Wild by Cheryl Strayed

At age twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed had lost her mother Bobbi to cancer, who she considered to be the love of her life. Her brother, sister, and step-father essentially drifted apart after Bobbi passed away and was the glued that held them together. Strayed became an heroine addict and cheated on her husband with multiple partners to the point where her confession led to their divorce. The trip alongside the Pacific Crest Trail is one of purging her spirit of things that had happened to her, and understanding how she ended up where she is by taking one long physically-emotionally exhausting path to do so.

Strayed provides a wonderful narrative of her life that is both broken and solid. There is a trend in Hollywood and literature that females are not considered adults, therefore have to baby up their language, sexuality, brains, and humor in order to gain a wider audience. Strayed had so much baggage it feels like you were wearing her overstuffed mountain gear along with her as she shares her experiences of cheating, her mother's death, and her family's undoing. So many of her passages emanate the loss of what she went through, and Strayed doesn't glamorize her experiences or push specific spiritual lessons for the readers. It's her journey and we're along for the ride. There is no beating around the bush with her blunders nor her desires, and I liked that Strayed is of a young adult woman's voice is - honest, tormented, humorous, grateful, and enlightened.

Such a major attraction to this memoir is the search for discovery through a singular experience with yourself, and not allowing obstacles in the form of addiction, broken family relationships, etc. stop you. Nature has a way of enveloping us into its arms, if we allow it do so, and Strayed's experience is one that allows us to see the possibilities of what a trip like this can offer us - the solitude, the resolutions, the inner reckoning. Way back when in the early eighties when audiences saw Top Gun (starring Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer) and immediately wanted to become an Army pilot, I read this book and won't be ashamed to say that I am inspired to do something similar - to take a trip somewhere and sort myself out. It is not to replicate Strayed's experience nor to see if trekking solo lives up to the idyllic poetic imagery this book served but more for my own sanity and thirst for adventure/self-reconciliation too. Going through a ton of shit myself, I envied and was emboldened by her choice to deal with her demons in this way. To be ignited enough in her life by her mistakes, the grief of her family, and emotional pain of her past to gain a clearer understanding of who she is.

One thing should be of note with this book is that Strayed's experience is extraordinarily rare. Using guidebooks and having zero experience to hike, this woman completed her mission entirely underplanned. Her boots were too small. She arranged for a friend to send her care packages with twenty dollars at different rest stops; often leaving her with only a few cents in her pocket to get between towns. It's easy to read this and think that she should have been more prepared, but we are living in a different age of technology with cellphones at fingertips. I can't criticize the choices Strayed made, but I think it's a fair warning to those who might be encouraged to read this review to consider your full range of options before trying a trek of this magnitude on your own or with friends. She made plenty of friends and acquaintances along her trip that helped her but many of them are occurrences where her life and physically well-being were in danger. To read her journey from beginning to end, it's almost unimaginable to comprehend how she survived.

The most poignant aspect is how Strayed deals with her mother's death and how it led to her abandoning herself through addictions to companionship, sexuality, drugs, and validation. Far from chick lit, or even chick flick, this book is a refreshing memoir and story of a woman who has muddled big time and needs to reconcile all the parts of her life that has become brutally undone. The story is as much as an adventurous trek as it is deep spiritual or personal reflection for Strayed. It easily became one of my favorite books of the year.

Coming to theatres in December 2014 starring Reese Witherspoon, I am so excited to see the adaptation of Wild in the coming months.  Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (The Dallas Buyers Club), and premiering during the Toronto Film Festival, has already garnered the movie rave reviews for Witherspoon. It's coming out on my birthday week, and I can't think of no other way of being excited to see it and go on the quest into the wild...except to plan my own excursion to take one day too.

Wonder Women: Samantha Brown

Before Travel Channel became obsessed with men gorging on food and treading into limited access sewers, a female host took the network by storm. Her exuberant personality and sense of humor were something I was obsessed with a teenager. Her name was Samantha Brown.

Brown started out with giving tours and staying overnight in ritzy houses and in the tropical United States. Having no previous experience in hosting for television, Brown had been found through The Travel Channel through an audition tape. Luckily the network knew they had someone really special on their hands, and Brown grew to be the first lady of on-air travel.

With her next series Great Hotels, Brown scoped out the North American landscape staying at the finest hotels and exploring the local culture. You couldn't help but fall in love with her. She was the girlfriend and best friend you wanted to hang out at home and abroad. Her love for chocolate and ice cream was your cravings. While you wished to be bouncing on beds, playing games in a hotel lobby, or venturing outdoors on nature escapes or connecting with the locals, she did it with charm and wit.

In her second series titled Passport to Europe, which lasted two seasons, Brown traveled the Euro-world in style, hitching up in places like London, Germany, and Italy. In another series, Brown took temporary residence in Mexico and China. Her willingness to try new things took us sword dancing, rollerblading through Paris at night, snorkeling, and dog sledding.

Her travels weren't always full of smiles. Behind the camera journeying across the world brought long schedules away from family and friends, and going to explored places on her own with a small camera crew. But rarely did those struggles ever come across on-screen. Brown was always a down-to-earth people person.

Forging on with her travels, she never failed to show us everything that could be done in every corner of the world. She taught us the best sights to see, how to save money to travel locally, which hotels to check into and during which season. Her honesty came through when she ate something atrocious or wanted to try something again and again. Meetings with tour guides and special-interest instructors were with a keen interest and open mind. With more series to come like Passport to Asia and Great Weekends, Brown clocked in more than a 160 hours of television. And, she remains one of the sole female hosts to ever grace Travel Channel and really do it all.

She was funny, smart, and down to earth. Brown is one of the few - next to only - explorers (once) on television who didn't have to chow down impossible gargantuan meals in two minutes or live on an island by herself for sixty days and peruse all her survival skills. This woman-sized bubble of enthusiasm proved that we can have an adventure any place we travel, especially with a few spoonfuls of style, humor, and a smile.

Stars I Love: Amy Adams

"If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" When I first heard actress Amy Adams answer  "Green" quite blondily in the film Drop Dread Gorgeous (1999) I was in love.

Years later, and this actress became a four time Academy Award nominee. And her career has never slowed down. She kicks ass and takes names in every film, photoshoot, red carpet event - you name it. You just can't merely call her an actress. She's a super one.

From her early start as the bimbo classmate trying out for Miss Mount Rose American Teen Princess in Drop Dead Gorgeous and playing inexplicably adorable Daddy's girl in Catch Me If You Can, she's incomprehensibly able to fit every single role.

Her supporting role in the 2005 film Junebug confirms how easily she's able to capture then break our hearts. Not appearing in the film for more than a few scenes as pregnant Ashley, she earned the Academy's attention with a heartbreaking scene where she grieves over the loss of her newborn baby. This was the first of a few downright worthy Oscar nominations to come.

With Enchanted, Adams made every little girls' dream come true by transforming the 2D princess into a 3D world. Critics praised and audiences had no choice but to agree. She was exquisitely innocent, girlish, and had a heart of unbelievable gold. Playing Giselle paved the way for Adams like Julie Andrews and Mary Poppins; she was cemented as an icon for younger audiences around the world and as a showcase actress who could take the most innocent roles and make them work realistically.

This 5'4" firecracker just keeps churning out versatility like none other. Adams is able to curse up a storm and battle against five New Jersey sisters in The Fighter, and then change into lovable effervescent friend in The Muppets. These little movie name droppers don't even cover some of her invincible roles as out-nunning Meryl Streep in Doubt, going Marilyn Monroe-esque in Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, or tackling leading lady indies like Sunshine Cleaning. The funny thing about Amy Adams is even if the movies sucks - which is rare - she always comes out as a favorite. (The Wedding Date - comes to mind).

Let's just take a moment to admire her face and style because it's honestly not one too bad to gawk at.

Many actresses can well-disguise themselves in indies and blockbusters, but somehow their transformations are always tracked - maybe because their off-screen fame is bigger than their on-screen ones, or their pathetically more valued for their beauties than their talent. Adams, along with a small special legion of leading ladies, has been able to take her doughy wide eyes, red hair, and overwhelming talent to be more than just a red carpet clothes hanger or a feminine sidekick.

"I think a lot of times we don't pay enough attention to people with a positive attitude because we assume they are naive or stupid or unschooled. But what if she sees the truth about her life, understands it all and ultimately makes the choice that this is what she wants? Is she goofy? Yes. But she could ultimately be the most intelligent person in the movie."

Like an actress from Old Hollywood, her off-screen isn't personality wrapped up in publicity or tabloid propaganda. Neither in interviews does she try to be outrageous, forcefully quirky or manifesting personalities to suit different interviews. She's always herself; genuinely likable, smart, a bit of a fan girl (to her leading men), and someone who has fun with show-business but wants to make a lasting career with every film.

Her small town roots as an employee at the Gap and musical theater transformed Academy Award nominated powerhouse. When commenting on one of her Oscar appearances, Adams admitted to having an existential crises sitting next to Sean Penn and Meryl Streep; questioning she didn't belong there and that it all could be taken away. Nobody in their right mind can ever take away what is rightfully hers; a shining beacon in cinema.

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

Seven (1995)

Photo Credit: Se7en / New Line Cinema

Whispers of intense disappointment or adoration follow Se7en everywhere. The story could be described as a typical crime drama, but how an iconic director sets up its setting and characters is why this 1995 film is a cut above the rest.

Somber and soon-to-be retired Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) is getting replaced with a younger idealistic Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt). In an unidentified decaying city, the pair investigates a bloody and gruesome set of crimes 'inspired' by the seven sins; gluttony, greed, pride, sloth, lust, wrath, and envy.

Director David Fincher is known for his dark auteur style. His films' color and landscape are bleak and the characters rarely find happy endings. Right from the start of Se7en, the plot is relentless in its threat of danger and hopelessness. Crime and inhumanity over-runs every street corner. A never-ending downpour keeps the city wet, cold, and harsh. The faces of Mills and Somerset become the only familiar and welcoming sight as these violent murders become a common affair over one week. Unfortunately, the plot nor your imagination is gifted with a break of sunshine or hope.

Women in Film Blogathon

John over at Hitchcock's World began a marathon earlier this summer about Women in Film; a challenge for bloggers to spotlight a female character from any film genre or time period and explain the various qualities that make them a strong character in the masculine entertainment industry.

There were a lot of interesting choices. As a big Harry Potter fan I thought I'd write about J.K. Rowling's range complex witches like Hermione Granger or Professor McGonagall, or George Lucas's Princess Leia. However, Elizabeth Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise caught my attention and held it more strongly.

Growing up, I remember seeing the first three films in theaters, and of course, was overjoyed by Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow - as most of the world was at that time. But also Keira Knightley as the governor's daughter turned pirate, wife, and mother was an interesting evolution I didn't notice as the films rolled out.

The adventurous Pirates series are centered around the ridiculous mishaps and broken promises of Captain Jack Sparrow. Most of Elizabeth's goals inevitably has to do with saving herself or Will. Yet, Swann isn't very much like other damsels in distresses within the pirate/action genre.

In the first film, she defies the social morals of the 1700s as a respected governor's daughter. The  adolescent portrait of Swann is often forgotten. With her father sailing across the ocean, she is enraptured by the life of a pirate and scallywags brought aboard. Her father and his commodore try to keep her in the dark about such scandalous behavior. She will eventually grow up, stop having such foolish hobbies, and will be married off as political leverage.

Or that's what the plan was. She is everything a well-brought up girl should be, but underneath she wants more adventure and freedom. When she well into her teens, Swann is captured by Captain Barbossa, but doesn't allow her passage aboard the grim Black Pearl scare her into submissiveness. She tries to manipulate and guarantee her safety. Of course she has to do this to protect herself. This example doesn't cover the many ways she is bad-ass from day one; going for the swords when pirates first break into her house, stabbing Captain Barbossa the second she has a chance, using all of Captain Sparrow's rum to get the attention of the militia for her own rescue. As the films go on, and she becomes more like her counterparts: doing what is necessary to survive, going where the sails take her, and dealing what comes across her path.

Perhaps one of the most memorable moments for Elizabeth is when she wears a corset gown her father had bought her. Atop a cliffside unable to breathe and listening to a heartfelt proposal from her fiance-to-be, Swann falls into the ocean below. Once brought ashore by Sparrow, she is rarely found in the same feminine and confining wardrobe again. As her pirate persona grows stronger, the studios didn't take advantage of this and give her less-to-wear wardrobe. Her costumes let her breathe, move, and look like an actual pirate; not fancied or frilled up. Later, she even fakes passing out so Will can rescue Jack. By doing so she goes against her father and the entire militia's orders. This girl was not meant to be tied down and constricted.

No one said a strong female character can't be in love, but Swann also doesn't deny that she wants to be married either. In the second film, Will fails to show up to their wedding after one of his escapades left her behind. Swann goes on her own search with Sparrow to find him. Along the way, she struggles to keep her moral compass and to fight for honorable men. Her days as a governess taught her that's how life should be. But being surrounded by pirates she becomes less subservient to the all-male crews and grooms herself to survive in this dog-eat-dog world, doing what she can to find Will but also getting caught up in the pirate's life she was supposed to avoid.

In the third film, she is unwilling to be dependent on others but secure her own fate. Swann becomes a leader of her own crew, defends herself in sword fights, and isn't afraid to take calculated risks - if its in the name of love or her own freedom. Swann and Will are a more cohesive couple out on the open seas, but she grows more independent and retaliation is in her blood. When the stakes are down she delivers the "speech of the king"; not Jack, Will, or Captain Barbossa and moves everyone to fight until the end.

In the closing moments of the final film, Elizabeth and Will are married, only he is bound working on the Dutchman's crew. Stranded on an island with their child, she fends for herself. She gets married to a man she loves like she always wanted. The deserted island motif is a bit extreme, but she has long shed civilized society. Even though Elizabeth is often associated alongside Will because of their relationship, it was more difficult to find anything as Elizabeth Turner (his surname) other than Elizabeth Swann.

Long live the pirate king!

The Fault In Our Stars (2014) demands to be felt

Photo Credit: The Fault in Our Stars / 20th Century Fox

Hazel Grace (Shailene Woodley)'s thyroid cancer has progressively grown into lung cancer. For the time being her condition is stable when she meets Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort) at a support group. Accepting her limited lifespan which has no specific expiration date, Grace tries to limit the relationships she's involved in by not wanting to hurt the people she loves. As she and Gus become friends, her will to avoid his attempts at wooing fail. The typical young adult genre of "love worth dying for" transforms into a story of love worth living for.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green was originally published in 2012 and has managed to stay atop bestseller's list for the past two years. The story of teenagers falling in love despite facing the inevitability of oblivion has become a cultural phenomenon. Millions of readers dote on how the novel captures a voice of a generation, a relationship centered around realistically grim circumstances, and characters facing mortal affliction. Adapted to the big screen, The Fault In Our Stars is an endearing emotional fixation and success.

A book that offers a sarcastic and teenagerly-honesty perspective could have had big mistake written all over it when Hollywood knocked on Green's doors. Riding on the wave of failure or success, the movie truly rests on Woodley and Elgort - not just for meeting reader's expectations but also how their characters could've been performed by other actors. On their own, and as a pair, both are charming and tender delivering a right balance of endearing comedy and heartbreaking drama. Its supporting cast, which includes Willem Dafoe, Laura Dern, and Sam Trammell, also deliver entertaining and subtle performances. With the right guiding and attentive hand, the production captures the love that emanates from readers to author, and character to character.

A polarizing aspect of this adaptation, which has held a stronghold on the media and internet for most of 2014, is the overwhelming praise the book has earned. Despite my blog's appearance, I cannot call myself a Nerdfighter; a hard-earned label Green fans call themselves. I read the book cover-to-cover more out of curiosity than any buzzworthy acclaim. I fell in love with his realistic yet all-too-optimistic world and had high aspirations that it could be a good adaptation, but I didn't harbor intense passion like many fans.

Respectfully, I was able to have some emotional distance. The movie was enjoyable for watching scenes from the book come to life and still look at it from a perspective by someone else who might be watching the movie out of curiosity. For the latter, I won't refrain from saying that in very few scenes did I feel like the camera work or pacing could have been improved. The actual romantic themes in the film are formulaic; the novel and book are not typically daring in terms of boy and girl meet and then fall in love. What is different about the pairing of Grace and Waters from other couples is how these characters handle life's most difficult crises and still come out the other end hopeful, loving, and vulnerable. There are degrees of relativity in this movie that most people might not suspect either having personally dealt with cancer/family member with cancer or falling in love for the first time. It's the emotionally rousing delivery of youth in love with all its euphoric highs and soul-crushing lows that continuously makes these characters and their dynamics so beloved.

During the production of the film, Green was given slack for crying on-set because he was emotionally compromised watching his novel being adapted. I can't say that I blame him. The story is the stuff of movie magic where as a reader most of the details you pictured were depicted straight from your own imagination. For such a big movie with unbelievably high anticipation riding on the book's coattails, the film experience is surprisingly intimate. During the three-month press tour of the cast and crew sharing praise and dedication for the movie's release, the gratitude everyone had for the material shows in all the right ways with the best cast, script, and studio for the job.

As much excitement has set the world on fire as this being a box office breaker or a love story of the decade, The Fault In Our Stars is able to come alive just as a good movie and adaptation; it's not entirely faultless but definitely funny, uplifting, and lovely.

Rating: ★★★

Have you seen The Fault In Our Stars? What do you think?