Beauty and the Beast Live Action Sneak Peak

Release of Disney's live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast is right around the corner. And the studio is pulling out all the stops. While the cast is on a world press tour, an eight-minute exclusive sneak-peek with costumes on display are open to park guests at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios in Florida and Disneyland in California. At Disney's Hollywood Studios, costumes from the new movie are on display and I was able to catch a sneak peak of the first five minutes!


The prop on display at Hollywood Studios is the red rose under its glass dome. And the costume is Belle's golden dress, which she famously wears during her and Beasts' iconic ballroom dance in the 1991 original film.

At Disneyland Resort in California, the costumes on display includes Belle's village blue dress, a map, an enchanted mirror, and a rose under the bell jar. I would've loved to see these in person too!

Gilderoy Lockhart Chocolate Frog Card Reveal

One of my favorite things to do on magical trips to Wizarding World of Harry Potter Orlando is to collect chocolate frog cards - the snacks Harry and his friends enjoy on their trips to Hogwarts and Honeydukes.

Recently, I attended A Celebration of Harry Potter, where Universal Studios revealed new merchandise for their theme parks. One of the items I couldn't wait to get was the Gilderoy Lockhart chocolate frog card!

A Celebration of Harry Potter 2017

For the past few years, Universal Studios has held A Celebration of Harry Potter event at their theme parks in Florida. For an entire weekend, wizards and witches celebrate the Harry Potter books and movies at Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure through demonstrations, Q&A’s and exhibits.

I’ve been very lucky over the past few years to attend, and this year was no exception. Though I was only able to attend one day and aimed to pack in as much as possible, the event is held over three days. If I could’ve apparated to both parks I would’ve, but chose to stay at Universal Orlando to visit two of their expos and a cast Q&A.

The day started off early with getting line for the first expo. Inside, Scholastic, Warner Bros Studio Tour, the Harry Potter Exhibition, and MinaLima had individual exhibits.

Inspirational Quotes from Fictional Characters for an Awesome 2017

Starting a new year usually inspires us to take chances, make mistakes, try new things, believe in ourselves more. As geeks we often turn to books, movies, or tv shows for advice and comfort. In sticking with our resolutions for the next twelve months, here are some inspirational quotes from 2016 to make our world a little brighter. What quotes are motivating you this year? Feel free to share in the comments!

My Dream Loot Crate - Galaxy Defender

Chances are you've probably heard of Loot Crate before, but if you haven't, the subscription service provides a geeky crate of the coolest memorabilia delivered to your doorstep every month to two months. Each box is filled with theme-related collectibles, apparel, home goods, and more for all of your geeky, gamer and nerdy needs.

It just so happens the good people at Loot Crate invited me to create a "Dream Crate" of my own design. Being a fangirl of their amazing subscription I couldn't refuse the challenge!

Earth is a pretty complicated place. With the help of some cool gadgets and memorabilia, we can stand up for what's right everywhere we go. My dream is for Loot Crate to bring out the Galaxy Defender in all of us with the help of Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Trek, Wonder Woman, Star Wars, Doctor Who and The Avengers.

No matter how much we may have our differences, in fiction nothing can stop us from coming together and give us inspiration to come together in real life.

Collectibles above can be found at the following:
Dancing Groot Funko pop l Guardians of the Galaxy
Star Trek Iphone Case l Star Trek
I Rebel l Star Wars: Rogue One
Wonder Woman mini-backpack l Wonder Woman
The Doctor's New Sonic Screwdriver l Doctor Who
Avengers Assemble Travel Mug l Marvel

If you could design your own crate, what would you put in it? What makes you feel like a Galaxy Defender? 

Matt the Radar Technician Cosplay at Halloween

Despite being a massive geek, I was never really a Star Wars fan. Not that my mom and sister didn't try to influence my disinterest over the years by watching the films and going to the conventions, as I grew up with the first era of early 2000s installments. But the Disney and J.J. Abrams's reboot changed my enthusiasm. And I guess you could say Saturday Night Live played a big role too.

When Adam Driver hosted the weekly sketch-comedy show, there was one clip I was totally obsessed with: Undercover Boss. The skit has Darth Vader's grandson Kylo Ren posing undercover at Starkiller Base as Matt the Radar Technician. Certain lines like "Kylo Ren is a punk-bitch", as much as I thought it was creative and funny. The entire skit became a fandom of mine ever since it aired.

Immediately, the video inspired me to make this my Halloween costume. I'm not sure there's ever been another costume I was so determined to complete as much as possible.

FanFest Orlando Charity Rallies for Pulse Victims

Orlando native James Frazier  created an opportunity for fans to engage and support the victims of the tragic attack on the LGBT nightclub Pulse. As the creator of the WalkerStalker cons, he immediately reached out to actors to create a fundraising event FanFest Orlando.

Actors like Stephen Ammell (Arrow), Robin Lord-Taylor (Gotham) and The Walking Dead such as Melissa McBride and Lauren Cohen were in person to sign autographs and be apart of photo ops. The day also offered free panel sessions, merchandise, a cosplay contest, and a charity auction. One hundred percent of the profits raised from ticket sales, autographs, professional photo ops, and vendor sales will be donated to the One Orlando Fund.

Support a good cause for Orlando and have the opportunity to meet stars from my all-time favorite show? Sign me up! It was truly something I couldn't miss!

Let's Go (Back) To There: Lucille Ball Museum

Attractions may seem like an odd thing to lament over. If you ever visit a coffee shop or pizzeria or library that's apart of your weekly or every day hangouts, and suddenly it's just gone or you're given the news it's going to close forever, you might know where I'm coming from.

Theme parks and their rides or shops were a big part of my life growing up, having either visited them every year as a family vacation or lived close enough to be able to visit them all the time.


One of my places to visit has been Universal Studios Orlando. Last year though it's been difficult to say goodbye to some of my favorite attractions. Two of which closed forever. The first was Twister, for which I was really lucky to be apart of it's last operation day.

The other was a tribute to Lucille Ball, but unlike the walk-through to my favorite movie, I didn't experience the same bittersweet departure of another childhood staple. Instead, one day I walked into the park and the building was all boarded up. I had missed the announcement it was going to be replaced with Hello Kitty, so POOF - it was gone.

Universal Studios didn't have a lotta 'splainin' to do about the museum's departure. The museum was getting less and less space to make way for Betty Boop merchandise, which didn't seem to do any better or worse than Lucy's merchandise. Their trivia game section worked less seamlessly. That screen of which I watched the montage became dustier and dustier. Sometimes I wondered how much of my own dust was apart of that screen 'cause I visited the place to so much.


As less and less of Lucy's shows played on television, the Lucy museum became a haven for me and part of my "park routine" as a teenager. When we first hit the Universal Studios Orlando entrance, I always met my mom and sister inside the museum as they went walked through the main street bakery. I'd watch a few moments of an episode I knew by heart on a faux retro television set, and then head into the museum to be comforted by Lucille Ball's costumes and props.

Even though the museum was fairly small and nothing for anyone to get lost in, where my mom and sister could always count on finding me was sitting center of a rug with a big red heart on it. On the big screen, a montage of her shows I Love Lucy and Here's Lucy played. No matter how many times I'd seen it before and practically had the entire thing memorized, it made me so giddy to see Lucy's rambunctious schemes again.

The Lucy tribute wasn't just a place to goodbye to. I Love Lucy was a big part of my childhood. I didn't wake up watching cartoons or the Disney channel before heading off to school. Instead Lucy and Desi were apart of my morning routine. I watched reruns of I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show taking in their comedic timing and hoping I could be apart of that Classic Hollywood landscape someday. Apart of the museum gave me some of those same feelings I had as a kid. Walking down memory sure wasn't easy, but it definitely was a lot of fun. It's such a comfort that people still know her name and legacy.

Happy Birthday, Lucy! Thanks for your comedic genius!

An Ode to DVDs + my recent haul

Last month when my sister and I discovered that the sole local DVD rental store was closing, the news was bittersweet. Many Christmases or afternoons while my mom shopped for groceries were spent at this store where hung out with the cashiers to talk about movies.

We'd be lying if we didn't see the signs that a massive clearance sale looming. Last year the shop divided its space into DVDs and (overpriced) pop culture merchandise. The move essentially cut the movie buff demographic in half. Who wanted to see all the dvds squished to the side for toys and gadgets you could buy next door at Wal-Mart? People sprinkled in to rent movies and attend midnight release parties, but not in droves like they used to.

It was weird to visit the store as it was closing down and seeing rows of DVDs marked down. (I can't lament too much about this: I saved like $200....) That's where this very rare dvd haul comes from.

In this awesome world of streaming whatever we want wherever we are, are DVDs officially going out of style? I guess, in a lot of ways, yes, especially for people who don't live like a cave person.

Similar stores like Blockbusters are extinct. Grocery stores have RedBoxes, so renting is still available but the physical location of hanging out with other geeks or parents taking their kids to pick out a special Friday night movie (a faded tradition my family had) has become a thing of the past.

With all of the instant access we have to movies these days, it's hard to remember a time when DVDs were in-style. Almost twenty years ago news broke out that these strange but awesome little discs were going to replace VHS tapes. It was a totally weird concept: discs? like a CD? how would we tape shows to them? WHAAATTT? That's not gonna last. Subsequently, Me and my sister spent that whole summer saving up for our own television, DVD player, and our first buys: The Mummy and Twister. DVDs were once the ultra-cool way of the future.

The massive transformation of VHS to DVDs soon ushered in other eras like Dial-Up to Wifi, CDs to Ipods, and VHS Players to DVR devices.

Some things never disappear. Vinyl records for the masses temporarily vanished but it's been coming back. People used to claim that books would be dead and replaced with kindles and ebooks, but literature is flourishing with bookworms. In fact Barnes and Noble sales have plummeted online but risen with physical stores. The community is as active as fandom culture with the conversation about what are you reading and what do you want to read growing exponentially.

But the future for movies looks more and more like it's going to be online in some form of streaming content; less dvds, less movie theaters, less of it in a physical sense. Which is ironic considering this I blog about movies that I, for the most part, watch on my tablet.

When everything is just tapped into online by a smartphone, tablet, or our televisions now, the tangible feelings I have towards movies are getting lost in the shuffle.

My sister and I made memories searching up and down the aisles for that one title we wanted to take home with us, or muddling through the subtle disappointment when some indie movie wasn't in stock and hoping for better luck next time.

Sometimes it's nice to have something physical of a movie similar to the popular ebooks and physical copies debate. Kindles are great to carry 100 books wherever we go, but physical copies are more intimate i.e. holding a book in our lap while sipping a cup of coffee or cuddling into bed.

I'm ALSO a person who, as much as she loves to stream Jessica Jones over and over, has thought: when is Netflix gonna release this on DVD? Not only do I have regular EPIC moments of brain-fartery, but I do get a little giddy popping a DVD in and getting comfy for a movie night, and that somehow feels different to me than streaming.

Amazon, and what's left of stores like Wal-Mart, Target, etc. will surely still stock DVDs as far as we can tell. Getting a movie shipped to my house is a great convenience, but makes the experience of being among other movie buffs a thing of the past. DVDs might not be going out of style just yet; they're just taking on another form that I'll guess I'll have to get on board with....soon.

P.S. The haul itself was pretty good. I bought a fair amount of movies I just wouldn't pay full-price for i.e. Leatherheads, Eat Pray Love, and Loser. I was so excited to get Gone Girl and have watched it....quite a few times. I think my sister and mom suspect there's something wrong with me.

5 Ideas To Get Out of A Streaming Slump

Maybe it's the summer heat down here in Florida, or I'm just in a really bad movie rut. Because I am having a really difficult time watching any kind of movie. And, nothing feels less inspiring as a movie buff or blogger than to watch a dozen movies and come away feeling BLAH about them all.

Sure, we all don't like a movie here and there. Typically, even when I watch a flick that isn't an instant fave or something I'd watch again, I still try to find something redeemable.

After watching a string of movies that just weren't any good, where I just felt like I wasted my time, where I couldn't find something that made me go Well it was all right because this actor's performance stood out or at least this scene made me laugh, doubts arise when I go to watching something new: what if I just don't end up liking it? or it gives me nothing new to think/write/talk about?

Basically, my curiosity or excitement to watch movies has dried up for the time being. I know I want to watch something but I just don't know where to start. I wanted to fix how I or others can get back on the film wagon. These are five ideas on how to get out of a streaming slump. Good luck!

Ranking the Best and Worst Every Flavor Beans

One of the best things about being a fangirl is when food, places, or merchandise come to life straight out of a book, movie, or television show.

Every Harry Potter fan has wanted to live out fantasies from J.K. Rowling's series - receiving a letter from Hogwarts, having the wand choose us, and so many other things. We've all definitely wanted to snack on Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Honeydukes. When I got my hands on some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (truly from HoneyDukes!), it was pretty freakin' magical.

What's fun about Every Flavor Beans is that you never know what flavors you're gonna get. I'm not sure if the manufacturers have a quota for certain flavors to be in every package, or if it's just random. Mine had at least one of every flavor, so I felt very lucky.

(If you're looking to try some of these out for yourself or haven't visited Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks yet, you can also find them here!)

For my first try, I picked random ones and tried guessing the flavor. Let me tell you, I didn't think a jelly bean could get as good as Marshmallow and then as bad as Vomit or Dirt. Gradually I ranked the best and worst, and thought it'd be fun to share my thoughts below.

Initial Thoughts: 

Banana - Sorry Minions! It's not a good flavor, no matter what incarnation it takes.
Black Pepper - Pretty spicy!
Blueberry - Strongest flavor next to cinnamon and soap but tastes GOOD.
Booger -  Doesn't have a specific taste but feels slimier the longer it lasts in your mouth. UGH.
Candyfloss - Cotton candy with a hint of floral-scented perfume. Nice!
Cherry - Already my favorite flavor, so it's hard to not love this. Tastes exactly like cherry.
Cinnamon - Maybe my tongue is just sensitive but it's HOT! so so HOT!
Dirt - Imagine garden manure as a taste. Yep, that's it.
Earthworm - Doesn't taste too different from dirt, maybe slightly less stronger.
Earwax - It's deceptive to tell Earwax apart from Sherbert Lemon. Their colors are pretty similar. It's surprisingly crunchy.
Grass - Pretty sharp flavor, kinda like the smell of freshly mowed grass.
Green Apple - A little disappointed. It's not as sour as you would expect.
Marshmallow - Like a fluffy mini-smores you can pop into your mouth anytime. COOL!
Rotten Egg - Actually, sweeter than expected. I thought it would be muskier.
Sausage - A little difficult to tell Sausage apart from Dirt. Simple BBQ flavor that's not overwhelming.
Sherbert Lemon - I can see why it's Dumbledore's favorite. Sweet and not too sour.
Soap - YUCK. NASTY. Actually made my stomach churn.
Tutti-Fruitti - Fruitilicious with a hint of bubble-gum, but not very memorable.
Vomit - ABSOLUTE WORST. Exactly like bile.
Watermelon - Some tasted like fresh watermelon, others tasted warm and rotten.

Official Rankings:

Best: Marshmallow, Cinnamon, Blueberry, Cherry
Personal faves: Marshmallow, Candy Floss
A-Okay:  Banana, Sherbert Lemon, Sausage, Tutti Frutti, Watermelon
Most Creative: Bogie and Dirt. Bogie doesn't have a strong flavor but creative texture. Dirt is right on with its flavor (I'd imagine anyways).
Could Be Stronger: Green Apple, Rotten Eggs, Earwax, Grass
Worst: Vomit, Soap, and Dirt. Interesting to try, but all made me absolutely nauseous.

Have you tried Every Flavor Beans?
What's your favorite or least favorite flavor?

♫ Florence and the Machine Concert ♫

Music isn't my go-to topic to geek about here. Mostly because it's a little bit more personal than movies or books. I can't express how a song can make an impact on me physically and emotionally. A little less than the mental commitment it takes to engage my imagination towards books but more as a song can wash away stress, make me blissfully on top of the world, and transport me to another place.

After attending a concert by Florence and the Machine recently, there was just no stopping me from gabbing about it everywhere. 'Cause it was AMAZING.

I Survived The Ultimate Captain America Marathon

Batman used to be my favorite superhero, and I was mostly obsessed watching every franchise from Tim Burton to Christopher Nolan. It's fair to say I was far outside the Captain America bandwagon when The First Avenger and The Winter Soldier hit theaters. And, at the time other movies picqued my attention more like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Hunger Games, and Divergent. When my sister introduced me to the Sentinel of Liberty with The Winter Soldier in 2014, a whole new world opened up.

My first time watching the movie sparked an obsession for everything Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter, Bucky Barnes, and their whole universe. Two years later and I was quite literally jumping out my pants for the Ultimate Captain America marathon. I didn't know I could get so excited! It was months in the making, and then it was finally here!

Kindred Spirit Guide: Bridget Jones

Are you looking to find your spirit animal? To help you define your pop culture spirit animal, I've matched traits of personality, humor, and even sex to famous and favorite movie and tv characters. Here is my latest guide with iconic British literature and film character: Bridget Jones.

Your Special Totem: A diary, in which you write what you mean when your write..but then you don't mean what your wrote. Eh, we all know diaries are full of crap anyways.

In Your Circle You're Famous For: Verbal diarrhea.

Your Life Motto: It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces.

Personality: There are elements about the ridiculous with you like not being well-gifted at public speaking. Despite what self-consciousness makes you feel like, you're not an idiot. Every year you start out wholly and beautifully optimistic to make changes and empower yourself...then somewhere along the way you let the world be harsh to you.

10 Magical Lessons I Learned from Once Upon A Time

Once Upon A Time is one of my favorite shows. For those who are not familiar of the ABC series, the creators of Lost took our favorite fairytales and turned them on their head.

Emma Swan, also nicknamed the Savior, encounters iconic fictional characters like Snow White, the Evil Queen, the Savior, Rumplestiltskin, Peter Pan, Jiminy Cricket, and Pinocchio in the real world, a place known as Storybrooke, Maine.

What I love about this show is that it takes characters we know from books, movies, and legends and watch them forge through pain, make sacrifices, pined for real love or faced their fears. It's always refreshing to watching them overcome challenges in positive and enlightening ways. Whether it's defeating evil or accepting their inner wickedness, Once Upon A Time offers plenty of life lessons.

10 Geeky Things That Helped Me Survive Community College

For many students (not judging), drinking and partying is a fun way to let loose from obligations at school. Call me a prude but being hungover or tired the next day never sat well with me. Again, call me lame, but I usually sat at my laptop binge-watching shows, movies, or clips. Sometimes a movie or a funny montage helped me laugh away stress or refocus my attention from endless hours of studying.

For others who are feeling the pressures of academia, and similarly may not be the partying kind, here is a compiled list of favorite things that helped me survive. I hope it may serve as inspiration to keep track of what helps you endure your own desperate or bored days ahead.

Let's Go (Back) To There: Twister Soundstage

I love Twister - the 1996 action movie directed by Jan DeBont about competing storm chasers across Oklahoma. One of the perks of living in Florida is the occasional visit to Universal Studios Florida. An attraction that somehow has managed to avoid renovation is the Twister: Ride It Out Soundstage. 

The "ride" is a walk-through set celebrating the movie that broke summer box office records and beat out other action films like Mission: Impossible. Guests enjoy watching pre-production footage introduced by Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt, and then "survive" a replication of a tornado sweeping through a drive-in. 

Every time I go to Universal Studios, I'm not gonna lie: I have to do this attraction. My love for the attraction started out with simply enjoying the relief of air conditioning from the heat. But over time, I've been on it so many times, the film has become my one of my all-time favorites. 

As early as summer 2014, rumors have begun that the attraction will be replaced with something. I figured now's a perfect time to share some photos and videos. Hope you enjoy!

My Life (So Far) As Illustrated by Movie Characters

photograph by Alexei Izmaylov
Today is my birthday; I turned twenty-five. To be honest, my mind was entirely blank about how to commemorate the day on this blog.

Celebrating my birthday isn't really my thing, but as a person who is always reflecting on something, it's a great opportunity to focus on how events, people, time, and especially movies, change perspectives or made me grow. In the birthday post last year, my stroll down memory lane was about films thatshaped my movie-watching experiences so far.

AFI's Best in Film 100 Years 100 Movies Exhibit Photos

Each Walt Disney World theme park celebrates something unique; for Animal Kingdom it's nature, at Magic Kingdom you see all of your favorite characters, and so on. Disney's Hollywood Studios, once upon a time named MGM Studios, celebrates the worlds of film, television, and music with attraction rides, shows, and restaurants inspired by icons from Hollywood and beyond.

If you've been to Disney's Hollywood Studios in the past ten or fifteen years, you may have come the Studio Backlot Tour. After a vehicle ride of movie props showcased on the theme park grounds, guests are taken to a brief walk-through museum of film props like costumes, photos with information, and old film cameras. For almost several years the exhibit showcased famous film villains like Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood, Darth Vader and storm troopers from Star Wars, and Aliens from the Alien series.

Recently on a visit to Hollywood Studios, I was pleased to see that the museum has an entirely new look with artifacts from Hollywood's most iconic motion pictures. Now titled: AFI's Best in Film: 100 Years, 100 Movies