Cinema Sins: No Movie Is Without a Sin

Are you ready to have your favorite films ruined by...ahem..."these guys"? Jeremy Scott and Chris Atkinson are the creators of the Youtube Channel Cinema Sins. Since its birth in 2012, they have branched out into other spinoff channels, like Brand Sins, Music Video Sins, etc. They primarily heckle all the aspects of a certain film they think makes the actual film suck. "No movie is without a Sin."

The common tactics films used that the duo point out include:

- The use of an apple makes the person look like an a**hole.
- Discounts: when a person, a place or a thing looks like something from another film but it isn't. An example would be in a video on The Force Awakens, the planet Jakku was a discount Tatooine.
- ex-machinas: No, not the movie, the term means something that appears literally out of nowhere, like when a cartoon character suddenly whips out a mallet to beat someone.
- (a joke hopefully) There is nudity but no lap dance.
- continuity issues
- plot holes
- anything that character does (littering, etc.)
- and many more (I just sinned myself by finding a way out of explaining things)

Jeremy is the main voice of the sins. He goes through the entire film pointing out all the things wrong with it. Ironically, he is kind enough to bleep out f*** and sh*t, but is okay saying anything else. Sometimes a sin is so bad he adds more to the sin counter. In Furious 7, he sinned 1000 points to Bryan and Dom jumping through the three buildings There are some instances when he has a saving grace for the film and removes sins, like when someone does a badass thing. One awesome was when he removed 5 sins without question Return of the Jedi when Leia appears in her slave bikini outfit.

At the end of the movie, he tallies up the sins and gives the film a sentence. The sentence would often be something funny a character said in the film, or something related to whatever he said in the video. Even worse there would be a bonus round. One of my favorite bonus rounds was counting the number of times the names "Jack" and "Rose" appeared in Titanic; over 200 times.

If you wait long enough after the "Like and Subscribe" bit, Jeremy reveals some edits to the film where he takes sound bytes from other films and applies them to the said film. A common one is having the opening part of "The Circle of Life" where a big, bright sun is involved. Another is when a character jumps from a massive height, you hear the bit from The Fugitive: "We got a Peter Pan right here off of this dam right here."

I only watched the ones about movies I actually seen, and I recommend that too, unless you don't care how the movie goes; Jeremy even warns you of spoilers (duh!). After watching so many of them, I can never look at movies the same way again.

Is God Here?

Although having a badass Jesus is cool, I have my own questions about the divine. I believe God's not dead, but I also believe God's not...here.

There are times when I question whether or not God is here. When I lost my dad at 16, everything seemed to fall apart. The coffeemaker broke, The transmission went on the van, everyone seemed against us. My close family family survived on our own without anyone. My extended family basically told us to get over it.

You may say it was God's plan to get me here because there was no way I would attend here on my own. Scholarships, grants, and a very nice faculty package, which helped pay a majority of this year's tuition. But it's not enough to prove that he's here.

Look out on the news today. The Oakland fire victims; where was God in that situation? As of right now the death toll is thirty plus. In natural disasters, the Gatlinburg fires devastated a significant portion of the area, killing at least 7. Where is God?


I'm a doubting Thomas, I know, but explain to me why God "works in mysterious ways." Where is God?

The Unusual Twist in "The Usual Suspects"

SPOILER ALERT!!!

If you have figured it out before it is revealed to you, Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) is Keyser Söze. But the real twist is when you thought you were wrong.

Verbal tells his testimony to Agent Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) about the line-up that started it all. In the twisted version of Ocean's Eleven, Verbal is arrested, alongside four other criminals (Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Benicio del Toro, and Kevin Pollack) a hijacking-charge. In response, the "usual suspects" decide to attack corrupt cops who transported smugglers throughout New York City.

This caught the attention of none other than Keyser Söze. Söze offers them a job destroying $91M of heroin brought in by Söze's Argentinian drug lord rivals.

Kujan asked who Söze was. Verbal explains the crime urban legend, that "criminals told to their kids at night," of the Hungarian mercenary. Kujan calls the whole thing bull, because he believed Dean Keaton (Byrne) was Söze. The Heroin heist was a cover up to silence the one man who can identify Söze. And Keaton was protected by his late lawyer girlfriend. Verbal admits the whole thing was Keaton's idea and is released. Moments later Kujan realizes Verbal lied and was Keyser Söze, but was too late to catch him.

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was making the whole world believe he didn't exist."

Like I said before, you probably guessed Verbal was Keyser Söze. Who else asks who Keyser Söze was when everyone else heard of him? Then later states that the man is the person they scare their kids with, like the bogeyman.

However, the brilliant writers made you believe you were wrong. Keaton was Keyser Söze. His past as a corrupt cop, helps make sense of his anger for the Police department. His lawyer-girlfriend was murdered, perhaps by him or on his orders.

You feel defeated, just as Verbal seemed. You feel stupid, just Verbal did. You were a victim, just Verbal was. But then, as Verbal walked out, Kujan looks at his bulletin board and realize that half of Verbal's story was composed of paper, pamphlets, and posters on the board.

I highly recommend this film.

"Crash"

When I watched the 2005 Academy Award Best Picture Winner, Crash, I didn't expect anything it displayed.

The movie follow several stories of people who struggle in Los Angeles in a post-9/11 world. A Persian family (Shaun Toub and Bahar Soomekh) struggles to keep their family store, a Hispanic locksmith (Michael Peña) tries to keep in his daughter happy and safe, a lawyer and his wife (Brendan Fraser and Sandra Bullock) cope with being robbed, a Hollywood director and his wife (Terrence Howard and Thandie Newton) deal with a misogynistic cop (Matt Dillon) who sexually assaults the wife, the misogynistic cop's partner (Ryan Philippe) struggles to trade partners, the misogynistic cop fights with a black health associate (Loretta Devine) to help with his father's pancreatic cancer, and a detective (Don Cheadle) struggles with his estranged mother (Beverly Todd) and criminal brother (Larenz Tate), who robs the lawyer (Fraser) alongside his gang associate (Ludacris).

The stories occur a 36-hour period displaying how we "crash" into each other's world. We learned to not judge people by their appearances. Sandra Bullock's character, traumatized by the carjack, asks her husband to change the locks immediately after Michael Peña's character changed them thinking he would come back with a copy and rob her house. She is also skeptic against her Hispanic maid. But then she later tripped and fell down stairs. Her maid was the only other person in the house, and she took care of her until Brendan Fraser's character came home.

I highly recommend this film, but warning, this is a heavy film.

Pop Culture in "That 70's Show"

Hanging out down the street with the funniest kids in Point Place, Wisconsin, Eric Forman, Steven Hyde, Jackie Burkhart, Donna Pinciotti, Michael Kelso, and Fez demonstrate their struggles living in the 1970s. Their parents, Red and Kitty Forman and Bob and Midge Pinciotti, also demonstrate their struggles as adults. But not without the help of pop culture.

Throughout the show so far, there have been references of different movies in TV shows popular in the 1970s. The gang all went to see Star Wars and Annie Hall in the theater. In one episode Red gets a Beta tape player and decides to, unsuccessfully, tape an episode of the miniseries Roots. Several episodes portrayed spoofs of actual films. In the Season 3 Halloween episode, they reference popular Alfred Hitchcock films (Kelso's idea), such as North by Northwest, Rear Window, Psycho, and Vertigo. In the Season 4 premiere, Eric has an It's a Wonderful Life (conveniently the episode's name) moment after his breakup with Donna.

Though I'm currently in the 4th season, I'm still curious how time flies. The show opens in late 1976, and expects me believe they will fill all eight seasons in the in the 1970s.

In season 2, there is an episode where the gang goes to see Star Wars, parents too; that was in 1977. The recent episode I've seen was when Donna and Eric, now broken up, doing what I believe to be a Kramer vs. Kramer spoof. I haven't yet seen the film, so I can only guess; it's 1978. But again, I'm only in Season 4, so I'll just have to wait.

You can watch the gang and their parents on Netflix.

Same Old Holiday Cheer

It's that time of year again. Commercially Christmas began a month ago; that's right in October.

It's time for Christmas trees, covered in rat &#!%, listening to Tony Bennett, Michael Bublé, and Mariah Carey for the um-teenth time, and give people we hate gifts we could use. I am done with commercial Christmas spirit.
I don't want to be Charlie Brown with this, but like Chris Rock said in a stand-up routine, we have the Christmas SEASON. The Big Box Stores are competing excellent deals on not-so excellent "stocking stuffers." Our childhood favorite Christmas shorts are on TV AGAIN. Unnecessary, but semi-delicious, cooking goes on in the kitchen.
I'm not super religious, but can we just and think about why we really celebrate? If there should be an ultimate modern day Christmas film, there should be one where the town goes through a power-failure during Christmas and they just stop and look around.
I used to like Christmas. It's not my favorite holiday but I had good memories. But as I got older I start to realize how much the Christmas spirit is guided by the commercial world. A radio station close to my home has the '80s Weekend, but at Christmastime, is the Christmas Weekend. Five years ago it went to Christmas music all the time two weeks before Christmas. Then three years ago, Christmas music starts playing immediately all the time after Thanksgiving.
This applies to all films, but you get older you actually start listening to the dialogue, and realize hidden dirty jokes in family friendly films. I recently watched Frosty Returns, and, there are no adult jokes in this, I realized how unrealistic Holly was able to sway the town with the magic of snow so quickly. Three minutes is all it took. Yeah it's a 30 minute short, but it's unrealistic.
I was also introduced to Robbie the Reindeer, voiced by Ben Stiller (figures), a stop motion short I believe is meant for adults because of the content.

I think we should just stop. Just stop. Stop with all the unnecessary cheer and just be happy with the true reason of the season.

Timeless May Strike History from the Books

NBC's newest drama Timeless has taken science fiction to another level, but I don't know where it's going.
A secret team successfully creates a time machine, but a hunted mercenary comes in and steals the the time machine and the project leader. In order to stop him, Lucy, a history professor, Wyatt, a soldier, and Rufus, a time machine driver, travel back in time to make sure he doesn't rewrite history.

The show takes us on magnificent but frightening adventures. We go to the Hindenburg crash, Lincoln's assassination, JFK's scandalous mistress, James Bond's creator Sir Ian Fleming, the Alamo, and, recently, the Nixon tapes. But every time, some small thing changes and Flynn gets away.

This show is a dark, twisted take on Back to the Future mixed with Quantum Leap, but they are not stuck in a time period. Every time something changes, it changes the future. When the show opened up, Lucy's mother is dying of cancer, her father is gone and her sister is taking care of her mother. At the end of the first episode, her mother is fine, her father is still gone, but her sister doesn't exists. To make it more interesting, Lucy now has a fiancée; she never met him before in her life.

Halfway through the current season a society called Rittenhouse. They apparently controlled everything since the birth of the United States, but not much is told about them. But all Flynn wants to be rid of them.

I'm getting a little bored of this roller coaster story. Flynn takes off. They go after them. He wants something. They do everything they can to make sure that doesn't happen. But Flynn gets away. It's can be a great way to have a history lesson, but it shows the dangers of one of the biggest science dreams ever conceived by man. I have little hope that this show will make it to it second season.
You can watch it on Mondays at 10 pm on NBC.

Can Films Save the World?

I've been debating this question for the last few hours. I want to say yes AND no, but I'm having trouble finding examples why they can't.

Yes
I'm sure everyone has seen Super Size Me. Morgan Spurlock eats McDonald's everyday for 30 days. And if they offered the super size meal, which existed back then, he would take it. the super size meal was twice the large meal.
Halfway he started having issues, he started throwing up, he wanted to give up at one point. At the end of the period, he gained 24 pounds. After the release of Super Size Me, the super size meal was removed.

No

Like I said before, I'm having trouble figuring out why it can't.

The movie Spotlight tells the story of a small newspaper group who discover one of the Catholic Church's worst secrets: Priests molesting children in their parishes.

In fact, they uncovered over a hundred cases in Boston alone. The real eye opener was when they broke the story, the end of the film had a list of similar cases in the United States. Then the world. It was a huge list, roughly 6 text inserts worth, triple columned and single spaced.

The event the movie is based on happened 15 years ago. I can't do anything to help, but it opened my eyes to something more serious than just a couple of stories.

Then again, I could be more vigilant now that I know this is real. So my conclusion is: Yes. Films can change the world.

"Trolls" Soundtrack

I went to go see Trolls over the weekend. The thing I noticed overall is the many references of songs popular to children growing up with the Good Luck Trolls, on which the film is based on.
 Now most were originally written for the film like Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop This Feeling." But other songs used in the film include several pop culture songs mainly from the eighties:

Earth, Wind, and Fire's "September"
Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence"
Junior Senior's "Move Your Feet"
Justice's "D.A.N.C.E."
Diana Ross' "I'm Coming Out"
The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Mo Money Mo Problems" featuring Puff Daddy and Mase
Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors"
Lionel Richie's "Hello"
Gorillaz's "Clint Eastwood"

If you really think about it the soundtrack is actually ingenious. In the eighties, The Graduate is still popular so Simon & Garfunkel may still be in every person's vinyl set. Earth, Wind, and Fire, Diana Ross, and Cyndi Lauper were some of the top artists of the day. In the Nineties, rap and hip-hop was making its way to the troll lovers as they are in their late teens and early twenties. Gorillaz made their debut with "Clint Eastwood" in the turn of the century. Junior Senior and Justice appeared in the mid 2000s; the trolls are now approaching their thirties, but these song are most likely appealing their children. I remember when "Move Your Feet" was a musical trend.
Coming full circle, original songs were written by Justin Timberlake, Ariana Grande, and Gwen Stefani.
This soundtrack helps two generations embrace a culture. See? Ingenious.

Pixar Shorts

In a recent lecture, I learned that the animated shorts created by Pixar were actually tests. Computer animation was brand new, so rather than flopping on the big screen with a major movie budget, they created little five minute shorts to experiment difference scenarios. I never thought that before but it makes sense. As examples, "For the Birds" taught the animators texture with fluffy creatures. The next, Monsters, Inc. hit the theaters.



I really got into the shorts in 2006 with the release of Cars. The movie came with a short called "One Man Band." The short consists to one-man bands competing to get a little girl's money. I believe it taught the animators rapid movement in a small space. The next year, we watch that quick movement in small spaces take place with the cooks of Ratatouille.








With Ratatouille came the short, "Lifted," a funny alien abduction film. It taught the animators scale, especially involving VERY large objects. The next year, we meet WALL-E for the first time.









The recent film Inside Out came with a musical short Lava. I believe it taught how to work with ever changing volcanoes because Moana contains a battle with spirit who lives inside a volcano.

It's really great how far we've from since 1989, with Andre and Wally B., and we continue to create amazing films, like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, WALL-E, Up, and Brave.

Appealing to all Religions

I'm falling behind on this NBC comedy.

The Good Place premiered September 19, 2016, telling the story of Eleanor (Frozen's Kristen Bell) who died of an embarrassing death (struck by a semi-truck carrying a billboard advertising erectile dysfunction products), and goes to...the Good Place. CSI star Ted Danson guides Eleanor through this wonderful place and introducing to her her soul mate, Chidi, yes they are real (William Jackson Harper).
According to Michael (Danson), the concept of Heaven and Hell isn't real; there is the Good Place and the Bad Place. You judged by the good or bad deeds you did throughout your life on Earth.
Now here's the interesting part. Eleanor knows there is a mistake, she would say someone "royally forked up" (in the show she discovers she can't curse, but that doesn't stop her from sound-alike jargon). She knows she was really a bad person. Luckily, Chidi was a professor of moral ethics. To save her soul from eternal damnation in the Bad Place, he helps her become a good little soul.
Michael Schur (creator of The Office) shows some ingenuity once again, but the real genius is getting rid of the fact of any dominating religion in the afterlife. The show's Michael mentions that every existing religion had the afterlife about five percent correct, except Doug Forcett (hopefully a recurring joke, Forcett got high on mushrooms and got on a rant describing the afterlife, getting 92 percent of it correct; he is considered a hero in the Good Place).
I researched more about the show and Schur states that this show is not about religious salvation, but variations of ethical behavior.
 You can watch The Good Place Thursdays on NBC at 8:30 pm.

Dan Brown's "Inferno" Has Gone Down in Flames

Academy Award winning director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) and Tom Hanks team up once again to bring Robert Langdon to life. Based on the novels by Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code), we follow the Harvard symbologist on missions across Europe to save the world using ancient symbols used by underground societies thought to be extinct.
In this third adaptation of the fourth novel (I don't get that either), Langdon (Hanks) learns a brilliant geneticist (Ben Foster) has created a plague that will annihilate half on the world's population. Bertrand Zobrist claimed the rapid growth of the human population will be our own destruction. Using the words of Dante Alighieri's epic, Inferno, he describes the effects of the plague will be unlike anything the world has ever seen. With the help of a beautiful nurse, with a knack for puzzles (Felicity Jones), Langdon has less than 24 hours to find the plague before it spreads.
I've seen all three films and read the books they're based off of, and I believe Howard-Hanks have failed to deliver yet another great movie. Known for their exceptional work in films like Apollo 13, I am disappointed that the duo can't seem bring another classic to the big screen. I get there are times where you need to make changes in the film to keep the audience engaged, but the little things changed are just too big to ignore.
Zobrist’s plague was in a biodegradable bag. As the concert-goers attend the symphony in the Sunken Gardens, the bag will slowly leak, infecting the tourists. The plague, then, was actually meant to sterilize the infected tourists to slow the birthrate. In the film, it sounded like he recreated the Bubonic plague. In the film, they manage to secure the plague, even when the bag burst. How it burst was just unbelievable; they used explosives, of all things.
In the book, Sienna Brooks (Jones), was supposed to have cancer. I am glad they got rid of this fact because it had nothing to do with the story. Spoiler alert: Sienna was Zobrist’s lover. She decides to betray Langdon so that the plague is released. Because cell phone service was cut for safety, she sacrifices herself to detonate the explosives to burst the bag.
Once again, I’m disappointed. If they ever decide to make The Lost Symbol, I hope they remember to get the story straight.
I will give it some praise for the exceptional special effects used to recreate Langdon’s hellish visions. I think they deserve at least a nomination in the Academy Awards for Visual and Sound effects. 2.4/4.0 Stars

Journey through Hell - Pre-post to Dan Brown's "Inferno"

Stay tuned to the Huntingtonian and www.huntingtonian.com for my review on Inferno.

Before I go to see Inferno, opening October 28, I decided to research a bit on Dante Alighieri's vision of hell that's been terrifying the world for over 700 years.

This is an immense topic, so this will be just a nutshell version. Dante describes Hell as being divided up into nine sections, each designated for a different punishment; and some of those levels are divided into sub-levels for more specific punishments. The nine main levels include Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery. In each level, the soul guilty of it are punished for all eternity with all kinds of torture, like in Wrath, the active wrathful fight each other in the river Styx while the passive wrathful drowns in the river.

Since the publication of Dante's epic poem, The Divine Comedy, the section in Inferno has inspired society in many ways. Several full length and short films have been made bringing Inferno to life. Sculpture depicting different scenes of Hell have been carved out. Many painters have made their own vision of the nine levels of Hell. Hell, the most famous painting is by Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli.

Have you heard of the classic rock band, Styx? They're named after the hellish river. The popular AMC drama Mad Men is known to have quoted "Inferno." The most popular phrase to ever come out of the poem is "Abandon all hope, ye who enters here," as inscribed on the gates of hell.

Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, uses Botticelli's painting as a backdrop to Robert Langdon's mission to stop a man made plague from obliterating half the world's population. I won't give any spoilers, but I am disappointed how the book ended.

Again stay tuned for my review.

Defining History Through Music

When creating historical fiction film, biopic, adapting a classic novel, one of the many aspects to think about is the music. You would want to make a statement with your music choice, and I have seen a couple films where the music supervisor broke the mold in music-casting, so to speak.

Many of you should know Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Director Luhrmann stated that in today's society, jazz music is considered too tame. In the 1920s, Jazz was the devil's music. He wanted us to feel the same tension the old folks felt when they heard the music and saw the massive chaos it "caused." Today, some people may think hip-hop is the devil's music. So, the hip-hop music overlaid the jazz in the music bed.

The Great Gatsby - I Can't Stop Scene


The other film is a favorite of mine: Marie Antoinette directed by Sofia Coppola. The film mainly shows the infamous Austrian princess and her time at the Palace at Versailles, from her marriage to her escape attempt.
The film exploits her young age very much. She and, then, Prince Louis were both 14 when they married. She's a teenager. She did teenage things. She put on plays she wrote herself, she had elaborate parties, she bought expensive clothes, she gambled, etc. To help show her young age, rock music from the 80s and 90s were used, including artists like Bow Wow Wow, The Strokes, Adam Ant, and the Cure.

Marie Antoinette - I Want Candy Scene

I'm sure there are several other films that uses music from the wrong era, and I can't wait to see what the directors and music supervisors decided to use.

"Election"

Ferris Bueller star Matthew Broderick team up with young Reese Witherspoon to present the craziest election the world has ever seen. Or is it? After watching the recent debates, it's hard knowing which race is crazier.

First you have your overachiever, Tracy Flick, or is it Senator Hillary Clinton? Flick is the leader of nearly every organization available in G.W. Carver High School, and she is running unopposed for Student Body President. Clinton is the wife of former President Bill Clinton, a New York senator, and former Secretary of State. She wants to become the next President of the United States.

Then you have Paul Metzler, or is it Donald Trump? Unlike Trump, Paul isn't rude women, wanting to grab them by the (meow). He is a football star, recovering from ski accident, who decides to run for Student Body President, under the suggestion of Broderick. However, like Trump, poor Paul isn't prepared for the job he signed up for. And Tracy is fully prepared to prove it.

The situation can be flipped, too. like Trump, Tracy is willing to tear down anyone who stands in her way, including third party candidate Tammy Metzler, yes, Paul's sister. Like Clinton, Paul doesn't call his opponent any names to gain votes, but hangs with his fellow classmates, assuring them to secure his votes.

Regardless of the result in November, I just hope it doesn't end up like the result in the end of Election, where one candidate gets snubbed by a marginal vote only to eventually come out on top.

Censoring Freedom

Whenever it comes to censorship in my house, the phrase was "I think you're old enough, but I have to warn you..." It first started with the concept that the characters said some bad words, or someone was naked, or there is a scene where two people make love. The ending is sometimes spoiled by saying someone dies.

Censorship was based on whether or not my sisters and I could handle it, and my parents believed in discussing different subjects, like homosexuality, foreign policy, and war. In the ever-changing world, these are easy to bring up. The most important thing for parents should do is accept their children's beliefs, and my parents know I can watch a movie involving drugs knowing I won't submit to doing drugs.

Violence today makes a lot of people feel on edge, and everyone has their own way of dealing with it. Some people will just shoot it down, pretending like it didn’t happen. In my family we would talk about the recent event, and discuss why people might make bad decisions.

Censorship is common sense. You can watch a movie, read a book, or listen to some music understanding the contents and knowing it is just a fantasy.

Ernest and Celestine

This is probably one of the cutest animation films I've ever seen. Despite being French, this film makes Disney look bad. Of course it is the tell-tale story of a unlikely friendship, but this the best example of the story.

Ernest is a starving bear looking for spare change by being a street performer. Celestine is a creative mouse who wishes to pursue her career in art. The communities of both characters were taught that bears and mice are never meant to be together; mice fear bears and bears eat mice.

Celestine was working as an intern for the dentist industry when fate brings her and Ernest together and their teamwork turns their societies against them, forcing them to be shut in a cabin in the woods.

They argued for the first few days about their differences of him being a bear and her being a mouse. Celestine even volunteered to sleep in the cellar. But in the days that followed, they realize that they are not so different after all.

The police eventually catches up with them and they are put on trial for their lives in opposite courts. But one incident leads them to saving the people not of their kind, and the people realize everything they were taught was wrong.

Ernest and Celestine live together demonstrating the power of friendship, and showing that friends can be all shapes and sizes.

Harold and Maude

I have seen this film a long time ago and loved it, and watching it was way better than the Presidential Debate, which was in at the same time.

Harold, a young boy obsessed with death, meets Maude, an old beautiful woman with similar interests, at a funeral. Though the timeline is only a week, Maude teaches Harold the fundamentals and beauty of life.

In one scene, Harold asks about an umbrella Maude hangs on the wall of her house, and she talks about how she rebellious and patriotic, in Europe, in her younger years, but quickly drops the subject when she says, "That was before..." and becomes silent. Later, Harold discovers on her arm a tattooed number. The cutaway was very quick, but it meant she is a survivor of the Holocaust.

Maude, surviving death at the Holocaust, decided to live her life to the fullest, spreading love everywhere, and accepting beauty in everything, like when she models nude for a local artist. To her, being old doesn't mean she isn't beautiful. 

Sadly, Maude took the euthanasia pills on her eightieth birthday, breaking Harold's heart and snapping him back into reality. Maude's death makes him realize the gift of life is nothing to play with, and he should live the life he was given.

Middletown

First off, I will say that everyone did a tremendous job with Middletown. The performance was fantastic. But in my opinion, the play was too happy for a drama. It seemed more of a comedy than a tragedy.
The aspects of the story make you realize how special you are to other people's lives. John is a character who is always hopeful to make a difference in other people's lives. He has a crush on the newcomer, Mrs. Swanson, but he knows he will never win her heart because she's married and expecting a child.
The Mechanic is another under appreciated character who seems to notice everything that goes on in the street. No one really appreciates him, or everyone thinks he is just dull in the head and goes along with him. But if you really sat down and talked with him, you begin to see his logic of life.
The other minor characters that were placed at various points in the story, spill their thoughts about how lucky they were for where they grew up. The astronaut, for instance, gives a monologue explaining where he is from and what life had in Middletown. Even though he is a famous intergalactic astronaut, he still thinks on his old hometown and the people who help shape his life.

Beneath the Jump Suit: Decoding "Orange is the New Black"

A lot of people I've talked to, about Netflix's Orange is the New Black, said they don't watch the show because there's too much lesbian sex. Memo to you people, that's bigotry against lesbians. Love is love. Then again, many of the inmates that up the show's ingredients fall under the phrase "gay for the stay."

But I looked underneath all the elements that make up Orange, witty catchphrases, uh, sex, and super foul language, featuring names for lady parts I never heard of; I looked for the ingenuity of the writers. If you just ignore all the special elements, you can to appreciate how great the story.

Based on Piper Kerman's memoir bearing the same name, we journey into the unknown world of a women's prison. The main character, Piper Chapman (called Chapman in the show), soon realize the life a con in prison isn't a cake walk, and perhaps in her mind, the longest 15 months of her life.

The extra special element that makes up the story is the back story of the other inmates. It isn't like any other flashback with a dramatic segue and whoosh into the past. You watch two girls argue about the problem of the day, and as the winner walks away, the loser stands there looking defeated, and you would think, "You deserved it." But then, we cut to the loser's past, and it opens your eyes to what the character is like. You realize that the loser isn't a loser after all; winning is just not their strong suit. As they dig deeper into the other inmates' past, you begin root for some to win and others to lose out.

If you weren't ready for this new kind of show, don't worry, Piper wasn't either. Give it time to appreciate. Regina Spektor says, "You've Got Time."