As our blogs and the school year come to a close, I thought my last blog post should resolve around college. No matter if you’re a freshman or senior, college teaches you something new every year. The summer before I left for college, my father, who is the reason why I know and love so many movies, decided to sit down with me and introduce what he called his college collection. These were movies that came out while he was at Arizona State, that revolved around school. I watched all the movies and took notes hoping to either avoid or experience some situations the characters endeavored. So without further or due, here are my top 5 colleges with a slight modern twist.

5. Drumline

This movie was my life in elementary school. The movie was filmed in Atlanta and I can remember hoping to be an extra in the film. The movie is about a Harlem bucket drummer (Nick Cannon)who earns a scholarship to fictional Atlanta A&T University. While he is there he falls in love with head cheerleader. Unfortunately, he is a a bit of a hot head gets into fights constantly throughout the film. The movie’s final music battle scene between Atlanta A&T University and their rivals is amazing. It makes the movie and my countdown

4.Neighbors

This college film is about school, but with a twist. When a fraternity finds a house in the suburbs, they find that their neighbors are married couple with a new born. After several disturbances, the neighbors decided to do whatever it takes to get them out the neighborhood. This movie has dreamy party and hilarious lines throughout. It starts the grown up Zac Efron and funny Seth Rogen.

3. Back to School

As we climb into the top three, we also dig into the classic introduced to me by my father. Back to School is a classic 80’s film about a wealthy but uneducated father who goes to college to show solidarity with his discouraged son and learns that he cannot buy an education or happiness (imdb.com). He does what ever college student dreams of… remodel the dorms. He buys three dorms surrounding his original and combines the rooms into one. His parties are also amazing with live concerts and free food. Money may not be able to buy you happiness, but it can sure allow you access to do what you please. You will also enjoy a young quirky Robert Downey Jr. and comedic Rodney Dangerfield.

2. Accepted

This movie lies close to my heart. I watched this film during the stressful time of sending in college applications. Its about a senior that does not get accepted into any of the schools he applied to. So, in order to keep his family calm, he decides to invent his own school called Southern Hampton Institute of Technology. His friend creates a website so believable that student from all over the country apply and automatically get accepted into. The main character is forced to then find a empty and create the dream campus. At this university there are no finals or long paper that you do not want to write about. The dorms are amazingly huge and there are classes in almost anything. Tanning is even a class!

1.Revenge of the Nerds

Revenge of the Nerds Is both my father and I’s favorite movie about college. It’s another classic 80’s movies that involves nerds and athletes. After some freshman lose their dorms to the football team, they decided enough is enough and fight back for their peace and self respect. The final music battle is also amazing and has in fact been made a parody by cartoons like Family Guy and American Dad.

It has truly been a pleasure writing to you all. What are some of your favorite college movies? Please comment below!

If your life revolved around Disney, then you remember the catchy tune that came on before a the movie tv special. As the glowing film reel traveled through the sky with kids jumping high on the tv screen, we sat down with our popcorn in our onesies with all the excitement and inattentiveness. So, let’s travel back down memory lane and countdown the top 5 Disney Channel Movies.

5.Seventeen again 

I am sorry to say, but this made it into the top five because I am partial to the Sista Sista tv series. I love the twin chemistry between Tia and Tamera. Although Seventeen Again is not a spin off of Sista Sista, the movie stars the twins as grandchildren being watched by their divorced grandparents one late night. The twin’s little brother who is brilliant scientist has an experiment go terribly wrong transforming the grandparents into youthful seventeen year olds.

4.Cheetah Girls 

Like the Bratz dolls, these girls had a passion for fashion. They shared every girls’ dream of singing to fame. Starting the fun flamboyant Raven Simonė, you could help but love the movie. Now available on Netflix, I can’t help, but watch it and sing along. Cheetah Girls are one of those movies that is a right of passage for all girls because we are Sistas…. We stand together!!! Try reading that without singing it.

3.Zenon:girl of the 21st century

One of the oldest on this list, Zeon was one of the first Disney channel movie that I saw. Made in the late 90’s, the movies shares it’s high aspirations for the upcoming century. It contains overly futuristic inventions like hovering cars and people living in spaceships. Zeon center around a girl that pries into suspected dodgy dealings on her space station home – and ends up being sent down to Earth.

2.High School Musical Franchise 

This list could not be complete without mentioning this series. Whether you liked or hated these movies, you definitely knew one of their songs by heart. The franchise follows a two love birds named Troy and Gabriella as they complete their high school years. The High School Musicals are one of the most successful Disney Channel Movies. The concluding movie was even released in theatres attracting all of its dedicated fans.

1.Holes

Based off on the novel by Louis Sachar, the film stars power actors like is Sigourney Weaver, Patricia Arquette, Jon Voight and Shia LaBeouf. It centers around a wrongfully convicted boy named Stanley Yelnats who is sent to a brutal desert detention camp where he joins the job of digging holes for some mysterious reason. We later find out the saddening story behind Stanley’s curse. This film still holds the test of time against the rest of the other movies because of its amazing cast and great performances

What are some of your favorite movies? Please comment below.

Quentin Tarantino is a famous director know for his quirky style. His films usually pay homage to old films that he saw growing up. From gangster films to historic ones with a twist, Tarantino is quite original. His love for sharp dialogue, gruesome violence, music, and foot faddish sets him apart from others. So without further or do, here are the top 5 Quentin Tarantino movies.

5. Jackie Brown

The movie involves a flight attendant, Jackie Brown  who in order to supplement her low paying job, smuggles money from Mexico into the U.S., for a gunrunner, Ordell Robbie , until she is caught by an ATF agent , who then tries to get Brown to inform on Ordell. Ordell initially plans to kill Brown to prevent her from turning on him, but she convinces him that she will pretend to help the authorities while managing to smuggle half a million dollars of Ordell’s money, enough for him to retire. There are some nice twists and turns. This movie also has a great cast (you can’t get much better than DeNiro and Sammuel Jackson in the same film), and helped revive the careers of Pam Grier and Robert Forster. The movie homage to 1970’s black exploitation movies with 70’s R&B music and style of clothing.

4.Kill Bill Vol.1

Kill Bill is Tarantino’s bloody homage to old school Hong Kong martial arts movies and ’70’s revenge flicks. Volume 1 centers around a once pregnant Bride that beaten and shot in the head by Bill and his Deadly Vipers Assassination Squad. She was a former member of the assassin group . After lying comatose for four years, the Bride wakes up and leaves the hospital to seek revenge. In the film, the Bride confronts and takes down Vernita Green in an incredible knife fight, but that is only an appetizer for the main course, which is her bloody and lengthy battle with O’Ren-Ishi and her henchmen, “The Crazy 88,” and her personal bodyguard, the psychotic 17-year old, Gogo Yuba. In the main fight scene, the Bride wears a yellow jumpsuit in honor of Bruce Lee ad fights over 200 henchmen. The scene turns noire because the director had to avoid receiving an MC-17 rating. It was too bloody and gory for comfort.

3.Inglorious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino’s highest-grossing film to date, and received multiple awards and nominations, including eight Academy Award nominations. This World War II film tells the story of a “take-no-prisoners” group of Jewish-American soldiers who were dropped behind enemy lines to strike fear in to the Nazisand involves two separate plots to assassinate the Nazi Germany high command, including Adolf Hitler. This movie probably has the single best performance by any actor in a Tarantino film. Christoph Waltz’s scene stealing portrayal of SS Colonel Hans Landa was frighteningly good.

2.Pulp Fiction

The movie is a crime film known for its fantastic lines and dialogue, perfect mix of humor and violence, and is told in a character driven, non-linear method, with multiple intersecting story lines.The ensemble cast is incredible, and the soundtrack is almost as good as the movie itself. This movie single handedly revitalized John Travolta’s career, and was deservedly nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture.

1. Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs was Tarantino’s first, and some still say his best, directorial work. Tarantino’s directorial debut was a low-budget independent film that, while not a box office hit when it was first released, quickly became a cult classic. The story revolves around a jewelry heist gone wrong, and the events that take place before and after, as the surviving criminals try to figure out if they were set up by a police informant within the gang.

What are your favorite Tarantino movies? Please comment below! Thanks!

This week I wanted to do something different. So, I decided to investigate the famous pixar theory. It purposes the idea of all the pixar characters occupying the same universe. This means that all the Pixar movies you watched all occurred on earth at some point in time. To help you follow the theory, I will subtitle each movie and time period  and explain their importance.

Brave (14th-15th Century)

It all starts with Merida discovering “the-will-of-the-wisps” (magic). The Magic turns her mother into a bear. This magic is why animals and inanimate objects (brooms & tools) behave like humans. Magic was utilized by a witch, who mysteriously vanishes through wooden doors. Eventually this Magic from the will of the wisps would lead to the birth of super heroes.

The Incredibles (1950’s -1960’s)

This leads us to The Incredibles. A movie surrounding super heros that retire that struggle to live with society, while masking their super powers. Unfortunately, Buddy, a wannabe superhero, invents two things for the demise of super powered humans: self serving A.I. robots and the high tech Zero Point Energy.In the movie he uses the energy to freeze Mr. Incredible and his family on a deserted island. The robot are the pivotal moment where we see machines eradicating their only threat, supers. Eventually, toys start to absorb and draw their powers from Zero Point Energy.

Toy Story (1997-1998)

The first signs of life from toys become now present due to Syndrome’s technological prowess in Toy Story. These toys create a code of rules (i.e: humans cannot know they’re conscious beings) and learn that human love is another energy source, upon which they thrive.

Toy Story 2 (1999)

In this film, Woody is separated from his owner and captured by a toy collector. He discovers that he is a collectable and finds the idea of living immortal tempting. We start to see inanimate objects question their purpose in life. For example, Jesse resents her owner, Emily, for abandoning her.Resentment towards humans was not only carried by inanimate objects but by animals as well.

Finding Nemo (2003)

In the ocean we find that fish are incredibly advanced. They have schools, a network and freeway system. We discover that humans are polluting the earth and experimenting on them. Dory was one of the animals that was experimented on, which is why she is forgetful. There are signs of resentment growing towards humans for polluting the environment, stealing fish and caging them. Animals begin to be more curious and carry more humanistic characteristics,

Ratatouille (2007)

In Ratatouille, Remy, the rat, discovers his love for cooking and displays human characteristics.  This is the first time we see personal interaction between human and animal, but it is for the purpose of controlling humans. Remy controls Linguini because Linguini does not know how to do anything. We see that Remy’s rat clan does not approve of the humans and feels both fear and hate towards them.

UP (2011-2016)

Carl is forced to give up his house to a corporation (BnL) because they are expanding the city. This is foreshadowing−this corporation is the cause for polluting the earth and wiping out life in the distant future, as a result of technology overreach. Carl discovers that Charles Muntz has effectively trained an army of communicating dogs. This is the start of the tipping point between animals and humans.
Years later, the uprising between animals and humans begins.

Cars (2100-2200)

When animals rose up against the humans to stop the pollution, the machines saved the humans and they won the war. However since machines helped humans win, it tipped the balance on Earth. Machines/BnL had to send the remaining humans off into space on a ship called Axiom. All of the other machines were left behind to populate the world and run things.

Wall-E (2800-2900)

Earth has become uninhabitable for hundreds of years due to BnL. The corporation took over the world/governments starting in the 1950’s. Wall-E is the only machine left on Earth after it ran out of resources. He mets another robot names Eve who is sent back to earth to determine if it is inhabitable. Wall-E finds a plant proving the life still has a chance which ultimately caused humans to return after several hundred years. During the credits of Wall-E we see the shoe that contains the last of plant life. It grows into a mighty tree.

A Bug’s Life (2898-3000)

That same plant we see in Wall-E grew to be the tree in “A Bug’s Life”. Insects have a longer lifespan in “A Bug’s Life”. Prior to Wall-E, an ant can last just 3 months. However, in a bugs life, these ants all survive an entire summer and allude to being around for quite some time. This indicates that ants are sturdier as a result of evolution and mutated genes.

Monsters Inc. (4500-5000)

Hundreds of years after Wall-E, animals started changing due to radiation caused by BnL. These animals evolved into monsters and accidentally wipe humans off the face of the planet.Monsters and machines didn’t realize their mistake of getting rid of humans until it was too late. They eventually realized that humans were their source of energy, and needed to sustain life. Machines helps solve that by letting monsters use doors to time travel to the human generations. This leads us to Boo.She never got over Sulley and became obsessed with finding out what happened to him. She remembered that doors are the key to finding Sulley. Later on in life she figured out how to time travel (using wooden doors) and goes back to the source of all magic, “the-will-of-the-wisps” and creates magic to find Sulley by using wood.

Sorry of the length of this blog. The theory is very interesting to me and quite detailed. What do you think of this theory? Is it a stretch?

Last week I blogged about the unlucky men that been nominated, but never won an Oscar. This week I wanted to give the same attention to my actresses. Some of these women listed still have a chance, but unfortunately some have passed away. So without further or due, here are the top five actresses that have never received the golden statue.

5) Dorothy Dandridge (Carmen Jones)

Dorothy Dandrige

Maybe the world wasn’t ready for Dorothy Dandridge. In 1954, she was the first African-American nominated for Best Actress, but Grace Kelly took home the Oscar for The Country Girl. It was robbery.Dandridge’s performance in the musical Carmen Jones remains highly regarded.Her contributions to African-Americans in cinema are routinely acknowledged by critics, studio heads, and actors alike.

4) Michelle Pfeiffer (Dangerous Liaisons, The Fabulous Baker Boys and Love Field)

MIchelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Pfeiffer made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but received mainstream attention with her breakout performance in Scarface. Pfeiffer has had her greatest commercial successes with Batman Returns, What Lies Beneath, and Hairspray. In the four-year period from 1989 to 1993, Michelle Pfeiffer was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar three times. Unfortunately, she didn’t win despite putting in stellar performances in Dangerous Liaisons, The Fabulous Baker Boys and Love Field (IMDB). Personally, I have not seen her in the movies she has been nominated for, but she is amazing in the film What Lies Beneath. 

3)Viola Davis (The Help and Doubt)

Viola Davis

Viola Davis is one of the most experienced among the list. She has been performing great roles in respectable films like Antwone Fisher and Traffic, but it wasn’t until she was nominated for a supporting role in Doubt that casting agents began taking her seriously. In The Help, she plays a lonely lovable maid set in the 1963 that assists the main character Skeeter in writing a novel revealing what it is like to be a maid in Mississippi. The film entirely did receive great attention by nominating her and Octavia Spencer, but spencer was only the victor.

2) Sigourney Weaver (Working Girl, Gorillas In The Mist, Aliens) 

Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver is another actress who has been nominated multiple times (twice in one year actually)  , but has yet to put an Oscar on her mantelpiece. In 1989 she was nominated for Best Actress for her work in Gorillas In The Mist and for Best Supporting Actress for Working Girl. She failed to impress the Academy in 1987 either when she lost out on a Best Actress Oscar for Aliens to Marlee Matlin who scooped the honor for Children of a Lesser God. Personally, she should have won for her role as Riley in Aliens. With that character, Sigourney paved the way for action women actors. Before Aliens, the heroine was always a man.

1)Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction)

Glenn Close

You may know her as Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians or Kala in Tarzan, but the best performance I have seen her do was in Fatal Attraction. According to IMDB, she is  six-time nominee, tying Thelma Ritter and Deborah Kerr for record of most nominations without a win. Personally, Close deserved the Oscar for Fatal Attraction. She made you believe she was psychotic. And with a name like Close, it just does not seem right to not give her an Oscar sooner or later.

Did any of these people shock you? Who do you think deserves an Oscar? Please comment Below!

With the conclusion of the Oscars last Sunday, I could not help but think about all the unlucky people that did not win oscars. They had gotten so close with a nomination, but it just wasn’t enough to seal the deal.  Imagine what it is like to be recognized constantly for your talent, but never win the oscar. So without further or due here are the top 5 actors have never won an Academy Award.

5.Johnny Depp 

To shake his teen idol status, Depp took on roles that were unlike his TV character as much as possible. Form his eccentric, but memorable performances with frequent collaborator, Tim Burton, to romances, thrillers and more, Johnny Depp has done it all. But his first oscar nomination came along in the new century for what’s now considered his trade mark role Jack Sparrow. He since has earned two more nominations, but no victories yet.

4. Will Smith

He is a grammy winning rapper, television star, and box office king, but the fresh prince still can’t catch oscar gold. He may be funny, but he can also be so serious which has made the Academy sit up and take notice twice. They did not give him the trophy either time, but this has not stopped Smith from pursing  genre as various as sci-fi, romantic comedies and biography pictures.

3.Edward Norton

Although it takes some actors decades before they are recognized by the Academy, Norton got his first for Supporting Oscar nomination right off the bat for with the film called Primal Fear. It is not the only time Norton showcased such diversity within a role, his Best Actor nominated American History Xn performance for proof of that.

2.Peter O’ Toole

With eight Oscar nominations and no wins, it is not surprising he holds the record for most nominations and no wins. The rsh actor’s respective and deeply repertoire ranges from epics to historical dramas and musicals to black comedies has earned him many accolades. Although Laurence of Arabia is considered one of cinema’s finest films, O’Toole only has an honorary Oscar from 2003 to chauffeur almost 60 year career.

1.  Leonardo DiCaprio

Jack Dawson may have been the king of the world,but DiCaprio has yet to add the title Oscar winning to his  20 plus year career. It is not like he has not been nominated. He was still a teen when he received his first and earned two more in the 2000’s. DiCaprio since then has shown he can definitely play in dramas,tragedies, comedies and more, but the trophy still eludes him.

Who did I miss? Do any of my picks surprise you? Please comment below and thanks in advance.