Reviews and Ramblings

If you have not the read 'The Hobbit' by J.R.R. Tolkein but plan on seeing the film based off of it, I have two tips for you - don't worry if you haven't read it, you practically do not need to with how detailed the film is and that being said, that's because the tiniest book in the series about Middle Earth, The Hobbits and the Lord of the Rings is split into three films, each will probably be as long as the first, which was almost 3 hours long. For once, I probably will NOT complain about how the films don't follow the book. There is a problem with that however - I have not read any of the books. I own 'The Hobbit' and 'The Two Towers' (which is actually the culmination of Books 3 & 4 in the series, 'The Treason of Isengard' and 'The Ring Goes East'. I love when authors do series because it just makes it easier for the world to last for the fans. I am a HUGE fan of the 3 films that are currently out and maybe that's ...

This is actually my first food review I've ever written, so I hope you enjoy it! This is their Facebook image. I got to visit German Bistro in Tampa on MacDill Ave earlier tonight. I went to meet with some members of the USF German Culture Club, which I am the current president of, and can I just say 'WOW!'. I only ordered the Potatoe Pancakes and Sauerkraut, but oh man was it good! The potatoe pancakes were fresh and hot, the spicing of it was PERFECT! The sauerkraut was not the stuff you get in cans, either. I'm not sure if there is such a thing as fresh sauerkraut, but it was the best kind I've ever had. We then got to try their homemade apple strudel because they wanted to support the club. Now, I worked at a German Bakery in Fort Lauderdale one holiday season and this apple strudel was even better than that, even though I personally made it fresh (then again, that was before I could actually bake). The restaurant is a little smaller than I had expe...

Let me preface this by saying that this is legit the first time that I have actually seen 'The Notebook'. That may be sad, it may not be. Regardless, it's true. I have heard about people talking about it since it was released in theatres in 2004. Essentially, it's about a woman's whom is retold the story of her own life from a book she wrote herself. At the end of the film, it shows her husband, Noah, flipping to the beginning of the book where she wrote "The story of our lives by Allison Hamilton Calhoun. To my love, Noah, Read this to me and I'll come back to you." The film is adapted from the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name. I have not read the book either, so this was a completely new experience for me as I was expecting a very romantic, gushy, chick-flick type film. It took me about half of the film to realize that the story was about Allie as the flashbacks are longer than the current-time scenes. The story itself is very beautiful ...

This film adaption based off of the novel "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins, came as a surprise to me. Having just completed the 3-book series before I watched the first film was certainly helpful because otherwise I would have been highly confused had I only read the first book. While watching the film, the person I was with had to have some scenes explained by me as simply saying 'Book 2' or 'Book 3' because the scenes were actually from stuff that happened not in the 1st book. In the novel, there were quite a few flashbacks - in the film, the flashbacks were much less in number, but also not shot the way I expected. Beware there are spoilers of the storyline and some details as this is more a comparison of the book to the film. Then again, the entire film was shot in a way I was not expecting. The angles of shots, the use of music over silent scenes, and the overall choices by director Gary Ross were not pleasing to myself, a self-described fan of ...

I get a pretty awesome opportunity later this week. I get to watch Hitchcock's Rear Window again. Sure, this could happen at any time on my own. However, I will be watching in my History of Photography course. It has been about 6 years since I have seen this film. While that's not that special, I will be reviewing my notes and view of the film from my first viewing before I watch it again. Here is my first review While it will not be required to write another review on this film, I plan on it. I feel like being able to review a film after 6 years with only those 2 views of the film will be an interesting read for myself later in life. Maybe I won't let myself see it again for another 6 years and write another review then. Who knows - but I think it will be very interesting to see how aesthetics and my comprehension of things has changed over the years. So, be on the look out for it! So, until next time--