All The Movies I Watched This Summer

1. The day the earth stood still
2. Kill Bill Vol. 1
3. Kill Bill Vol. 2
4. Jennifer’s Body
5. Becoming Chaz
6. Life of Pi
7. The Exorcist
8. Batman: Assault On Arkham (YouTube)
9.  Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
10. American Beauty
11. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
12. Blue Velvet
13. Kagemusha
14. Jesus Camp
15. Nightmare On Elm Street (Original)
16. Snow White And The Huntsman
17. Generation Um
18. The Dark Side Of Love
19. Camp Takota
20. Following
21. Enter The Void
22. Jurassic World  
23. All About Eve
24. Clueless
25. The Virgin Suicides
26. Citizen Kane
27. Interstellar
28. Inside Out
29. Silver Linings Playbook
30. Electrick Children
31. Tiny Furniture
32. The Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged
33. Metropolis
34. Frances Ha
35. Sharknado 3
36. Leon: The Professional
37. Anchorman 2
38. Jiro Dreams Of Sushi
39. Moonrise Kingdom
40. The Darjeeling Limited
41. Rushmore
42. Birdman
43. The Thing
44. Being John Malkovich
45. Rise Of The Guardians
46. It’s Such A Beautiful Day
47. The Devil’s Rejects
48. What Is Cinema?
49.  The Bicycle Thief
50. The Dark Knight Rises
51. Whiplash
52.  Foxcatcher
53. Boyhood
54. Labyrinth

My Top 10 Guilty Pleasure Movies

  Every once in a while, even those of us who heavily critique movies still admit that there are a few motion pictures that we know are substandard, yet we cannot stop watching them. So, I am not ashamed to admit that these are the films I tend to watch over and over again, regardless of how well they did with the critics or the box office.


1. Sucker Punch   

Is the story really inconsistent and terribly ridiculous? Yep. Is the acting a bit substandard? You bet. Are the messages so mixed up that you can't figure out if it's feminist or anti-feminist? Absolutely. But hey…every once in a while, it's good to cut loose and have fun. This movie has it all: hot chicks, guns, explosions, robots, ass-kicking, and an awesome soundtrack. It's all good. 

 
2. Atlantis: The Lost Empire

I will admit that even though I really love Hunchback Of Notre Dame, I have a soft spot for this underrated Disney adventure. Yes, the story is a bit flat, and there were some things that needed a bit of  polishing. But the side characters are hilarious, the cinematography is unique, and overall it's quite the experience. Sure, it may not make it onto the "Top Ten Disney Films" list, but it would most certainly be on mine. 

3. Dirty Girl

While this movie did tank at the box office and wasn't really a hit with critics, I stumbled across this film on Netflix and instantly fell in love. The main characters are hilarious, and they have such great chemistry that it makes the whole film really seem like the epic road trip it is trying to be. And sure, it may not be that gigantic in terms of the overall experience, but it's still enjoyable, and worth the time. 

4. 47 Ronin

I don't think it's a big secret that in terms of Keanu Reeves, this was not really one of his better movies. While the story is interesting, the characters are pretty typical, and even then they aren't that compelling. But I will admit, upon watching the behind-the-scenes bits for this film, I felt that they did put a lot of effort into it. If you analyze it in terms of cinematography and effects, it does come off as pretty well done. Which is why I have no problem popping in the DVD once every so often. 

5. A Series Of Unfortunate Events

With the book series now being turned into a Netflix miniseries, I looked back and realized that this film may have been a little underrated. Sure, it feels rushed, and lacks some of the depth that made the books interesting, but I still felt that this adaptation was at least a noble effort. Jim Carrey's portrayal of Count Olaf will most certainly never be matched again, and is really what makes this film worth your time. 

6. Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

If some of you saw the title for this movie and decided to keep reading, thank you. The reason this movie is on this list is because I loved the Wimpy Kid books when I was younger. But even though I wasn't that excited about the film adaptation, I did end up finding it pleasantly entertaining. It's not trying to be this grand, epic masterpiece or anything; it's just a simple, cute little comedy film, and that's all you really need to enjoy it. 

7. Twilight

I will be honest in saying that I tend to like this film the most out of the entire franchise. Yes, the acting is terrible, the dialogue is laughable, and the story is pretty one-dimensional and ridiculous. But even so,  there's a sense of nostalgia that I associate with this film. I do feel like this was the one film that was trying really hard to be what the fans wanted. And sure, it doesn't go beyond that at all, or try to be something more. To be clear, though, that's all anyone asked for, so there. It's still somewhat entertaining, and holds up in terms of nostalgia. 

8. The Stepford Wives

With all the problems that this film had during production, it's a miracle that it even ended up being made. Critics still ripped it a new one, and I will admit that there are certainly more than a few problems with it. But having grown up in the type of suburban nightmare portrayed in the movie, I guess you can say that I find this film way more interesting and funny than I probably should. Say what you want about it, but if I ever need a satirical representation of my hometown, I always turn to this movie. 

9. I Love You, Man

Even though Rush was the only reason why I watched this film in the first place, I did end up liking it. This of course came as a surprise, because I don't usually enjoy "bro" comedies. But kudos to this movie: the characters were smart, the jokes were fresh, and it did really feel like it had a heart. So with all things considered, I usually watch this film as a pick-me-up, because it never fails to make me laugh. 

10. The Brass Teapot 

Much like Dirty Girl, this was another Juno Temple film that failed to be a critical or commercial success. And similar to Dirty Girl, I still really enjoyed this movie. While predictable, it's still entertaining to watch the sequence of events play out, and there's room for some pretty funny gags along the way. All in all I do find it entertaining, and it's certainly a nice little comedy to pass the time with. 

Artist Spotlight: Andy Warhol

    Where to begin with one of the most well-known artists of the latter half of the twentieth century? Born in Pittsburgh, Andrew Warhola was born to second-generation Slovak immigrants and raised in the Byzantine Catholic faith. Due to frequent childhood illnesses, he was confined to his bed most of the time and became a social outcast, but used this time to listen to the radio and draw pictures. 

   Originally, Warhol intended to be an art teacher, but that fell by the wayside once he enrolled in college and studied commercial art instead. After being involved with dance programs and editing the school art magazine while in college, he moved to NYC and became an illustrator. 

    Warhol's rise to fame began in the 1950's, when he began to exhibit his work in galleries in New York and LA, with the LA exhibition signifying the emergence of pop art on the West Coast. In the 1960's, he painted some of his most famous works, mostly popular American icons ranging from Campbell's soup cans to Coca Cola to Marilyn Monroe. As his pop-art influence began to gain more ground, he surrounded himself with a group of other artists and musicians (including Edie Sedgwick, Ultra Violet, and David Bowie) and opened his studio, known as "The Factory". Collaboration became an important part of his career, especially when he completed his works as an advertisement illustrator. With "The Factory", Warhol produced dozens of films, sculptural pieces, paintings, silkscreens, and illustrations. On the personal side, Warhol was consistently unique for the time as he was not only Catholic, but also homosexual. Although he produced many male nudes that were criticized, he also volunteered at homeless shelters, went to church regularly, and produced several religious works. 

   The 1970's saw a quieter time in Warhol's career, with his work becoming more entrepreneur-based. He founded the NY Academy of Art in 1979 with his friend Stuart Pivar. Warhol continued to socialize and grow his ever-expanding group of eccentric bohemian friends until his death in 1987. In keeping with his legacy, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts was established. Since leaving this realm, Warhol has continued to remain a major pioneer of the pop-art movement, and he has been portrayed in several movies and documentaries. 

Sources: 

http://www.warhola.com/biography.html

http://warholfoundation.org/legacy/biography.html

http://www.economist.com/node/14941229

Top 100 Films (Updated)

I understand that I haven't given reviews for some of these films, so if you are interested in hearing my thoughts, send me a comment. Thanks! :)

1. Gone With The Wind
2. Persepolis
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey
4. Let Me In
5. Spirited Away
6. A Clockwork Orange
7. Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage
8. The Matrix
9. Antichrist
10. Pan’s Labyrinth
11.  The Shining
12. Citizen Kane
13.  It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
14.  Black Swan
15. Forrest Gump
16.  The Harry Potter Films
17.  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Fincher version)
18. Rear Window
19.  The Secret Of Kells
20. The Silence of the Lambs
21.  Jurassic Park
22.  The Descent
23. Winter’s Bone
24.  Coraline
25. Amèlie
26. The Virgin Suicides
27. Rain Man
28. Pulp Fiction
29. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
30. Interstellar
31. The Elephant Man
32.  Remember Me
33.  Ed Wood
34. Trainspotting
35.  The Cabin In The Woods
36.  Edward Scissorhands
37.  Sleepy Hollow
38. Metropolis
39. Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2
40. The Godfather Part II
41.  Sweeney Todd
42.  I Love You, Man
43. Defiance
44.  Mulan
45. Howl’s Moving Castle
46. Enter The Void
47.  Public Enemies
48.  Orphan
49. Pierrot Le Fou
50.  The Nightmare Before Christmas
51.  Evil Dead (2010)
52.  The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
53. The Help
54. Steel Magnolias
55. The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
56.  Corpse Bride
57.  The Book Thief
58.  Monty Python and The Holy Grail
59.  Goodfellas
60. Blue Is The Warmest Color
61. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
62. Sinister
63. Dancer In The Dark
64.  Chocolat
65. Inside Out
66.  Life Is Beautiful
67.  Snowpiercer
68.  Man of Tai Chi
69. The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
70. A Town Called Panic
71.  Poltergeist
72. Frances Ha
73.  Chicken Run
74. Breakfast At Tiffany’s
75.  Beaches
76. Star Wars, Episode 4: A New Hope
77.  The Prince of Egypt
78. The Iron Lady
79. Blackfish
80. My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding
81.  Napoleon Dynamite
82. Panic Room
83. The Way, Way Back
84.  Scream
85. Beauty and the Beast
86.  Iron-Jawed Angels
87.  Shrek
88. Following
89. Knowing
90.  Rango
91.  A League Of Their Own
92.  Dirty Girl
93.  Hugo
94. Chronicle
95. Big Hero 6
96.  The Brass Teapot
97. A Christmas Story
98. Sucker Punch
99. Auntie Mame
100.  Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Some updates!

  This summer has been totally crazy so far…I've been selling stuff on Ebay like nobody's business, I've been watching movies like hell, and now I'm caught up in three digital editing projects for three different people. I also went to Ocean City (AKA what I now call the white trash capital of the world), started listening to David Bowie and Patti Smith a lot more, and made more punk-related jewelry and clothes. 

   So as the date to depart for school draws near, I decided to start purging a lot of the negativity that was cluttering up my life. I have fully come to terms with being a Wiccan (and a bisexual one), as well as a pro-choice feminist. After reading a heartbreakingly powerful account about bullying (written by a close friend of mine), I was inspired to write five full pages of what bullying in Catholic school did to me. And let me tell you….for the past few days, I have felt great! With regards to today in particular, I felt full of positive energy as I prayed, and experienced the sensation of my deceased grandmother's presence. 

  I still don't know how I am going to come out of the closet (the closet for bisexuality as well as the "broom closet"), but I am praying that all goes will. Not sure when I will finally confess everything. I am still trying to decide that and that's okay. 

Love and light, 

The Gothic Bohemian 

Artist Spotlight: Pussy Riot

     Artistry comes in many forms, and this is strongly exemplified through the Russian feminist punk rock band Pussy Riot. With their multicolored balaclavas pulled over their imperious faces, they burst onto the scene in 2011, loudly decrying Putin's conservative agenda and the noose that was tightening around the throats of social minority groups in Russia. For the most part, their illegal guerilla protests and "concerts" were treated as a nuisance, with some people reacting to them in a similar way to how the general public tends to view other radical feminist groups such as FEMEN. 

    But of course, no punk is prepared to go quietly into the night. "Putin will teach you to love the motherland!" they screamed in mock protest. "Riot, riot!" This was often met with strong public criticism and even threats, with people slandering them as "attention-seeking cunts" and "whores" while the police grabbed their nightsticks and struck them to the ground. But it was only when they performed their infamous protest inside Moscow's famous Russian Orthodox Church that Pussy Riot became a source for concern. Though no services were in progress at the time, and the girls did not harass anyone directly, they were brought up on charges of "hooliganism", arrested, and thrown in prison. While inside, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, two of the main members of the band, went on a hunger strike (but were forced to stop under the impending danger of starving to death). Though they were considered politicial prisoners by the Russian government, the international reaction was overwhelming, with many celebrities (including Madonna, Bjork, and Geddy Lee of Rush) voicing their support for the girls and criticizing their imprisonment. However, even though the girls acknowledged the support, they refused to be grouped together with these Western "capitalists", especially since they considered Western capitalism to be treating art as a commodity rather than an actual statement. In Toronto, protests took place outside the Russian consulate, and similar protests in support of the band were held in Bulgaria, NYC, and Scotland. Even FEMEN made a statement by desecrating a crucifix (though Pussy Riot later criticized this as well as FEMEN's method of topless protest). 

   In December of 2013, the girls were officially released from prison. Since then, they have met with numerous human rights activists and continue to spearhead their campaign for feminism and equality on social media. Recently, they have been campaigning for gay rights and feminism in Russia after the SCOTUS ruling on gay marriage legalization in the U.S. (I'm also going to point out here that Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, once stated that feminism posed a huge danger to Russia (source: Click here)). With all things considered, Pussy Riot is not just a band for radical feminists, but for anyone concerned with human rights. So pick up a guitar and start rioting! 

Thoughts On Purity Rings And The Concept Of Virginity

   I largely consider myself to be a feminist. Among the gender-related issues that feminism explores, gender roles and sexuality play a large part. So, the concept of virginity and purity rings, with regards to how society views them, is something I have been thinking about for a good amount of time. 

   Much like a decent handful of other American girls, I was raised in a Christian household, more specifically a Roman Catholic household, and also attended Catholic school (AKA hell on earth) for nine years of my childhood. Now, being brought up in this background meant that I was exposed to a bunch of religious traditions, many of which were divided in terms of gender. For the most part, the Catholic church has tried to merge gender roles over the past few decades, speaking in a more collective sense of community and promoting both men and women as followers of Christ instead of just putting the men on a pedestal like other monotheistic religions have done and still tend to do. But it was only after I moved away from Catholicism that I realized how many of the traditions were still rooted in harmful sexism. And one of the weirdest traditions was not really a tradition, but more of a "Christian fad" if you will: the purity ring. 

   For those of you who don't know (I'll assume you were raised in a liberal household), purity rings are silver bands given to young girls that are basically a declaration of how they will hold onto their virginity until marriage. Usually, they are given from fathers to their daughters. Initially, this wouldn't be an issue for me. But considering the problem I have with the entire social construct of "virginity", I have realized how much I disagree with this concept, especially after seeing how girls would walk around with them and claim to be "pure" when their lives made this type of statement a complete hypocrisy. I am referring to the fact that there are still many girls who translate "purity" to mean "good" or "free of fault", not sexually abstinent. It was an act of moral high ground, if you will, pitting the "pure" girls against the "dirty" girls by activating their internalized misogyny through slut-shaming (AKA the exact opposite of feminism). Purity rings have become more of a social status than based in actual faith or Catholic integrity, but that doesn't make them any less creepy. 

   Now, as a disclaimer, I am not outright insulting or degrading any woman who wants to wear one (I'll be honest: my sister wears one herself). If that's your choosing and your parents didn't push you into it, go right ahead. I do, however, have a few observations regarding this "manifestation of morality" if you will. 

   One: the idea that daughters pledge themselves to their fathers is inherently sexist because it treats women as property. I get that fathers want to protect their daughters from being taken advantage of. But at the same time, locking her up in an ivory tower until marriage will not stop the world from getting in. If anything, it will make her more curious and more likely to act deviant. And yes, although many of the pro-purity ring people argue that it is the girls, not the dads, who usually bring up the topic of "pledging their purity", in reality it disempowers them because it appears that a man still "owns" your right to have sex, so basically he owns your body like an object. (Yes, I see an abortion argument branching off of this, but let's stay focused here.) And this only ensures that our culture will continue to be stuck in Biblical times. 

   Two: Virginity is in itself a harmful, sexist, and even dangerous social construct. By insinuating that a woman somehow has less value once she has been "used", it further promotes the chauvinist concept of viewing women as property, as something to be owned, bought, and sold like livestock. And I'm sure that you are just as infuriated as I am that this concept still fucking exists. In many Middle Eastern countries, this concept is so widespread that women engaging in premarital sex (or otherwise missing their hymen) are literally paying for operations to restore their hymen in order to avoid any legal action against them, or even severe punishment or death, in case their husband discovers that he didn't get what his father-in-law paid for him to take off of his hands. Nevermind that some girls are born without a hymen. Nevermind that you can break it by something as simple as putting in a tampon or riding a bike. I guess that women who are forced to conform to this kind of sexism should learn that it is their responsibility to make sure men are properly satisfied with the "goods" that the women also have no say in whatsoever. Screw having control over your own body: that shit is public property, you vagina-with-a-head! Don't you know that?? 

   Three: There still exists the major divide in the sexual roles between men and women. Why are purity rings and abstinence stressed for girls, but not for boys? Sure, purity rings exist for guys, but can you name any teenage boy that you have ever seen wearing one? Unless you live in Utah or Colorado, probably not. I mean, we had plenty of boys in the youth group at my church and I never saw a single one of them wear a purity ring. But when it came to the girls in my church? Hell, they were all over the place. And it is here that I present another issue: men are promoted as the conquerers, the dominant gender, the ones who are expected to sleep with as many girls as possible to maintain a high social status. The girls are required to be submissive, conforming, but also pure and innocent. How do those concepts coincide? If the girls are supposed to remain pure, then who are all those boys supposed to have sex with? Well, obviously a woman, because she has to put out at some point to avoid being called a prude. But as soon as that happens, oh no: she's suddenly a slut! And if any of this sexism makes you mad, well then I guess you shouldn't have been born a woman! That's your own damn fault, apparently; shame on you for having no control over whether or not you are born with a penis!

   Again, I don't really care if you get a purity ring. Honestly, I don't. I have no control over your life, and I don't desire any. If you approach your father with this idea and really feel that you want to maintain control over your own body by not having sex, then that's your choice and I respect that. If you are a father, I understand that you want to protect the one you love. But the sexist roots of this concept, and the construct of virginity itself, is what I have an issue with. I have an inherent problem with women only being valued if she doesn't have the chance or freedom to explore her sexuality or evaluate any other options beyond pure abstinence, and these rings are symbols of that concept. If women are to truly be free to make their own decisions about their own bodies, then they have to learn independence when they are young. Whether or not a young girl views virginity as being moral high ground is her prerogative, but this somewhat still stems from the concept of her being viewed as property. Empowerment can only occur if progress is made through the reconstruction of societal norms, and progress does not derive from following inherently sexist or harmful traditions. In short, women should be allowed to understand that they have control over their own body, and even if they choose to remain abstinent, whether or not they maintain their virginity does not make them any more or less of a human being. The stress should be on choice, not on pressuring girls to conform to supposed cultural expectations in accordance with the widespread fetish with sexual purity. It's her body, it's her choice; give her the right to say so.