The DUFF: A Review

I think we all can relate to the movie the DUFF. The main character is this tomboyish girl who loves flannel, is fairly antisocial, and is considered to be not the most attractive girl in her friend group. In the DUFF, Bianca (tomboy main character) is forced to “realize” that she is the DUFF in her friend group. DUFF stands for Designated Ugly Fat Friend. Based on the movie title this movie does not disappoint. Bianca ends up going to her childhood best friend for guy advice and in the end she ends up falling for him not her original crush. 

Lollapalooza 2016!!!

As of Tuesday of this week the lineup for Lolla this year and tickets went on sale! For those of you who don't know what Lollapalooza is, it is a music festival in Grant Park, Chicago. They play mainly indie/alternative music with the exception of a few headliners that tend to flow into the mainstream music a bit. But those artists are exceptional, for example Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the headliners this year. The reason that this year is so special is because for one, it's my first year going! Plus it's the 25th anniversary of Lollapalooza so they're pulling out all of the stops. They are having all of the best bands this year, in my opinion.

This year due to the 25th anniversary, instead of having just the standard three days of bands playing, they're having four. Normally it's just Friday through Saturday, but this year they're adding a Thursday! In addition to the extra day, they're having all of the best bands play everyday. Plus did I mention that this is going to be the first year that I'm going to Lollapalooza? To show you just how excited I am about Lollapalooza, I'm going to give you a list of all of the bands I want to see and what days they will be playing on.
Thursday:

• Lana Del Rey
• Flosstradamus
• Bastille 
• Daughter
• Yeasayer
• Melanie Martinez
• The 1975
• Wavves

Friday: 

• Major Lazer
• M83
• Miike Snow
• MØ
• Saint Motel

Saturday:

• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Disclosure
• Two Door Cinema
• Grimes
• Big Grams
• St. Lucia
• X Ambassadors
• Jack Garratt
• Alina Baraz
• The Joy Formidable
• Chairlift

Sunday:

• LCD Soundsystem
• Ellie Goulding
• Years and Years
• Oh Wonder
• Marian Hill
• Låpsley
• Haim
• Bloc Party
• Zhu 
• Seven Lions
• Halsey

United States of Tara

A story line following a mother of two with Multiple Personality Disorder or Dissociative Identity Disorder and her crazy family, United States of Tara will peak your interest. While it isn't a new show (2009-2011), it shows a comedic perspective on what it would be like to live the life of someone who lives with this disorder. Spoiler alert, while the entire series is good as a whole, but the ending was complete crap. It was as if they didn't know how to wrap things up and make a good ending. But that's just my personal opinion.

United States of Tara is a unique show because not only does it follow Tara's life but it follows Buck, Alice, T, and more [alters]. Plus there is Marshal or Moosh, Tara's gay son, Max, Tara's also somewhat psychotic husband, Kate, Tara's misguided teenage daughter who is just trying to figure out her place in the world, and Charmaine, Tara's sister that has stuck by her crazy sister's side throughout their lives. My main reason for loving this show is the characters listed above. The plot is a little shaky at times but knowing these guys will be there makes it all worth while, even that dumb ending I was telling you about. 

The underlying plot to the entire series is that Tara is trying to figure out what happened in her childhood to cause the Dissociative Identity Disorder. I won't give away whether she discovers the truth or not but I'll tell you this: In the end, Tara realizes that she is just straight up crazy and needs to get some serious help, not try to cure herself. Spoiler alert, she does!

Nothing much more to say than what I've just explained in the paragraphs above, just that United States of Tara is worth your time, except be prepared for a lackluster ending.

A Review of Room

Realistic. Terrifying. Heartwarming. Heartbreaking. These are the four best words I could find that would best describe Room. A movie about a young mother and her son, Room accurately portrays a situation we all fear to some degree, being kidnapped. After being kidnapped at 17, Joy is kept in a shed and continually raped, when she gives birth to Jack, who spends five years of his life in "Room," which is basically his whole world. We get to see how Joy has had to hide the fact that her and Jack are abducted from her son, because of his age. The story follows the experiences that these two face, and the affect that being kidnapped has taken on their mental health and lives in general.
I really enjoyed this movie because I've had a life long fear of being kidnapped, as surely we all do, and found the ideology and decisions made by the characters to be very realistic sounding. Plus I've always enjoyed a good thriller, where the good guys always wins, which this movie has. I don't want to give too much away but spoiler, Joy and Jack escape their captor! Another reason why I enjoyed this movie is because the acting and setting were very well done. What intrigued me the most was interesting it was to see how "Room" looked while Joy and Jack were held there and after they'd escaped.
I know this blog post has been short but I just figured I would do a mini review and recommendation for those of you who have not seen the incredibly well-done Room.