Django Unchained – Review
In my personal opinion, this is Tarantino’s best film yet. My boyfriend and I saw this film last week and although it is quite lengthy (almost 3 hours), it kept my attention the entire time (unlike other recent films of the past year…*cough* Cloud Atlas *cough*). With a cast full of great actors, including Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio Kerry Washington, and Christoph Waltz to name a few, you know that this film will be entertaining even before watching it. Now, this movie is not for everyone though. If you are at all familiar with Quentin Tarantino's filmography, then it is no surprise that this film has similar characteristics… in other words, its pretty violent and the violence is graphic. So, prepare yourself if you don't usually watch those type of films. But if you are curious as to what this film is about, keep reading…
Caution: Spoiler Alert!
The opening scene shows Jamie Foxx and other black slaves in a chained line up being led by white men on horseback, as this film is set in the late 1800s. Travelling for many days, the slaves walk barefoot through rock, mud and snowy conditions with these horsemen. One cold evening, as the slaves and horsemen are walking through Texas, a man riding a horse and pulling a cart behind him stops these men to ask if any of the slaves know three men whom he is in search of. Django responds, and the man pulling the cart, Dr. King Shultz, buys his freedom so long as he will assist Shultz in his business. Shultz’s occupation turns out to be a bounty hunter. Shultz treats Django as a man and not a slave, and trains him to be his deputy bounty hunter. The two form a type of friendship as the movie goes on. After Django helps Shultz kill the men on his list, Shultz helps Django find his wife, who was sold separately to a plantation in Mississippi, owned by a man named Calvin Candie.
Knowing that it would be impossible to merely walk up to Monsieur Candie and make an offer to purchase Broomhilda (Django’s wife), Shultz and Django come up with an elaborate plan to legally obtain her without appearing too obvious that she is the reason they’ve come to do business.
This entire film was action-packed, and there were many hilarious scenes that took place among the violence. If you’re an avid film-goer like myself, I definitely recommend that you take the time to see it. It was excellently done, and with actors like these, you know you won’t be disappointed.
However, that’s simply my opinion, go check it out for yourselves.
xoxo, Leesh
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling – Review
So the majority of you will recognize Mindy Kaling from the show The Office, where she plays Kelly Kapoor, a whiny, attention-seeking, boy-obsessed diva, working alongside Steve Carrel and Rainn Wilson at Dundler Mifflin Paper Company. In real life, however, she is completely different (well…mostly…), and in her book, she invites the reader along for a peek into her life from childhood to her successes (and failures) bringing her to where she is today: a comedy writer for The Office as well as her new show The Mindy Project.
Caution: Spoiler Alert!
Mindy’s book contains a number of sections, all cleverly titled to fit the subject she discusses. She starts out with a simple “Hello”, and an introduction begins. She answers questions with very Mindy-esque answers and then begins to list alternate titles for her book including “The Girl with No Tattoo”, “Harry Potter Secret Book #8″ and “I Want Dirk Nowitzki to Host Saturday Night Live So Much That I’m Making It the Title of My Book”. As you can tell, the hilarity ensues for the rest of her book – this introduction is only the beginning.
Mindy dives right into her childhood memories, beginning with her section called “Chubby for Life” – here she talks about being a chubby kid, and how she was teased about it. She also talks about how she managed to get through the teasing and lost/maintained a lighter weight. She is obsessed with fad dieting, and terrible at all sports. She recalls horrible memories at her town’s swimming pool during summers.
Mindy does jump around a lot through out her book, but eventually you notice how it falls into place and connects with previous ideas mentioned. It really connects together perfectly. Mindy discusses her thoughts and experiences living in New York, including day jobs, karaoke etiquette, best friends, Hollywood, romance & guys, appearances, and much much more.
Honestly, I literally laughed out loud while reading this book. Mindy is very witty, and is a great writer (which makes sense, as she is a comedy writer…). Reading this book was like having a conversation with Mindy. I learned so much about her, and almost feel that I know her on a more personal level. (And no, I’m not saying that I think we’re now friends because I read her book – I’m not a weirdo…) Mindy’s book just tells her readers about the girl behind the production lines of The Office and other projects she has been a part of.
If you are a fan of Mindy Kaling, of a fan of comedy in that respect, I would definitely recommend that you pick up a copy of her book (or e-book… whichever your preference). But that’s simply my opinion, you’ll have to check it out for yourself!
xoxo, Leesh
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circle Treatment Concealer – Review
So I got this a couple of months ago because quite frankly, I’m sick of my MAC concealer. My best friend is obsessed with makeup so I actually got the recommendation from her. After my first application of this concealer, I was thoroughly impressed. I don’t have wrinkles but on occasion I sometimes get darker circles under my eyes (usually from lack of sleep). This concealer immediately covered them up and actually brightened the area that I applied the makeup to.
To use it, all you need to do is twist the red band at the top (the first time you will have to twist a lot in order to get the concealer flowing) and simply apply the sponge to your skin underneath your eyes to cover the areas as needed. It’s very light and dries very quickly. I use a powder foundation (check out my Bare Minerals post) and I find the powder sets this concealer quite nicely.
The concealer comes in a number of different shades, so it will match many different skin tones and colours.
I bought my concealer from Shoppers Drug Mart (Pharmaprix) for roughly $9, definitely affordable considering I’ve been using it for a while now and am still on my first tube.
If you’re in need of a good concealer, I’d definitely recommend checking out the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer, as it has worked very well for me.
xoxo, leesh
Magic Mike – Review
Alright, so, I have a valid excuse for seeing this film. An old friend from elementary school and I had made plans to hang out after one of my classes a few Tuesdays ago – the plan was get froyo (frozen yogurt) and go see a movie. And since those are two of my favorite things, the plan sounded perfect. When I went to pick up my friend from her house after class, she said she bought the movie tickets online because it was cheap Tuesday and MAGIC MIKE would be sold out. I guess the fact that she paid for my ticket meant that I really couldn’t suggest another film, so off we went to the movies. Needless to say, the theater was full of girls, and while I actually do like Channing Tatum’s acting (and dancing – hello, anyone remember Step Up?) this was really not a film I enjoyed. I actually felt borderline awkward watching it – but mind you, I was never one to go to strip clubs anyway. But for those who are interested, here’s the movie in a bit more detail:
Courtesy of impawards.com
Caution: Spoiler Alert!
Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the first line of the review on IMDB basically sums up the entire film: “A male stripper teaches a younger performer how to party, pick up women, and make easy money.” Apparently, this film is actually based on Channing Tatum‘s life story of being a stripper. (Not that anyone is really surprised by this). In the film, Channing plays Mike (Magic Mike is his stripper name, if you didn’t already catch on). Mike works construction during the day, and this is where he meets young Adam (Alex Pettyfur). We learn that Adam is bumming off his sister for a place to live, and that he has no experience in the work field. Later that night, Adam is headed to go clubbing, where he runs into Mike. Mike gets him into an exclusive night club where he tells him he can get him a job – Adam doesn’t realize until a few hours later that his job will be stripping on stage in front of a bunch of paying customers. It turns out Adam has a knack for this “profession” and with the help of Dallas (Matthew McConaughey), the most experienced male stripper of this club (and oldest too, it seems – his skin is so tanned in this film in looks leathery, blah!) After a successful night at the strip club, Mike gives Adam a ride home and meets Adam’s sister, Joanna. Her first impression of him isn’t an overly impressed one, and her dislike intensifies for him until they get to know each other better. We learn that Mike no longer wants to be in this business, but wants to become an entrepreneur for a unique furniture company of his own, whereas Adam becomes a stripper permanently and loves every aspect of his job. By the end of the film, Adam’s life is basically headed downhill (despite the fact that he makes his money from stripping, and parties with different women every night). On the other hand, though, Mike’s life takes a turn and he quits the stripping “profession” and ends up dating Joanna. Cool story, right? (Except, not really.)
Courtesy of theberry.com
I will admit, there are some hilarious parts to the film (to the point where I was nearly in tears from laughing so hard), and there were some good-looking actors, but that’s it. The majority of the stripping is way too in-your-face for my liking, and the storyline is terrible. I’m just glad that I didn’t have to pay for my own movie ticket – I would have much rather seen that new Spiderman movie instead.
However, that’s just my opinion – go check it out for yourself!
xoxo, Leesh
Abraham Lincoln Vamire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith – Review
For the past month or so, I’ve been hearing so many positive things about Seth Grahame-Smith’s book, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. I was very intrigued, as I am an avid book-reader of all genres. Having learned that Tim Burton was teaming up with the book’s author and Timur Bekmambetov to produce the film in late June of this year, I knew I had to read it. I was hoping, after making my purchase of Grahame-Smith’s book, that it would actually live up to the hype it had been generating. I’ll tell you this much – it clean surpassed my expectations and I ended up finishing it within 48 hours of purchasing it! (Mind you, if I hadn’t had to work, and prepare for my exams, I would have finished it much sooner). There was hardly ever a dull moment in this action-packed, somewhat historically accurate (minus the Vampire components) novel, and I definitely recommend it to those who enjoy fictitious tales which include aspects of thrills, mild horror, comedy, and more, all combined into one.
Caution: Spoiler Alert!
“I was still bleeding… my hands shaking”
The opening line had me hooked. There are 3 parts to this story after the Introduction. It begins in Rhinebeck, a small town which has history to it, according to the narrator. The narrator works at a local shop, which he claims sells everything one could need. Occasionally a man would come into the shop, and never leave without spending at least $50. This suspiciously well-dressed man, Henry, over time, begins coming less and less until one wintry evening he comes in and drops off a package for the narrator. He excuses himself without explanation.
Attached to the package is a letter which the narrator reads after his shift. He accepts the conditions it offers in order to continue opening the rest of the package. Upon skimming through the books found within, the narrator learns that the past President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, was a Vampire hunter. This collection of books were his journal entries – “an altogether astonishing, heartbreaking, and revolutionary document.” The entries begin with 12-year-old Abe hunting a turkey for his family, as directed by his father. Upon shooting it, Abe realizes his accuracy failed him. He watches in horror and guilt as the turkey struggles and bleeds to death before him. Abe was not a killer. He was a child and couldn’t bare the thought of killing anything else, ever again. However, this anti-killing attitude changed after he learned the true cause of his mother’s recent death, and the threats Abe’s father undergoes from a strange, dark man. From that point on, Abe made a decision: “I hereby resolve to kill every vampire in America.” This is the moment where the book takes off. From here, the reader watches Lincoln train and learn from a befriended vampire who he meets on his travels (I’ll leave this for you to figure out who he/she is). Lincoln learns the proper technique to destroy these vampires and goes on to get revenge for his mother’s death, as well as for others who have died at the hands (and teeth) of these vampires.
The book goes on to tell the reader about the vampires he stalks and eventually destroys, which include actual events which took place while Abraham Lincoln was the President of the United States of America. Even famed writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe makes an appearance in the tale (which is quite fitting, upon finding his inspiration for writing his poem “Lenore”).
As the writer of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Grahame-Smith, you will find, easily captures the reader’s attention for his entire novel. Critics have said nothing but great things about this book, and it has been titled a National Bestseller by New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly just to name a few. After having read it myself, I’d definitely recommend it to you to read before its film is released in late June of this year!
xoxo leesh
Maybelline New York’s BabyLips: Lip Balm – Review
Hands down, this stuff is the next best thing to Vaseline (or petroleum jelly, if you want to avoid specific brands).
Okay, so there’s no avoiding it. I have very full lips, and these lips become easily chapped. It’s impossible to carry around a tub of Vaseline in your pocket or purse, so I usually just went for your typical drugstore chap-stick to try and keep my lips soft. However, I found that if I wasn’t constantly reapplying chap-stick after chap-stick, my lips were doomed. About 2 months ago, I noticed this new Maybelline lip balm whilst in Shoppers Drug Mart (or Pharmaprix for any French-Canadian readers!). I’m not going to lie, it was the cool colours that first grabbed my attention (yeah, I can be quite girly) but once reading the back of the package and seeing what the product offered, I figured that at $3 a tube, I’d give it a try.
Four weeks later (as the product states) my lips were perfectly hydrated and back to their normal, plumped selves. Chapped-free!
To this day I continue using Baby Lips lip balm because I absolutely love it. It fixed my dry lips issues, comes in a small tubed container, and even smells good! I’d definitely recommend it to you, as it makes a difference to the smoothness of your lips. Upon application, it does leave a sheer glossy shimmer, but nothing more noticeable than if you were to use petroleum jelly. And at roughly $3 a stick, its definitely affordable for most budgets! Give it a try the next time you’re shopping, you won’t be disappointed!
xoxo leesh
KONY2012 – Invisible Children Campaign to Stop Joseph Kony
I’m someone who doesn’t really get affected too easily by stuff I see online. I’ll either postpone watching whatever the viral video of the week is (unless its only a minute or two in length) or completely ignore it all together because well, I usually tend to procrastinate doing things if I’m not overly interested in them.
Recently, as in yesterday (yes, that recent), I noticed there were links and videos being posted over EVERY social media site (most notably facebook and twitter) that caught my attention. Just from the small blurbs that I gathered from many status updates and tweets online over the course of yesterday and today, I figured I should at least give this new viral video a chance. I thought that if I learned anything at all from it, it wouldn’t be a completely waste of time… however, I had an assignment due for class to complete, so I ended up putting off watching the video until about 35 minutes ago…
Courtesy of rickey.org
I have been so moved by this powerful video, feeling a complete range of emotions from curiosity, to shock, to sadness, to happiness, and everything in between. So for those of you who have yet to watch it, here’s a brief overview:
The idea behind KONY2012/Invisible Children is a international effort to get awareness out about the world’s worst war criminal. No one could probably explain this better than the actual website itself, so please excuse me while I directly copy this information about Kony:
Who is Joseph Kony?
“Joseph Kony is the world’s worst war criminal. In 1987 he took over leadership of an existing rebel group and renamed it the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
The LRA has earned a reputation for its cruel and brutal tactics. When Joseph Kony found himself running out of fighters, he started abducting children to be soldiers in his army or “wives” for his officers. The LRA is encouraged to rape, mutilate, and kill civilians–often with blunt weapons.
The LRA is no longer active in northern Uganda (where it originated) but it continues its campaign of violence in Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and South Sudan. In its 26-year history, the LRA has abducted more than 30,000 children and displaced at least 2.1 million people.
What is the goal of KONY 2012?
Invisible Children has been working for 9 years to end Africa’s longest-running armed conflict. U.S. military advisers are currently deployed in Central Africa on a “time-limited” mission to stop Kony and disarm the LRA. If Kony isn’t captured this year, the window will be gone.
We are taking action to ensure these two things:
1) That Joseph Kony is known as the World’s Worst War Criminal.
2) That the U.S. military advisers support the Ugandan Army until Kony has been captured and the LRA has been completely disarmed. They need to follow through all the way and finish what they have started.
Why are we making Joseph Kony “famous”?
Invisible Children’s KONY 2012 campaign aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice. In this case, notoriety translates to public support. If people know about the crimes that Kony has been committing for 26 years, they will unite to stop him.
Secondly, we want Kony to be famous so that when he is stopped, he will be a visible, concrete example of international justice. Then other war criminals will know that their mass atrocities will not go unnoticed or unpunished.”
There, now you know the basic facts about this unbelievable event taking place.
Now, as for the video. I am asking that if you do ONE good thing for your community, you country, your world, PLEASE take the time to watch this short film. It is SO informative and powerful that I promise you, it is not a waste of time.
This cause is very important to me because it effects the lives of people who have done nothing wrong to deserve this terrible treatment. This is human history, and we are so fortunate to live in countries where this is not happening to us or our children. We don’t have to leave in fear that we’ll be abducted and be forced to kill, or otherwise be killed.
I encourage everyone to check out the invisible children’s website here and sign the pledge. Get involved if you want to. Donate if you want to. At least get yourself informed if anything.
Thanks so much for reading
xoxo leesh
Just Beautiful: A Campaign to Raise Awareness of, and Remove, Toxins Found in Heath and Beauty Products
Hey Everyone,
I was recently contacted by Elena Carrera, on behalf of Environmental Defence, about a new campaign that she and her team are trying to build awareness for. This campaign is the “Just Beautiful” campaign whose goal is to get toxic chemicals removed from cosmetics and personal care products. “It urges the government to make sure that all ingredients are clearly labelled and disclosed before products hit the market.”
I completely support this campaign in the attempt to make it mandatory for the government to ban any and all health or beauty products which carry harmful toxins.
I’d really like to help spread the word of this great campaign, so I encourage you all to check out the short 1-minute video below, or head to the website here to find out more information, join the cause, sign the petition and/or make a donation. I feel that it is so important to not intoxicate ourselves or encourage the use of these dangerous products by friends and family. Please help raise awareness to help make our country a safer, more healthy place to live one small step at a time.
Thanks for reading!
xoxo leesh
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – Review
I take back every single comment that I’ve said that involves poking fun at Tom Cruise’s acting. I mean it. Last night my boyfriend and I saw the latest Mission Impossible film in theaters (actually, in IMAX – way cooler) and honestly, I could not get over how awesome it was. It had an interesting plot, intelligible script, and best of all it had unreal stunts all performed by Tom Cruise himself. Directed by Brad Bird, the film stars Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Paula Patton just to name a few. Check out the trailer here if you want to see the best action film of 2012 so far (yes, I realize it’s January 5th, and yes, I’m aware that the film came out in December of last year, but just play along, won’t you?)
Courtesy of movietuna.com
Caution: Spoiler Alert!
The film begins somewhere in Russia, where Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is being held captive in prison. In a different shot, we are shown Benji (Pegg) looking at a computer screen showing a map of the floor that Hunt is on, with access to all cameras and doors within the prison. Of course, with this access, we know that chaos is about to start as Benji opens up one of the cellmates doors, allowing him to wander the corridor freely. This ultimately leads to Hunt’s rescue (mind you, Hunt pretty much rescues himself with the minor assistance of Benji and his ability to unlock doors via computer satellite). Once Hunt is back with his team, they head out on their mission to recover stolen papers involving plans for a nuclear bomb which could lead to nuclear war. Hunt’s team must now find the Russian terrorist, Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist), who has plans to bomb America after having gaining access to these papers. After a bombing of the Kremlin, (a failed attempt of Hunt’s team to catch Hendricks), the President calls for Ghost Protocol, as it is assumed that the IMF was the cause, and it is therefore shut down. Hunt’s team is now without any back up or help while fulfilling their mission in a foreign land of preventing a nuclear attack on America. The team travels to Dubai and Mumbai in a chase to stop the Russian terrorist from launching this bomb in hopes to save their fellow Americans back home. Time is close to running out by the time they obtain replicas of the papers and Hunt is left racing, jumping, swinging, and fighting to the very end.
I’m not going to tell you how the film ends, but I’d definitely recommend that you go and see it the next time you head out to the movies. It was a really well-done film and if you have the opportunity to see it in IMAX, you should. The views of the countries that the team visits are breath-taking and beautiful, and when Cruise scales the side of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper, the IMAX screen really makes you feel like you’re hovering in a helicopter next to him!
xoxo, leesh
Fahrenheit Hair Care System – Heat Wave Collection: Flat Iron Review
My hair is crazy. It’s quite thick, extremely long, and very, very wavy. If I’m going to style it (either to straighten or convert my waves into curls) I need heat, and a lot of it. That reason is why I’m going to review my current hair straightener for you guys. It’s a flat iron by Fahrenheit and it is rather incredible, and works wonders for my hair! This straightener works with every hair type so if you’re one to straighten or style your hair with flat irons, keep reading!
I purchased this straightener from Winners (in Canada) for around $60 at the time. It was a special edition which came in “Glistening Orchid” (a.k.a a fancy way to say hot pink), but other colours available were a ruby red, and animal print patterns (zebra, cheetah, and giraffe printed). It came with a lifetime warranty, which is quite great, as flat irons don’t usually last forever. These 1 1/4 inch heat plates are 100% ceramic which is a definite must for me. Ceramic plates in comparison to others such as Teflon, etc are much better for your hair when styling with heat. For a thorough explanation and comparison between ceramic and Teflon plates, you can click here.
This straightener heats up very quickly (approximately 30 seconds depending on the heat setting) and its temperatures range from 140 to 450 degrees fahrenheit. It also has a rubberized grip on the handle to prevent the product from slipping from your hands while styling. The flat iron even comes with a swiveling cord in order for you to style with ease and not have to worry about tangling up the cord.
I really love this hair styling tool. It was originally a Christmas gift for my mother, but after she opened it (and I gave it a try) I knew I had to get one and retire my designer CHI straightener. This Fahrenheit straightener allows my hair to hold its straightness (or curls) throughout the day – unless of course its extremely humid outside and therefore my hair becomes a lost cause (ha ha).
I would definitely recommend this product to any of you who are looking to purchase a new flat iron in the near future. Pick one up next time you’re shopping!
xoxo leesh
