What If - Movie Review

What If is a movie about a guy named Wallace,  played by Daniel Radcliffe,  who has dropped out of medical school and hasn't had a very good reputation for getting into stable relationships. Just as he was about to give up on meeting someone, his old college roommate Allan, played by Adam Driver, introduces him to his cousin Chantry, played by Zoe Kazan. Chantry and Wallace seem to have hit it off right away but there was a problem. Chantry had a boyfriend. This was enough to make Wallace hold back his feeling and settle for being just friends. Chantry and her boyfriend seemed to have encountered some bumps in the road and those bumps cause them to end their 5 year relationship. This small, little window of opportunity was something that Wallace was waiting for and he obviously jumped  through that window before it closed. All of his wishes and fantasy's with Chantry came true because one year of he made that jump, they were engaged.

      What If is a romantic comedy that was released in theaters on August 8th, 2014. It was set in Toronto and was directed by Micheal Dowse. The main issue that this film raises is that whether or not it is okay to meddle in someone's relationship just because you have feeling for that person. In the film, you see this in the conversations that Wallace has with Allan. In these conversations, Allan would outline all of the choices and paths that Wallace could choice when dealing with his feeling for Chantry. The choices basically being a) meddle in the relationship and force them to break up, or b) patiently wait for their relationship to run its designated course and then swoop in. Wallace, being the man he is , decided to take the high road and chose option b. The main purpose of this film is similar to the main purpose in every other film, to entertain the audience that has come to see the movie. The major theme in this film is obviously LOVE. Every since the opening credits started rolling on the scene to the moment the ending credits started rolling on the scene the theme of love has all been present in the film. Whether it was finding love, keeping love, or even falling in love.

   Personally, I really enjoyed watching What If. I found it to be a fresh of breath air in the romantic comedy scene. Other rom-com films are typically the same story line but with this film I felt as if the scenery and dialogue between the characters offered something new to the table. The conversations were something that was believable and sounded like something that people would actually say to one another in real life. I felt as if the music kinda blended well with everything and allowed the movie to proceed smoothly. There wasn't any part of the soundtrack that was out of place and didn't belong with the rest of the film. Looking at the choice of actor, I felt like the chemistry and interaction between Wallace and Chantry was kinda awkward and offered a realness that isn't seen in the chemistry or interaction between other characters in other films.

     This was actually my first seeing Zoe Kazan act in anything. I felt like she has done a good and decent job at portraying Chantry, and am interested in seeing any other film that she has done. On the other hand with Daniel Radcliffe, I am actually a big fan of the Harry Potter franchise. I have read all the book and watch pretty much all of the films, but this was my first time seeing Radcliffe as anything other than the famous Harry Potter. I would have to say that it was a very interesting experience. At the start of the film I had thoughts and bias feeling that he wouldn't do a good job at showcasing Wallace; but towards the end of the film I had abandoned those thought and realized that he did a good job at portraying Wallace.

      Just like any other film, What If has both weaknesses and strengths. The strength of the films was that it offered something new to the romantic comedy genre, It brought that awkward freshness that felt real to the audience and allowed them to develop connections to the characters that the actors brought to life. Another strength that film has is the cute and corky dialogue and interactions between the characters. This also made the film relate able to the audience. A weakness that some critics and others have found with the films is that the film resembles When Harry Met Sally. They say that the film is sort of a knock off version of the famous rom-com.

   Personally, I really enjoyed the films and felt that it was a cute, corky, and super awkward film. Watch the trailer down below and comment on whether you agree with me and enjoy the film/trailer or not.

Would you go to Mars ?

Mars is the latest buzz that everyone is talking about (no not the chocolate bar), whether you're a student, a teacher, a stay at home mom or a bus driver, everyone is talking about the one way trip to mars.

Yes, you read it right "one way" meaning no return. I was just as shocked as you are, I though " who would want to go to mars and leave their families, their friends, their spouses" but boy was I wrong, over 200,000 people applied for the once in a lifetime trip.

The Mars project  will establish a permanent human settlement on Mars, the only requirement needed is that all participants are 18 and over as well as the inconvenience that the trip will  take up to a year just to land on mars. Over the next two years a selection committee will narrow down that pool to up to 40 candidates, who then will then begin a seven years of training.

Although it sound crazy there are perks to this project like the fact the the candidates that do go to mars will be written in history as the first humans to ever step foot on Mars. However their is more disadvantage to going on the once in a lifetime trip such as not being about to have all live a comfortable life as they do on earth. They won't have an endless supply of water, they wont be able to communicate with loved ones, they wont be connected with what is happening on earth, they don't know what the conditions will be like up there, and there wont be an endless supply of food and I'm pretty sure there isn't any living organisms living on Mars

I personally wouldn't go based on the fact that I love hanging out with my friends too much  and catching up on the latest TV shows and movies, and who am i kidding I enjoy my long showers, which i wont be afford at Mars.

To learn more about The Mars Project click this link and be sure to watch the video

The Intouchables

The Intouchables is foreign french film following the life of Philippe who is quadriplegic due to a Para-sailing accident. Philippe's household staff were interviewing new caregivers for Philippe and ended up hiring Driss who is and ex-con. The film was a huge success and has made millions of dollars world wide and won numerous prestigious  awards and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globe.

Although many people enjoyed the film and the loving qualities possessed by the characters not everyone put it on their "movies I'll watch again" list. After reading multiple reviews i stumbled upon Roger Ebert's review on the film, he thought the movie was a cliche and that the film give a "simplistic reduction of racial stereotypes" and that the only reason people enjoyed the film beyond the awful script was the fact that the audience began to feel affection for the characters and what made them happy made the audience happy.

I disagree with Roger Ebert, i thought the film was a light heart, funny, and captivating. Yes, the movie might be a cliche but who doesn't like a feel-good movie about two polar opposite people who come together and give each other a new lease on life. I feel like roger failed to see the true message of the film and instead judged it on a few scenes that he thought were directed in a racial way. I would definitely recommend this movie to my family and friends to watch.

Is Toronto Failing You?

Recently Toronto life dedicated it's magazine  as the voice to many Torontonians whose story's are being ignored and have no voice hence the hash-tag #Torontisfailingme. This hash-tag has created a lot of buzz amount the citizens of Toronto, with numerous amount of people telling their story on why Toronto has failed them.

David deBelle, is the current principle at Lawrence  Heights, he talks about how due to the location of the school kids don't feel safe. The number one priority for any school anywhere in the world is safety, that's what makes kids want to come to school and learn. Davids talks about how one of the schools staff members was a victim of gun violence when her 15 year old  son was shot on his was home from tutoring lessons. David and other staff members at Lawrence heights, regularly patrol the halls in order to make the students feel reassured. This is how Toronto has failed teachers, students, and parents.

Considering everyone looks at Toronto as a huge city of opportunities. An obvious issue with Toronto is our horrible bus service. To think we have one of the biggest cities in the world, and one of the biggest populations, we don’t have enough buses. Waiting for the bus when it’s freezing cold outside is the worst thing, and then having the bus come and then be fully packed is even worse. I think that if our government wants to take a lot of money from their citizens, there should be some improvements. Bus fare, and the prices for metro passes are on a rise and one would assume that there would be better bus service, but clearly there has not been any. The beautiful thing about Toronto, is that we have a very diverse and multicultural environment. You would think that since Toronto is so multicultural, there wouldn’t be such a great amount of racism, but sadly we do. It’s sad to think that as a black female, as I walk into stores I still get followed and looked at very differently just because of my race. I would assume because we have so many different cultures and backgrounds in this one big city, these things wouldn’t happen. 

What's Truly Important ??

 OR      

Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki, talks about the governments lack of care of the environment due to cheap fossil fuels. In his blog, Davids says that the large amount of cheap fossil fuels is what has driven technological, industrial and economical expansions over the last century. He say that because of this we should all look closely at the way we are  living, and because of the huge depends on fossil fuel we cant completely avoid it's use. He argues that the environment is being harmed due to the high levels of energy, but instead of worrying about that the governments desire is to be a fossil-fuelled energy-export superpower. To show how little the dilemma is on the governments radar is the fact that Canada doesn't even have a national energy plan !!!!! the government doesn't even think its a priority. David says that our leader should be more focus on out long term health instead of short term profits from the cheap fossil fuel and to start talking about future plans for energy.

I absolutely agree with David Suzuki based on that fact that the government and a matter of fact everyone else myself included shows a blind eye to environmental issues, we care more about the latest Grey's Anatomy episode then we do about the environment. Everyone has this minds set that its not their problem and that one person can't make any change. You would think that by now we would have learned our lesson with the fact that burning fossil fuel is a major reason for the change in temperature in the atmosphere causing global warming but I guess that's not enough proof that we are doing everything wrong. We should be cherishing the environment, that's we get all our natural resources from, but i guess with the new advancement in technology it made us lose our touch with nature. If everyone were to put in as much care and effort  in the environment as they due to latest trend and movies we would have solved numerous environmental issues.

For years the media has been informing us of global warming to the point were the public doesn't even take it seriously no more, but how much would that change if we realized that global warming affects us more then we think. New research from the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society shows the powerful influence of global warming in Australian climate. In 2013, Australia experiences its hottest day, month, summer, spring, and hottest year on record. People are failing to realized about how big global warming really is. Australian national university researcher Sophie Lewis says " Too often we talk about climate change impacts as if they are far in the future" but the future is now and if we don't make a change now it will only get worse.

For more information click on the hyper-link Global Warming Hits Australia.

Not so scary movie

Scary movie is a horror comedy spoof film. parody at it's truest form, it is an act of both mockery and appreciation. The film heavily mocks horror films such as scream, i know what you did last summer etc.

The story follows a group of teenage,  when Drew Decker was murdered by a serial killer the friends start to realize that was murder took past exactly one year after they accidentally killed a man during a wild car ride.

Thus, our story begins with the serial killer sending letters to all those involved stated he know what they have done and will kill them, but the way the killer goes upon the killing is what truly made this a funny movie.

The serial killer who happens to be wearing the exact outfit as the serial killer from scream is a spoof in its self, compared to the killer in scream this killer looked like a person who happened to watch to much horror movies for his own good, he is not like your average serial killer, the murders are so comical compared to the average horror film that is so crusome that you find yourself wait for the next murder scene in the movie, and that's a big compliment coming from myself considering that I do not like  horror movies.

I personally would recommend that people watch this movie over other spoof movies such as Vampires suck just due to the fact that the characters were fantastic at being clueless as to what was going on, it's such a classic that i guarantee your gonna wanna watch the sequels.

Trailer: Scary Movie 1

Your Daily Dose of FRIENDS

It's been a  decade  since the show ended but i keep finding myself re-watching the show hundreds of times. Up to this day friends still brings laughter to fans like myself. The show revolves around six friends in their mid-20s who try to jungle their personal and professional lives while living in a city that never sleeps.

The series follows six main characters throughout its run; Monica Geller is the mother figure of the group and a chef known for her bossy, perfectionist and competitive nature. Monica is often the subject of jokes by the other for having been extremely overweight as a child.

 Rachel Green is Monica's best friend from childhood, introduced to the show in the first season when she ran away from the altar on the day of her wedding. Rachel can be described as spoiled and self centered but throughout the series you start to see her develop more and more and can't help but fall for her.

 Phoebe Buffay is An eccentric masseuse and self-taught musician. Phoebe lived with her mother in uptown new York until her mother committed suicide living phoebe to fend for herself. Phoebe can be described as free spirited and street smart, she is often seen as weird by others but she doesn't seems to be concerned with what other people say  and lives live to the fullest.

 Joey Tribbiani is a struggling actor and is best known for his love of food and his famous pick up line "how you doin'?". joey is a simple minded womanizer with many short- term girlfriends throughout the series. Despite his womanizer tendencies,  Joey is an innocent and caring person with good intentions.

Chandler Bing is an executive in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration for a multi -national  corporation. Candler is known for is sarcastic sense of humor and bad luck in relationships.

 Ross Geller is Monica's older brother, a paleontologist working at the museum of natural history. Ross is a sweet-nurtured man of humor although he is clumsy and socially awkward. throughout the series we see that Ross has had quite a few failed relationships that has made him a more relatable

character.

The series touches upon many different issues that a lot of people face in their lives. One of the issues that I personally face now is finding something I'm passionate about that i want to do for the rest of my life.Chandler also faces this dilemma in the mid series, chandler was not happy with his job and want to pursue something he would enjoy to do and was not afraid to start all over again. This why this the show was a huge success because of the friendship between the characters and the dilemma's they face together.