Still Alice

Still Alice was one of those Oscar nominees that significantly less people were aware of, but was incredibly well done, worth seeing and deserving of it's nomination. The story follows Alice Howland, a renowned linguistics professor at Columbia University. She is happily married with three grown children, but that begins to change when she strangely starts to forget words, directions and more. When her doctor diagnoses her with Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease, she must face the challenge of this terminal degenerative disease as it slowly progresses to it's dreadful and inevitable conclusion. Along the way, Alice struggles to not only to fight against this challenge, but to make the most of her remaining time to find the love and peace to make simply living worthwhile.

One of the many reasons that I liked this movie is because it took a disease that so many people are afraid to talk about, and it faced it head-on. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease that slowly destroys a person's memory and eventually other important mental functions. As the disease progresses, symptoms can include: disorientation, mood swings, not managing self care and eventually losing the ability to communicate effectively. I think that Julianne Moore did an incredible job in portraying the challenges of this disease. Not only was she honest in her portrayal of the physical and mental challenges that come with Alzheimer's disease, but also with the personal and emotional challenges that are faced in the process.

If you haven't seen this yet, it is absolutely a movie that I would recommend. Keeping in mind that this movie is incredibly emotionally charged and deals with a difficult topic, it is well done and worth watching.

Moonstruck

Moonstruck is an American romantic comedy, debuted in 1987, directed by  Norman Jewison, and written by John Patrick Shanley. It stars Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia, and Olympia Dukakis.

The film was released into theaters on December 16, 1987 in New York City, and then nationally on December 18, 1987.  This film received many popular reviews from film critics, and went on the gross a whopping $91, 640, 528 at the North American box office, making it the fifth highest-grossing film of that year. 

Moonstruck was nominated for six Oscars at the 60th Academy Awards, winning for Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress.

Loretta Castorini, Cher, a widowed Brooklyn bookkeeper in her late 30s whose husband died several years earlier in a bus accident, decides that it's time to get married again. So she accepts the proposal of a nice, middle-aged fellow named Johnny Cammareri. Johnny Cammareri is not spoken well, quite afraid of life, and obviously not a perfect match for Loretta.  Loretta is convinced her first marriage was cursed because she and her husband had gotten married at City Hall; this time, she's determined to do things right and have a real wedding with everything (hopefully paid for by her father, as is customary for the father of the bride to do). She admits to her mother, Rose, that she's not really in love with Johnny. (To which Rose replies: "Good. When you love them, they drive you crazy, 'cause they know they can." Rose speaks from rueful experience; she suspects, with good reason, that her husband, Cosmo, is cheating on her.) Loretta is convinced that marrying Johnny is the safe and sure thing to do, she just wants a normal life. Until she meets his estranged younger brother Ronny, who tends the ovens in a neighborhood bakery. Loretta discovers that in startling contrast to the pleasant, mild-mannered Johnny, Ronny is moody and passionate; what follow are complications worthy of a comic opera.

Ronny Cammareri: I'm in love with you. 

Loretta Castorini: (slaps him twice) Snap out of it! 

This movie, to me, is a classic.  I couldn't imagine growing up without this movie!  The love story is my favorite; it is witty, hilarious, romantic, and full of relatable family scandal.  Cher and Nicolas Cage fall in love in a very passionate and very Italian inspired movie.  The movie itself is a less dramatic version of an opera, which they attend and complete the spell of their love.  They decide to get married, and it is the reality of a true love story. 

I would definitely recommend this movie to everyone and anyone. This love story is way more relatable, I think, to most people and their love stories.  Not everything works out as planned, and this story portrays that in a realistic and witty way.  There is so much scandal in love, and this movie also illustrates that fact.  Also, family is a heavy factor in your life, and if you are a certain nationality, sometimes even more so.  In conclusion, below, I have what is one of my favorite quotes of the movie: 

Ronny Cammareri: Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn't know this either, but love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and *die*. The storybooks are *bullshit*. Now I want you to come upstairs with me and *get* in my bed!

American Horror Story: Murder House

American Horror Story: Murder House is the first season of the FX television series American Horror Story aired between October 5, 2011 and December 21, 2011. The season was produced by 20th Century Fox Television, and the executive producers were Dante Di Loreto and series creators Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy.

The season centers its focus on the Harmon family: Ben, Vivien and their daughter Violet, who move from Boston to Los Angeles after Vivien has a agonizing miscarriage and Ben has an affair with one of this students. They move into a restored mansion, unaware that the home is haunted by its former inhabitants, most of which were murdered in the house.




The first season of American Horror Story was well received and praised by television critics and fans. The cast was generally praised, particularly Jessica Lange and Frances Conroy. The series drew consistently high ratings for the FX network, ending its first season as the biggest new cable series of the year. The first season was nominated for various industry awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series- Drama. In addition, Lange won many Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actress, The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.  Conroy was also nominated for the Supporting Actress Emmy. The main cast includes Taissa Farmiga, Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, Evan Peters, Denis O'Hare and Jessica Lange.

*Spoiler Alert* 

The entire series is one thick plot unraveling itself and the Harmon family discovers the horrors and secrets of the house.  They try to get out and move from the house, but they are doomed from the start.  Ben sees patients in an office in the house, most of the patients he treats are spirits of the house trying to cope with their psychological problems.  Vivian is raped, and then carries for most of the season twins, one of which is her husbands, and one of which is her rapists son.  Violet, their daughter, who is the first of the family to die in the house, suffers from depression, and is in love with Tate, a spirit in the house, and little does she know, is her mother's rapist.  The sickening story unfolds with scary scenes and complex character development.

I highly recommend watching all seasons of this show.  I think that it is well made and executed terrifically.  

Boyhood

Out of all of the films that have come out in the past six months, one of my favorites, by far, was Boyhood. The film is a coming-of-age drama, set over a 12 year period from 2002 to 2013, showing the growth of a young boy and his sister into young adulthood.

I was initially drawn to the film because of the concept that it was filmed over a 12 year time span, using the same cast and crew. Director and producer, Richard Linklater, decided that the cast and crew would meet annually and film for a few weeks, over the course of 12 years. He said, "I've long wanted to tell the story of a parent-child relationship that follows a boy from the first through 12th grade and ends with him going off to college. But the dilemma is that kids change so much that it is impossible to cover that much ground. And I am totally ready to adapt the story to whatever he is going through."

Overall, I really enjoyed the film. I thought the acting was very well done, and the storyline stayed true to the current events that they portrayed in the film. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a good coming-of-age tale.