Ferris Bueller's Day Off

From the brilliant workings of John Hughes, Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a hilarious, and fun movie about a high school wise guy determined to have a day off from school, despite what the principal thinks of that.

The film follows high school senior Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), who skips school and spends the day in downtown Chicago. Accompanied by his girlfriend Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara) and his best friend Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck), he creatively avoids his school's principal Edward Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), his resentful sister Jeanie (Jennifer Grey), and his parents. During the film, Bueller regularly breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the camera to explain to the audience his thoughts and techniques. I think that this was very useful in a coming of age film like this, teens and the audience really felt like they were connected and that they were Ferris' friend. 

Hughes wrote the screenplay in less than a week and shot the film—on a budget of $5.8 million—over three months in 1985. Featuring many famous Chicago landmarks including the then Sears Tower and the Art Institute of Chicago, the film was Hughes' love letter to the city: "I really wanted to capture as much of Chicago as I could. Not just in the architecture and landscape, but the spirit." I think Hughes accomplished this with another winning feel good film. 

 
Released by Paramount Pictures on June 11, 1986, Ferris Bueller's Day Off became one of the top grossing films of the year and was enthusiastically received by critics and audiences alike. In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry as per being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." It captures what kids think the American way of high school life is, or at least what they dream it to be.

 Here are 9 cool facts about Ferris Bueller's Day Off that you probably didn't know:

1) June, 5, 1985 was probably Ferris' real day off.
2) Mr. and Mrs. Bueller were a real-life couple.
3) Though they played sparring brother and sister in the film, Matthew Broderick was actually engaged to his on-screen sister, Jennifer Grey.
4) Though Ferris and company were portraying high-schoolers, only Mia Sara -- who played Ferris' girlfriend Sloane Peterson -- was a teenager at the time of filming.
5) Painter George Seurat's famous work, "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte," is the work that Cameron appears to be so mesmerized by.
6) Cameron's father's smokin' red Ferrari California Spyder was actually a fake.
7) Charlie Sheen really wasn't 'on' anything during his scene in the film.
8) Though the film took place in the greater Chicago area, the Bueller residence was actually a house in Long Beach, California.
9) Look closely and you'll discover every license plate in the movie has a meaning.

Every Tuesday is PLL Day

Every Tuesday I scramble to my TV to watch my favorite series, Pretty Little Liars. The story focuses on four teenage girls, Aria Montgomery, Spencer Hastings, Emily Fields, and Hanna Marin and their daily struggle of getting blackmailed by an anonymous harasser.

The plot started the night that their so called friend, Alison Dilaurentis went missing. From there on out they have received various texts, threats, and have almost gotten killed a numerous amount of times. The mystery of the show is to find out who "A" is, but it never seems to go in their favor. When they think they have finally discovered the true person hiding behind "A's" black hoodie, another twist is thrown at them. Filled with drama, intense love stories, and relatable characters, Pretty Little Liars excels at being an amazing teen television show. Though I absolutely love this show, I sometimes ask the question, "when is it too much?" The plot of this show takes many twists and turns that sometimes are even confusing to the viewers. Pretty Little Liars has been approved for seven seasons, while currently being in their fifth. However, I can't see where they are going to take this show for two more seasons after they reveal who head "A" is at the end of season five.

There just comes a point in a show, where the writing becomes too complicated. There are so many side plots and characters that appear for such a short amount of time, that you don't know what is important anymore. Pretty Little Liars has made a significant impact on the expectations of a teen drama, and I think that they need to get back on the right track that they started on in the beginning of the series. This show is amazing and doesn't get enough credit for what it's worth. I think if they tightened up the plot,and focused on what was important, the show would be appealing to all audiences and not just the teenage realm. But don't get me wrong, I love my girls. 

"Survival isn't who you are. It's who you become." -'The 100'

One of my favorite TV Series at the moment is The 100, which is one of the new popular shows that runs on The CW. This show first premiered on March 19, 2014; I didn't even know about it until I was looking through Netflix back in October and saw that a show called The 100, was recently added and nearly had a 5/5 star rating, so naturally I thought I would give the show a try and soon after starting it I was HOOKED!

"The Ark"

This series starts with one of the main characters, Clarke explaining what has happened and where she is. She states:

"It's been 97 years since a nuclear apocalypse killed everyone on Earth, leaving the planet simmering in radiation. Fortunately, there were survivors at the time of the bombs. There is now only The Ark, one station forged from the many. We're told the Earth needs another 100 years to become survivable again and man can go home, back to the ground. The ground, that's the dream."

Clarke, played by
Eliza Taylor

We soon find out that Clarke and many other minors are in "prison"!  Since they have been up in space for nearly a hundred years, all of their food, supplies and oxygen are low at The Ark. They believe they are the only humans left in the universe so to keep the human race alive; no matter what crime they commit they are sentenced to death. They shoot you out in space, they call it "getting floated". The only way you don't get "floated" from committing a crime is if you are under the age of 18. The reason why this show is called The 100, is because the people that are in charge of the Ark decide to send 100 prisoners down to earth to see if it is livable once again. 

I love the character development that happens once they are on earth, from the start of the season to the end. It starts out with the 100, acting like normal teenagers, partying, not thinking/planing how to survive and where to sleep. They mature into warriors, when they need to start fighting for their lives when they realize that some humans have been living on earth all this time and they aren't happy that they are living on their land. I also like how we learn more about how these teenagers used to live on The Ark through flashbacks, and how much their characters had to change to survive. 

I recommend this series to anyone that likes Action, Drama, and their minds being BLOWN multiple times throughout a season.  

I would rate Season 1 of The 100, 9.3/10.  The only reason why I didn't give it a perfect score is because the series starts out a little slow but by the third episode it picks up pace and keeps getting better with every episode. 

Bates Motel

I have been following the new psychological thriller TV series "Bates Motel" and so far it’s very, very good. Vera Farmiga provides a wonderfully nuanced performance as Norma, Norman's domineering mother. Freddie Highmore is a dead-ringer for a young Anthony Perkins. The series begins after the death of Norma's husband, when she purchases a motel located in a coastal Oregon town so she and Norman can start a new life.This is no American Horror Story. There are no ghosts or goblins here; Just one boy's forming psyche that eventually turns him Psycho. I am very excited to see where the writers take it. The stock is very cool. The show looks old but has a fresh and 21st century feel to it. It is well shot and the plot twists so far have been incredible. The hints at the movie are awesome as well. They are so subtle but really do it justice. Every monday night at 10 P.M. on AE a new episode premiers and I am very excited to watch the progression of this.