Page and Screen

Guten Morgen!

2011-05-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

I am never not surprised when I meet a German person here. I should be getting used to it by now but I really can not get over the excitement I feel when I hear that accent!

I'm starting to understand just how much of melting pot the Big Island is.

Zombieland

2011-03-01T13:30:00.000-08:00

I always though that the tumblr famous quote "I avoided other people like they were zombies even before they were zombies" was from that zombie tv show on FX or whatever.

I don't know if this poster is legit, but it is amazing.

"You almost knocked over your alcohol with your knife." Is my favorite quote.

The scene were Columbus gives insanely hot 406 a snack and drink and she's like
"Mountain dew?"
"Yeah, code red." And here's some Golden Grahams The ziploc bags keep them crisp."
I don't even drink soda and I especially don't like mountain dew but that scene kinda made me want some. the advertising was just so obnoxious and cute at the same time. My dad got me some organic graham crackers! YES!

I bet 406 is a dancer.

Not gonna lie, my favorite part of the whole movie is the opening credits with the slow mo of people getting chased by zombies and that cool rock song playing. I just keep playing it over and over again. I wish it was like twenty minutes long. I would enjoy every second of that beautiful montage

2011-01-18T12:46:00.000-08:00

Isn't she adorable?

Raise It Up!

2010-08-19T19:39:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to nothing but Florence + the Machine since I re-discovered her last week. At first it was normal, I was in love with a few songs that I kept on constant repeat as I usually do when I find new music.

But then I started listening to more of her music and realized that I loved it as well. This rarely happens to me. I can't even name five bands/musicians that I listen to and enjoy all of there music. I think Florence + the Machine is my new favorite band. 0_o

Yes, I felt an emoticon was the appropriate way to express myself. I am a child of the technology age!

Florence, the Force

2010-08-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

I first heard about Florence and the Machine about a year ago while watching Florence Welch (lead singer) give an interview on a alternative music youtube channel. I thought she seemed a sweet and quirky person for she talked about her costumes for her music videos. I wasn't really captured by her voice at first, sadly, the song chosen to feature in the video was a quiet one that didn't really show her amazing vocal abilities.

Fast forward to yesterday. I was on mtv voting for the VMAs and I noticed her up against Lady Gaga a couple times. I decided to check out the music videos of hers that were nominated. To be perfectly honest I didn't like them that much but I fell in love with the songs and her voice. Actually, before I even watched either of the "Dog Days" videos I watched "The Drumming Song" first.

Then I played it about ten more times, totally hooked.

After playing it to my full I immediately looked for a live version of it to see how Florence fared singing live. I watched some of her performance from T4 on the Beach and I was pretty blown away. Not only did she sound just as good as the studio version of the songs, if not better, she was running and spinning around on a walkway in five inch heels at speeds that made me a little nervous. All that while singing in her usual epic and powerful voice. She didn't sound out of breath at all for a moment.

After watching the live performances I was pretty sure I had found myself a new favorite artist.

That feeling I had got magnified by about ninety when I watched the music video for Cosmic Love. I was completely and utterly swept up in the power and beauty of the song and I genuinely liked the music video. I must have watched it about thirty times.

I'm not voting for Florence for Video of the Year because, as I said, I don't really like her music videos and to be far I think Lady Gaga truly had "videos of the year" I voted for her in the Best Rock Video category though.

Here is the music video of her latest single Cosmic Love

Emma Watson's Haircut

2010-08-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

One of my top favorite celebrities, Emma Watson, has just chopped her blond hair into a chic pixie cut.

She announced today, on her facebook account, that she actually cut it a few days ago.

I think it looks really fresh and cute.

She described getting it chopped as, "the most liberating thing ever." I can imagine. I have the same urge to just chop my hair short a lot of the time even though I'm in the middle of growing it out.

I can't wait for the press for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 starts up and the movie to hit theaters of course! I just finished rereading Deathly Hallows last night and I've got to say I enjoyed the epilogue so much more the second time around.

-Leah

Tokio Hotel New Video Preview

2010-06-21T17:11:00.000-07:00

German rock band, Tokio Hotel, released a preview of the music video for their third single, 'Dark Side of the Sun' off their latest album, Humanoid.

The video is a live performance of the song from the band's "Welcome to HUMANOID City" European tour.

The music video's world premiere is scheduled for this Thursday, June 24.

Buried Directed by Rodrigo Cortés

2010-03-14T21:56:00.000-07:00

Ryan Reynolds stars in the Sundance film Buried, directed by Rodrigo Cortés.

I watched a brief and spoiler free review of this film by Erik Strifler and was intrigued straight away.

Here is what I know.

-The entire film takes place in a coffin, a roomy one but a coffin none the less.

-There is one actor who caries the whole film. All 90 minutes of it. In the coffin the entire time.

When I was halfway through watching Erik's review I was assuming this was some sort of David Blaine styled documentary. Then Erik mentioned plot twists and I paused the review and searched for the trailer, insanely curious.

The trailer showed that this was indeed a piece of fiction.

What I want to know is how Rodrigo keeps the audience interested.

Bill Kaulitz Models for DSquared2 in Milan

2010-01-19T01:53:00.000-08:00

Breaking news! German lead singer, Bill Kaulitz, from the rock band Tokio Hotel has opened the DSquared fashion show in Milan moments ago.

The runway is designed like an ice rink with hockey sticks and goals at each end of the runway.

Bill emerged from a cage and is wearing an extraterrestrial outfit while the song Scream from the english Tokio Hotel album 'Scream' played. 'Screamin' off of Tokio Hotel's new album HUMANOID was played as Bill and the DSquared2 twins, Dan and Dean closed the show.

The line is said to be hockey inspired clothes in black and white, baggy, shiny as ice in patent leather, glitter and mesh.

Here are the first pictures to surface.

Tokio Hotel's Bill and Tom Kaulitz Cause GQ Frenzy

2010-01-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

German identical twin brothers Bill and Tom Kaulitz, 20, of the band Tokio Hotel are gracing the cover of GQ Germany for the February 2010 issue.

The picture of the iconic Kaulitz twin's cover shot hit the fan sites this past Saturday and there has been frenzy ever since. Bill Kaulitz in his top hat has been dubbed the new "Mad Hatter" among the fans while his brother, Tom, sticks to his usual extra large style with a slight high fashion edge underneath.

Non European fans have been cursing the place where they live as they rabidly search the internet looking for a place to buy this magazine. They also called up their European friends to see if they could get a favor, get the magazine shipped to them .

Today on the Tokio Hotel America fan club an administrator posted the link to the unsuspecting New York magazine store in Manhattan, Magazine Cafe!, that carries GQ Germany. That fortunate store's phones have been ringing off the hook all day and will be for quite while.

I personally called the store and talked to a man in customer service and he told me that if I were to order a copy today and fast that I would be on the "list". I didn't waste any time and placed an order for my copy. I called back with some concerns about packaging and I questioned further into this "list" business. He told me that all the people who were making their orders for this issue, that by the way wont even hit stands in Germany until this Thursday, will be on the list of people who will get their magazines as soon as the store receives them from Germany.
I made conversation with the customer service rep about how their phones were constantly ringing. He said he had never seen something like this before. If I recall correctly the word he used to describe the fans that had been calling as "squeelly".

Yeah, if Tokio Hotel's fans are anything, they're loud.

The February issue of GQ Germany hits stands in Germany on the 14th. The American stores won't receive the issues for another 1-3 weeks following the debut.

If this event tells us anything it's that 2010 will be a Tokio Hotel year.

Dabney Coleman

2010-01-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

Today, is actor Dabney Coleman's 78th birthday. He is from Austen, Texas and best is known for his role as Franklin M. Hart Jr. in the movie Nine to Five.

Am I the only one who see his resemblance to Danny DeVito in this picture?
Happy Birthday Dabney!

Regina Spektor Writes For Broadway

2009-09-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

Russian-American musician Regina Spektor is following the trend of musical artist writing songs for the stage. She has signed on to pen songs for a Broadway 2011 production titled "Beauty" inspired by the a one act play "Beauty" written by Tina Landau.

Others artist who have been spotted doing the same include Bono and The Edge are working on the upcoming superhero musical "Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark".

Regina Spektor is my favorite solo-artist of all time. She is simply amazing! She is a songwriter, vocalist and pianist and is ridiculously talented in all of those fields.

Check out her recently released, fifth studio album "Far"

VMA New Moon Trailer

2009-09-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

The trailer that was leaked a couple of days ago is not the same as the trailer that premeired tonight at the Video Music Awards on Mtv.

The one that premiered today was apparently the "extended" version. It wasn't extended by very much though. I'd say no more than 6 seconds or so.

I find my self more excited for the movie after watching the new trailer though. The Volturi is going to get the movies sooo many more fans. All the guys who hear twilight and think cheesy over-rated vampire movie should take a chance with New Moon, the action will get them hooked. The wolves fighting Laurent was so cool looking I'm almost not upset that it is the complete opposite of what happens in the book. :) I mean, Laurent is supposed to run away terrified not give them the "bring it on" look!

The underwater scene looks beautiful too. The cinematography on this film will probably be my favorite thing about this movie from what I can tell from the trailer.

NEW MOON TRAILER LEAKED!

2009-09-11T15:05:00.000-07:00

A new trailer for the film New Moon, sequel to the blockbuster Twilight, has been leaked.

It seems to have been shown in a movie theater somewhere you can hear people whispering in the background.

I have seen it and all I have to say, what in the world is Summit thinking?!

It is basically the ENTIRE movie in two minutes. All the biggest twist and turns are in there too. The Volturi looks wicked awesome though even though when I read the book I pictured their underground lair to look completely different. I'm really excited to see Dakota Fanning's performance in this, she's a great actress and her character is really twisted. It's going to be awesome!

I'm not going to post the link to the trailer because Summit is taking them down left and right and I don't want to get sued or anything. You shouldn't watch the trailer if you don't want the movie ruined for you anyway.

Lady GaGa Flubs the Words

2009-09-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

Underneath the crazy hair, hats, and costumes Lady GaGa has a ridiculously good voice. She sang an impromptu cover of Coldplay's song Viva La Vida on BBC radio in England. So impromptu that she messed up the words but I found it endearing. GaGa haters even admitted that they liked this performance in the comments. Someone actually said "I dislike both Lady Gaga and "Viva la vida" but I love this."

Her music doesn't really showcase her voice because its quite pop and techno/dance styled music so many many people are surprised when they hear her live, they didn't know she could actually sing or play the piano . I know I didn't.

If she made an album of only acoustic versions of her songs I would totally buy it and so would alot of other people.

This is my favorite performance of hers. The song is called Paparazzi and it was the first song of hers I've ever heard. It was stuck in my head for days.

Sandra Bullock is an Axe Wielding Stalker

2009-09-06T15:14:00.000-07:00

I saw the trailer for the movie "All About Steve"during the previews for G.I. Joe and my first in impression was that it was a silly funny movie and that I have seen something like this before, like, in the previous year.

When I saw the poster I immediately thought thought that the umbrella that Mary Horowitz (Sandra Bullock) was holding was a bloody machete or something. If people who now nothing about this movie and saw the poster from a distance they would think this was some sort of slasher movie.

Seriously, take a few steps back from the screen and tell me that umbrella doesn't turn into a bloody weapon! Sandra already looks crazy enough to use it in the picture, it's not that much of a stretch.

Ignorance Is Not Bliss or Sanitary

2009-09-03T22:46:00.000-07:00

I went to BurgerKing today with some family and just after we had made our orders I saw this guy in the "kitchen" putting what looked like chicken patties into a friar basket. I was deeply disturbed and almost didn't want my whopper and I love whoppers so much its ridiculous. I didn't know they fried the patties. Well, I didn't have the slightest idea what they did to prepare them but I wouldn't have guessed that they fry them!

I usually don't think about the behind the scenes stuff because I'm so excited that I'm getting a burger and I'm hungry so I'm simply not thinking about how its made. I really should though. I, along with many other people, have heard the horror stories of what goes on behind the counter at crummy fast food places. So from now on I'm not eating at dingy fast food places anymore, not that I really did in the first place but you know. I'm not cutting out Burger King forever I'm just going to be more aware of the upkeep of the restaurant, make sure that it passes my quick visual cleanliness inspection. Gloves, hairnets, the works.

And who else thinks that The King is a bit scary? Just look at this picture!

See! He even creeps out surly, old Crusty the Clown! Creepy!

Tokio Hotel is Taking Over Youtube!!!

2009-09-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

The music video from Tokio Hotel's first single, off their new album HUMANOID, was just aired today on their website http://www.tokiohotel.com/ and on their youtube account. It's #1 in the music section under Top Rated, Favorited, Discussed and its #2 for Top Rated out of all the videos on youtube for today! #2!!! *does happy dance*

I have to make a quick disclaimer.

Just so you know, I am biased and would still love Tokio Hotel if they took up yodeling while wearing plastic trash bags.

On with the review!
The music video was shot in South Africa, on the same continent where the German band shot their mega hit Monsoon (English version of their very first single that launched their career, Durch Den Monsun).

The video didn't have a lot to do with the lyrics of the song. The music video consisted of four things. Really cool cars riding through the desert, two romantic robots, Bill Kaulitz doing his very unique style of dancing/hopping/flailing, and the band playing on this huge scrap metal stage.

The cars didn't really have a purpose in the video except for being cool. The robots seemed to oppose the lyrics. The song is about a girl who has no real love in her, she's automatic. At first I was really confused as to why they put emotional robots in the video instead of a robotic person but I finally came up with something that makes sense.

I think Tokio Hotel is trying to say "There's no real love in you. Look, these two robots have more love than you do!" Burn.

Alot of fans on the forum all agree on the fact that there was alot of Bill (singer) and not alot of the rest of the band in the video. I have to agree but I'm not upset about it or anything. On the other hand, Bill being the only person on the album cover doesn't sit too well with me. Would it really have been so hard to "humanoid" all the guys and put that on the cover? A group photo? I don't think it would have been. It's always been a group photo on the album covers. The band has changed drastically though, lets just hope not in the wrong ways.

Tomorrow, Automatisch will premiere. I know what your thinking "what's the difference?"

Well the video will be the same essentially but they will use different shots and of course it will be in German. It's just a common fact known by the fans that the German versions of the songs are the best. They're deeper and have more meaning. When they translate their songs into English the lyrics tend to get vague and bland sometimes unfortunately.

Go watch this video. It's Bill and Tom (the twins), mainly Tom, explaining the video. Tom admits that the average person will think the song is crap unless they know the meaning of it. It greatly enlightened me and its really funny! So go watch it!

Automatic/Automatisch will be released Sept. 22

G.I. Joe Rise of the Cobra Review Part 1 [SPOILER FREE]

2009-09-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

First off where have I heard "Rise of the Cobra" before? To me its sound familiar and common in the genre of action films, which I am not a fan of to be honest.

I gave this movie a chance when my girly-girl eleven year old cousin said that "It's a really good movie, Leah. I'm serious, like, really good!" I thought if she liked it then it must be decent. So I went to go see it, with her and her dad, one rainy afternoon with an open mind.

Let me first say that I look for a solid and flowing story in the movies I watch the most when it comes to action films. If it has a sustaining plot and alot of explosions I see no reason for anyone to complain. But that was not the case for this film. As you can guess it simply had alot of explosions.

At the end of the film you are well aware that this is the beginning of a trilogy but in what was an attempt to leave the audience itching to know what happens next by withholding information about certain characters just made me confused as to what was going on. I kept waiting for back stories and sometimes just names for some characters but some people who seemed important to what was going on just remained unnamed and barely spoke.

Overall, it was a very visually pleasing movie to look at but when you go see it don't try looking into what the main point of the film is or else you wont enjoy it very much. It's just the first chapter of a long action packed story. Just enjoy it for what it is. Wicked awesome visual effects and fight scenes.

Nerds Are Jerks?

2009-08-25T18:31:00.000-07:00

I am reading many books at the moment but there is one in particular that has me quiet interested in the author's thought process.

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Gothgirl by Barry Lyga

It's a very good book, from the very first page you're caught by the protagonist's relatability. After the first chapter though the main character,(whose name I still do not know, the author hasn't mentioned it yet and I'm on chapter twenty-three!) Fanboy, loses his likability almost immediately. Well, to me he does. He's a real jerk, but the thing is that he isn't rude or mean to anyone except for in his mind.

I feel sorry for him alot of the time because he is endlessly tormented at school on a daily basis by complete strangers but then when he gets home his thoughts toward his pregnant Mom and step father, who he calls the step-fascist, whisks away my sympathy.

Does his bitter and snarky attitude seem excusable because of how he is treated in school? Is the author trying to make feel guilty for not liking the abused brainiac? Or have I not read enough books with nerds as the main character? I'm not sure, I'm only hal through the book and right now I'm feeling sympathy towards Fanboy. Will that change by the end of the chapter? There is a very good chance it will.

I'll make another post when I have finished the book.

Adieu!