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.

Favorite Movies of 2016 (So Far!)

It's hard to believe half of the year is gone! A lot of great movies hit the theaters with a bang leaving an impression on fans and critics alike. Not to mention raking in the dough. With so many great films that have come out this year and many more to come, who will lead the box office for 2016?

I just couldn't help thinking about hitting the half-way mark and what were knock-out favorites of the these first sixth months. Looking back my picks, they include Critic Approved, Box Office Smash/Disaster, or well-loved by all. 

Which movies have been the most memorable, action-packed, heartwarming, and entertaining so far for you? It's tough to predict but what movies for the rest of the year will be definite crowd-pleasers, but Suicide Squad seems like a definite Yes? Yes.

What were your faves for 2016 so far? Feel free to share below!

Brooklyn

A young Irish girl Eilis immigrates to the United States, and her heart is divided between a new home of Brooklyn and her old roots. My heart goes out to this movie so much. Saorise's performance and the eye-popping gorgeous direction makes this one of my all-time favorites, not just 2016.

Yes, this came out sometime last year just in time for Oscar season (but I saw it in January, soooo), and it was definitely worth it's weight in gold. The movie garnered three nominations, including Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Actress. After award show season hype has wavered, there are certain movies whose Oscar bait becomes pretty obvious while others will just remain classics well into the future. Brooklyn is definitely the latter.

Captain America: Civil War

I couldn't stop raving about this one, and neither could critics and movie goers. A huge fork crashes smack down into Roger and the Avengers's road when Tony Stark and the United Nations want to enforce an accords which controls their missions.

Talk about the movie of the summer before the summer even officially kicked off. The Russo Brothers carries Captain America's final individual installment over the finishing line with a bang; an action-packed, feels-heavy bang. It's hard to even watch the first two Captain America movies without wanting to dive right into the third one again and again.

How To Be Single

Replacing the usual romantic comedy where two love-sick characters force themselves into finding true love because of Plot, How To Be Single attempts to do the opposite but doesn't succeed. Alice takes a break from her long-term relationship to try to find out who she is on her own. It's admirable (???) but she ends up taking ill-advice from other single people trying not to be single or mastering a life without romantic attachments, and the whole thing ends up being a mess.

LIKE A BIG HOT MESS, mostly because the movie doesn't click until the very end. That being said, I really like the cast and some of it is pretty funny. Surely, if the script was more polished, it could've been a bigger success and I could recommend this one more....but it's become one of those movies that I am regularly in the mood to watch and don't really know why.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Love. Adventure. Kick-Ass heroines. Maybe the world is over it's zombie-obsession, but the updated twist of Jane Austen's classic novel is so much fun!! Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy ward off their own pride and prejudice as the undead dominate the world.

 If there was one movie I wished didn't bomb at the box office and with critics this year, it's definitely Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. There was so much room for another installment and I can't imagine how the story would've awesomely moved forward. Myself, and some fans, will just have to enjoy this one on it's own. AND PRAY FOR A SEQUEL.

June Geeky Faves

June felt like a breeze - not just because it's been abnormally cool here in Florida but also just by how much time flew by. It's hard to believe we're embarking on July already; only two more months of summer before fall arrives.

Here is a little collection of things I did over the past few weeks and a few plans for July. What did you do last month? What are you looking forward to this month?

Saw Me Before You - My mom and I went to see Me Before You. Surprisingly, my mom ended up liking the movie more than I did. It wasn't particularly terrible or disappointing, and managed to hit all the right notes. Emilia and Sam shared great chemistry, and talk about great costumes for Louisa! Some of the director's interviews during the press tour kinda irked me, just in how she approached scrapping some of the more deeper un-rom-com qualities about the characters. I felt like she and the studios were so aimed at making the movie a Rom-Com Nicholas Sparks-esque spectacle of the summer, they missed out on making the movie more meaningful and engaging in a conversation with people with disabilities.

Saw Independence Day double feature: I had anticipated on seeing this in July but the double feature came along a lot earlier than expected. My sister and I had a great time seeing the first movie, but not so much with the new sequel. That review fully managed to get on the blog.

Swimming - Previous summers have been pretty saturated with offline business and family obstacles, so this is the first summer in a long time I can actually squeeze in swimming. It's been a blast so far. Almost every other (SUPER EARLY) morning I wake up so excited to just dip down to a local pool and almost have the entire joint to myself. The pool even has a radio playing oldies before I get there making it even more worth my while!

Started Monday Motivation on Instagram: Sharing my love of movie and pop culture quotes, I've been making Monday Motivations a weekly thing on Instagram. Feel free to come and join me!

Lost my copy of The Martian: My quest to read The Martian continues. Just when I was so amped up to get down to business with my copy, it disappeared - nowhere to be found. SOOOO. We're just gonna hold onto this goal until it pops up again. SIGH.

Start Everything Movie Wordsearch book: Something I didn't realize I had on my shelf until recently was a movie word search book. I'm a pretty big word-game nerd already, and adding movies as a theme just amped it up a ton of notches.

Plans for July: prepare for and attend GeekyCon (I'm attending as press, SWEET), attend midnight release party for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, get sorted on Pottermore for the Ilvermorny school, see Star Trek Beyond, catch up on a ton of movies!.

15 Epic Quotes from The Walking Dead

There's so many things I love about The Walking Dead, it was a challenge to find the best place to talking about my favorite things. For one, there are some pretty awesome quotes - some are thought-provoking, funny, or cap off a highly emotional moment.

The more I dug around each season, a ton more memorable lines popped up and were very difficult to exclude (I'm looking at you Abraham, Glenn, and Dale!). This list could've gone on forever! You might notice that one character is missing from this list, and that's Rick Grimes. There is really too many to choose from or narrow it down, so he is going to get his very own list.

I hope you enjoy this week's Walking Dead Wednesday! Feel free to share in the comments: What are your favorite quotes?

Independence Day Double Feature

My sister and I have a special place in our hearts for cheesetastic blockbusters. A few years ago when an Independence Day re-release was cancelled, our dreams were severely dashed. There are a lot of movies from the past we'd love to see on the big screen, and Independence Day was one of our top picks. When a sequel was in the making, our hopes came alive again and we were so excited when a double feature was announced by AMC Theaters. Our excitement for the first film was palpable to say the least, while the sequel less so (reboots are just blah, in general).

The following thoughts on Independence Day and Independence Day: Resurgence contains spoilers. Read at your own risk!

Katy's Fauxchella with TickPick

Summer has officially arrived! 'Tis the season to go to music festivals! With the sun shining and blue skies above, it's an awesome time to jam to our favorite bands or new performers. Perhaps one of the most famous music festivals is Coachella. It's notorious for it's appearances by celebrities as regular music fans like us. Though this year's concert has already passed, there's always next year to think about not only what the concert will have in store, but also my dream concert. Gina at TickPick teamed up with me on a collaboration of my dream music Faux-chella festival.

Tickpick's designers customized this awesome poster with my imagined headliners. My music tastes vary all over the place from swing and the 1940s to classic rock. Having attended an amazing concert by Florence and the Machine last month, she was certainly at the top of my list. A solid rock vibe are taking over my playlists these days.

These are the bands I picked: Alabama Shakes, Elle King, BØRNS, Florence and the Machine, The Lumineers, Fitz and The Tantrums. I've included each band and my favorite tracks that would be awesome to hear.

Alabama Shakes - Don't Wanna Fight

Lead singer Brittany Howard's sound and her band first blew me away as apart of the Silver Lining's Playbook soundtrack back in 2012. Their style and especially her vocals are ridiculously soulful. Don't Wanna Fight is just one of several tracks of of their most recent album Sound and Color that I love listening to over and over again. Check them out - don't fight me on this. They're awesome.

Elle King - Ex's and Ohs

King's Ex's and Oh's has become a big radio hit as well as her other song America's Sweetheart. What can I say? Her voice just freaking kills it. Though Alabama Shakes' ruminations about relationships and life are a bit more soulful but nevertheless honest, I love how King is bringing back exciting, bad-ass (female) anthems to rock again.

Borns - Electric Love

I don't really remember how or when I first came across Borns, but it's been one of my favorite discoveries as of recently. This band isn't like the first two on this list, which might add some spunk to a concert of my dreams. Like King, Borns has a very cool eighties-esque sound and one of the coolest songs around right now.

Florence and the Machine - Ship to Wreck

This selection was a bit of a cheat since I just saw her live and can't get over her concerts. Her ability to perform is like mixing Janis Joplin and Queen - she is that good. Smaller stages really do her a disservice because at full voice and barefooted, Florence can't be tamed. She runs around the stage and unleashes an amazing energy. She gives an unbelievable concert, so she would no doubt be a good addition to my dream Fauxchella.

The Lumineers - Ophelia

Similar to Alabama Shakes, The Lumineers caught some big air play with their hit song from Silver Linings Playbook called Ho Hey. It's no doubt a great song and very catchy. Some of their more recent songs like Ophelia are great follow-ups to the shout-along feel that initially made them such a big hit.

Fitz and the Tantrums - The Walker

Fitz and the Tantrums is just such a groovy band. I love how they sound very rockish but also have a pop vibe to them. As the lyrics goes, The Walker just makes me want to break out and dance. One of their other best songs is definitely the totally groovy Moneygrabber. The music video has a very old-fashioned sixties feel while also remaining hip and modern rock. Basically, I would give them (and every artist on this list) all of money to see them in person!

A big thanks to TickPick for reaching out to me for this project. It was a lot of fun and definitely got me letting loose to some awesome beats for the summer. If you're going to pick up tickets, check out TickPick's official website information about concerts and the NFL.

What about you guys - who would you love to rock out to?

Shall We Dance? (1996) sweeps self-expression of its feet

Photo Credit: Shall We Dance / Toho

A middle-aged businessman Shohei Sugiyama is riding the train home one day from work. He's successful and has a loving family, but something is unsettled. He's resigned to spending his life paying off the house he just bought. As a business-person in Japan, life is centered on working and going home long enough to sleep, wake up and go back to work again. Hobbies, especially ones of self-expression in public is rare, if not entirely prohibited and frowned upon.

Looking up from the train window one evening, Sugiyama notices a woman Mai Kishikawa standing at a window of a dance studio. With every passing commute, he slowly gains the courage to go up to that studio with the intention of approaching the mystery lady for a coffee or something more, we're not quite sure. Intuitively aware of his intentions and facing her own issues with dance as a failed ballroom competitor, she adverts his advances but Sugiyama ends up taking dance lessons anyways with her fellow teachers.

At first, it's easy to believe that the movie will enter another Middle Age Man Has An Affair territory. But Sugiyama's attempt to meet or engage with Kishikawa grows into another kind of relationship: one to express himself in a society that doesn't necessarily recognize individuality.

In Japanese culture, it is considered embarrassing to participate in Western ballroom dance. Something as simple as public affection is considered scandalous, but the intimate proximity of the Tango and Waltz is infinitely more taboo. The outside world forces Sugiyama to hide his dance lessons not only from his wife but also friends and colleagues. For a while, his immediate world is not ready to meet up with his hobby, but he also can't forfeit a passion that gives his mind and body a connection to another source of focus besides work.

Dance is more than the steps. Feel the music and dance for sheer joy.

Director Masayuki Suo's Shall We Dance? gives viewers a peek into how intimacy plays a role at large and letting it unravel during Sugiyama's late-night lessons. The studio itself is an underground of meet-ups, yet an exuberant test of wills to release their worries and a certain sense of repression. Aside from Sugiyama, other pupils find a way to nurture self-confidence through dance, and it's hard not to feel swept away by all of them. He offers so much vigor and enthusiasm through the personalities Sugiyama encounters and becomes friends with, you feel like you're in on their little secret which grows more and more complicated.

It's difficult to shine a light on the performances in general because they are all outstanding. However, Kōji Yakusho in particular, as Sugiyama, gives a beautiful performance. Even though his character steps out of bounds of what society expects from him, ultimately his and his family's notions about connection change. He carries the movie with such an enigmatic grace. It's hard not to just fall in love with him by cueing in on his emotions and thoughts, and wanting to see him succeed on the dance floor.

While the story might not seem as different as many others, Suo's film about going against the grain is truly touching. Dance is a universal language and so is the drive or want to tend to parts of ourselves we didn't know needed fulfillment. His film is slow and steady filled with romance and charm. At the Japanese equivalent of 'Academy Awards' it won every award it was eligible to win: fourteen, in fact, including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director. Shall We Dance? Yes, lets.

Rating: ★★★ Have you seen Shall We Dance? What are your thoughts?

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!