the show, Will is passionate about the kid’s talent and wants them to succeed in Sectionals. Sue Sylvester is the coach of the cheerleading squad and does everything in her power to try to kick the glee club out.  Will and Sue are always in a battle.  The kids on the other hand, have problems of their own.  In high school, being in the glee club isn’t really an honor or something to be proud of like when you’re on a varsity team, but every high school student thinks it’s a joke.  The high school students show this by dumping slurpy drinks on the kids from the glee club.  But despite everyone having a negative opinion on this idea, the glee club kids stay in glee club.  They sing and dance to songs that are popular in today’s music, but they make the song their own.  Later, these songs are released on iTunes and are a big hit.  I’ve also like a lot of the songs that came out and if you haven’t heard them, go to iTunes right now.  They have a variety of different genres and songs that everyone will enjoy.  

Hellcats

Are you a fan of Bring It On! or Step Up 2? If you are, then this is the show for you! This comedy-drama series is about Marti (Alyson Michalka), who is a lawyer student at a college called Lancer; Lancer is located in Memphis, Tennessee. Marti is a serious student that wants to be successful and graduate college, but she looses her scholarship which is what is keeping her in school. Marti must now find a new way to stay in college, which she does by entering cheerleading tryouts for the school’s cheerleading team, Hellcats. If she makes the cheerleading team, then she gets a new scholarship and stays in school. Of course Marti makes it and she is introduced into a totally different world: Cheertown!

I like the characters in this show. In the beginning, I thought that my favorite character would be Marti, but she turned out to be a very big cliche character. The character that I ended up liking most is Savannah (Ashley Tisdale). Savannah is the cheerleading captain of the Hellcats. In the beginning of the series, Savannah looks like she would be the snobby queen-bee, but she turned out to be the complete opposite. She has a bubbly personality and is loyal to her teammates. Savannah’s actions really surprise me because she’s very benevolent. There was an event in the story where the Hellcats had to compete against the Volleyball team to prove that they are athletes too. Marti couldn’t attend this competition because her academic class had a trip which was very important for her education. Knowing that Marti is only using cheerleading to get a scholorship in her education and is choosing the success in herself rather than the team, Savannah doesn’t reveal this to the team. This shows her loyalty to Marti and how she understands Marti’s situation. Not only does this show have unique characters, but it’s very entertaining to watch the world of cheerleading and their routines. I totally recommend this TV show! :)

The Biggest Loser

The Biggest Loser is a reality television series that targets people that are obese.  The contestants have to battle against each other to lose as much weight as they possibly can. Whoever loses the highest percent of weight will be crowned “The Biggest Loser”. Now, being crowned “The Biggest Loser” doesn’t necessarily mean that the competitor is the worst loser; being the biggest loser is a good thing. If the contestant beats everybody that they are playing against, they will win a large amount of money. In the USA version of The Biggest Loser, the contestant wins $100,000. But the biggest prize of all is turning into a person with a healthier lifestyle. Winning isn’t just handed over to the contestants; it takes hard and painful work that will not have an affect overnight. The show lasts for twelve weeks so the competitor has to compete for a long term. 

Stop and think about how it would feel to be in one of the competitor’s shoes, weighing double your weight and having everybody staring at you. Not a good feeling right? There’s no wonder why many people want to compete in this show. Not only is it easier once they are in at the camp where everybody else is like them, but there are trainers there to help guide you through the process. Since this is a big issue in the United States, there are many people of different ages inspired to work on their own bodies while watching this show. This TV show has a positive effect world-wide because many people can relate to this issue. It shows people more information about their diet, nutrition, and also what different ways you can exercise. 

Charlie St. Cloud

Charlie St. Cloud is a romantic drama movie based on the book called The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood. The story is about the life of a young man who’s name is Charlie St. Cloud (Zac Efron). Charlie grieves over the death of his younger brother, Sam, who dies in a tragic car accident. Before the car accident, Charlie makes a deal with Sam; he would practice playing baseball with him every day at Sunset Cannons. Five years after the accident, Charlie continues practicing baseball with him; this is the only way that Charlie can see Sam. Aside from Charlie’s life with Sam, a new person comes into his life, Tess. Tess is a young women who was a classmate of his when they went to high school. Charlie and Tess become more and more involved in each other's life. The more that Charlie spends time with Tess, the less he gets to see Sam. He has to choose between grieving the past and getting to see his brother or having a future and living his life with the person he loves. 

The first thing that comes to mind when the name Zac Efron appears, is the movie High School Musical. Now that he has acted in a very different, more mature movie, I think that he now has a big career ahead of him. I thought he nailed the role and it really shows that he has talent. In my opinion, he is a better actor than a singer/dancer. He has done musicals in the past where he seemed like he hadn’t decided whether he wanted to be an actor or an artist. Now that he has done this movie, he has proved that acting is his strength and he wants pursue his acting career. Overall, I was astonished with Zac’s acting and I can’t wait for more of his movies to premiere. 

American Idol!

American Idol is a reality TV show where people from across American come to compete against each other. The point of this competition is to find a new artist that has a singing talent. The winner of the show is determined by the people watching each performance. Everybody can either call in or text to vote for the person they think is the best. 

I absolutely cannot wait until American Idol starts off. Just the other day, I was listening to a previous American Idol winner, then the idea popped up in my mind. I hadn’t heard anybody talking about it or I didn’t see any new singles come out on iTunes. It turns out that it had not even started yet! I still can’t believe that it comes back in January! That has never happened before. In the past, American Idol usually comes back on in the Fall season, but not this year. It will be worth it though. I love it when we get to see everybody audition, especially when I watch it with my friends. We have a lot of fun making fun of the people that stand out from the crowd. Overall, my favorite part of American Idol is picking the person that I think is the best and routing them for the whole season. I find it fun to listen to their version of the single that they covered. Many people have different styles and voices so it’s really interesting how much people can change the original song. 

Pretty Little Liars, Season 1

The TV show Pretty Little Liars is based on a book series by the author Sara Shepard. Pretty Little Liars is about four girls, Hanna, Aria, Emily, and Spencer, who have grown apart since their best friend’s death. After a year since Alison’s death, they all receive text messages from “A” and come together to try to stop “A” from revealing their darkest secrets. 

In my opinion, I really liked the cast that was chosen to play the characters. What I look for in the actors is if they can make the story believable and real and that’s what they achieved. I found that story overall has a great and unique plot. The show contains the usual teenage drama, but what shows don’t have that this one does is the mystery. This series has the perfect combination of the drama and mystery and that’s makes it unique. I also found that Pretty Little Liars has some of the aspects that Gossip Girl has like the mystery texts that revels their dark secrets and the rich teens that can get out of any situation with their money. If you like a drama series and the show Gossip Girl, you might like Pretty Little Liars. Pretty Little Liars is the type of show that drags you into the story and leaves you wanting more. I heard about this show when it came up in one of the conversations my cousins were having about the episode that aired the night before. They were so into trying to figure out who Alison was that I had to watch the TV show myself. Once I started watching it I was hooked. At the end of each episode I got so mad because I had to wait another week for the next episode. It was so addicting. The worst part of it is waiting till 2011 to continue watching :(, but it’s totally worth the wait. 

The Blind Side

The Blind side is a movie that is based on a true story. It is the story about the life of a homeless teenager named Michael Oher. Leigh Anne, who the is mother of the wealthy Touhys family, provides Michael with a home and makes sure that he lives up to his full potential. Although Michael showed his interest in football and made the team, the only thing holding him back from a NCAA Division I athletic scholarship was his grades. In the end, he becomes a All American football player and first round NFL draft pick and he couldn’t do it without the Touhys Family. 

Even though I'm not a big fan of the sport, football, I'm fan of this movie. I found that this movie was very inspiring because it shows that people can start from the bottom and be successful if they work hard. I think that many people can relate and feel connected to Michael with his situation, having nothing then having everything. I also found this movie heartwarming because of how much people can change a teenagers life. First, the community that it took place in was in a rich white neighborhood. Once Leigh Anne took in a African-American homeless teenager everybody thought she was crazy. I found that the most heartwarming because she ignored what everybody thought and did what she thought was right. Her reward from doing that was adopting a loving son and seeing him be very successful. 

V (TV Show 2009)

V (2009) is a science fiction TV show that is about the lives of people after the arrival of the "Visitors". The "Visitors" are creatures that look like humans on the outside, but come from outer space. Their leader, Anna, says they mean no harm and only peace. The Visitors win the human race over with their new technology that help the people tremendously. As the show goes on, it shows reveals more and more of why the Visitors are really there. The TV show that I will be referring to is the series that was remade in 2009, not the original series that was made 1983 :). 

The shows that I typically watch are more dramatic based, but this show’s genre is science fiction. What makes it unique is that it has the fiction side of the story and the real part of the story as well. The fiction part includes alien technology and the way that the Visitors live. The plot is different too because the story is based on the fate of the humans, not just the complicated relationships between the characters like in a regular drama series. There is some drama between the characters, but adding in the fiction part of it makes the story even more interesting than it already is. V leaves me wanting more because I want to know the end result of why the Visitors are there and what will happen to the humans in the process. 

The Last Song (Movie)

The Last Song is a movie about a teenage girl, Ronnie, who is forced to stay with her dad for the entire summer. Her parents were separated three years before so she’s not a happy camper. Her parents divorce changed everything about her. In the beginning of the movie she was a very dark and sad person, but that changed when she met a boy. As the movie went on she fell in love and she got closer to her dad. The conflict of this story was when she finds out that her father has cancer. The story is about the events in her summer. 

When this movie came out I was very excited to go and see it because the movie was based on a book by the author Nicolas Sparks. Some of my favorite movies were based on his books so I was really excited. But as soon as I found out that Miley Cyrus was the main actress I became hesitant to watch it. I didn’t enjoy her work in the past like her TV show, Hannah Montana, but since it was based on Nicolas Sparks book I had to go see it. It turned out to be a good movie despite her acting. The story and the relationship between Ronnie and Will was real and they also made it funny. I think a lot of people can relate to the situation that Will had, which was his parents not being there for him or Ronnie’s situation with the divorced parents.

My Sister’s Keeper Book Review

My Sister’s Keeper is a story about a family that contains a family member with cancer. Kate has the cancer called leukemia and for this reason the family decides to have another baby, Anna, in order to help save Kate’s life. Anna is a perfect donor match to Kate and that would help Kate survive longer than she was supposed to. But once Anna finds out that she needs to donate her kidney to her sister, she sues her parents for the rights to her own body. If she did this, Kate would die. The only reason she sues her parents was because Kate didn’t believe she would survive anyways and if Anna lost her kidney, that would change her life. In the end, after Anna wins the case and has the rights to her own body, she gets into a car crash. The car crash was so bad that after getting to the hospital, Anna was going to die. They donate Anna’s kidney to her sister and Kate stays in remission for at least six years. 

I originally watched the movie when it came out instead of reading the book. Many people said that the movie was really different from the book and the book was ten times better, so I had to see for myself. I enjoyed reading this book because the story is so different from what I normally read and that’s what kept me reading. Also, I liked the authors message which was anybody can take control of their own life. Many people can probably relate to Anna’s situation of being controlled and not being able to make their own decisions. This book shows that anybody in any situation can find a way to gain control and have free will. I enjoyed reading this book and I look forward to reading more books by the author, Jodi Picoult. 

Background Blog

I got to say right off the bat that I don’t have a specific topic I’m going to be writing about. Although I’m not certain about the theme of this blog, I know what this post will be about. Let me give you some background information about myself. To begin with, I’m half American and half Filipino. I’ve lived overseas my entire life due to my dad working for an oil company. Currently, I am living in the country called Venezuela and attending an international school. The activity that I’m most active in is sports. Students are able to travel to different places to compete with other schools. We have one tournament within Venezuela and another competing against the schools in the Caribbean.

Entertainment is probably the biggest hobby of mine. I love watching different TV shows and keeping myself up to date with them. There are so many different TV shows out there that it’s hard to just watch one. Another interest that I have is playing different instruments. My main instrument that I play right now is the drums. I’ve been playing the drums for about three years. I sometimes play the piano, but that’s only for fun. Guitar was another instrument that I have played, but I don’t enjoy it as much as playing the drums. In addition, I love listening to music. Having headphones in my ears everywhere I go proves it. Hip-Hop/Rap and Pop are the main genres that I listen to. I spend a lot of time looking for new songs to download. I absolutely cannot stand old kinds of music. What I mean when I say “old music” is music released at a date that is older than I am. As soon as someone puts it on I get really annoyed. I also don’t really like strong country or heavy metal.