"AMY": Movie Review

 For the last week and a half, I have been playing Amy Winehouse’s greatest hits on replay. My idea of her greatest hits includes: “Back To Black”, “Rehab”, “Stronger Than Me”, “Love Is A Losing Game”, “Me & Mr Jones” and “Valerie”. Although all of her songs are great, these are my picks.

AMY is a documentary about the six-time Grammy-winner Amy Winehouse. It’s a complete two hours of Winehouse telling her own story along with some of her friends, family, and spouse’. This biography goes from her life before fame and gradually shows us her life unraveling, resulting in her tragic death in July of 2011 at the age of 27.

For those of you who don’t know, Amy Winehouse was an English jazz singer who was well known for her killer vocals. She suffered severe depression and an eating disorder. She drank and did many different drugs and when people suggested rehab the first time, her father stepped in and said she didn’t have a problem and she would be fine. Well, look where that got you now, Daddy Winehouse. Her song “Rehab” quotes that her daddy said “No, no, no”.

During this film, I liked how they added an abundant amount of clips to show all the events that happened in her life. Showing her on the red carpet being interviewed, showing that one of the shows she was too trashed to even perform so she sat on the stage, even a clip of the EMTs carrying the body bag from her house in London.

"Manhattan Romance": Movie Review

Recently I was scrolling through apple movies and stumbled upon the “Romantic Comedy” section. While I was looking at all the titles, one movie in particularly drew my attention. “Manhattan Romance” is a 2015 rom-com film, written and directed by Tom O’Brien.

Danny (Tom O’Brien) goes from woman to woman trying to complete an independent film, a study on relationships while trying to figure out his own love life. This movie takes place in modern-day Manhattan, where Danny experiences many different types of relationships. Even some that scare him away!

Tom O’Brien did a really good job writing and directing this. He also did an amazing job acting in his own film. I don’t think he could have cast anyone else for some of the other main roles. One of the women Danny was in an “open” relationship with was, Theresa (Caitlin Fitzgerald) who did an outstanding job in the role of a very spiritual person who believes she can love more than one person at a time and doesn’t believe in the completely normal emotion of jealousy. When Danny, who has been trying to get into Theresa’s pants during the duration of their relationship and Theresa says that she isn’t into “that kind of love”, walks in on her with her dance instructor while they are having a very intimate meditation session, he gets jealous and she explains that he needs to empty his mind of that ferocious emotion, and proceeds to give him a hug to change his vibe. Some of the things people can come out and say, can kind of throw me for a loop. You mean to tell me, even after you get married, you aren’t interested in having more than just an intimate meditation session?

A Story of a Brave Heart

The most recent movie that I rented was the brand new documentary “A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story.” This movie has a very strong meaning to it, and an amazing woman to tell her story, growing up with a mystery disease, and putting up with bullies.

Elizabeth Velasquez, an American motivational speaker and author, decided to make this documentary to tell others her story and show how she is “fighting back in a different way.” She lives with a disease which, among other symptoms, stops her from gaining body fat. Throughout the whole film, it shows her on her journey, giving many speeches to schools, girl scouts, even just people she passes on the street.

Lizzie is a very sweet person who talks about her experiences with going to school and having even her “friends” laugh and make fun of her. This movie is very inspirational for all the teens who have complications with bullies. And Lizzie clearly shows you can do anything your heart desires.

During the film, it showed many of Lizzie’s memories. For example: videos of her trying out for the cheerleading team (and making it onto the team), photos of her and her father on the first day of school. I loved that the film included her trip to Washington DC and how it shows not only she made it clear that she was there to pass a law, but the health complications that she fought through during the trip. She is such a hard worker and all of this is really paying off. Many people are listening to her and want to join her in the journey.

I learned that whatever anyone ever says about you, just move on. Lizzie is a great role model for this act. She has proved time and time again, she is a better person than all the people who picked on her. I think this will impact many teenagers’ lives as of mine because, bullying has always been a problem and will remain that way. Over many years, it has only gotten worse, especially with social media being a big part of it.

I would recommend this movie to anyone, including teenagers who have very low self-esteem about their body image, their sexuality, etc. People my age need to know that there is a way to overcome fear and self-hatred. And that there are people out in the world fighting for you. If you are being bullied, please reach out to someone you trust. If anyone is feeling suicidal, here is a number you can call to get the help you need: 1-800-273-8255, They are available 24/7.

"Black or White": Movie Review

I recently watched a movie on Netflix called “Black or White”. It is a 2014 American drama film that depicts only the worst that a family can go through after losing a loved one. It was written and directed by Mike Binder.

In the film “Black or White”, there are many sad parts and many happy parts. The whole story is focused on an older man named Elliott (Kevin Costner) who has just lost his wife, and gets the joy of taking care of his young granddaughter Eloise (Jillian Estell), who he took custody of when her mother died during birth. When I say “the joy of taking care of…” I mean it in a not so bad way. He loves her but the only problem is, he really never had the responsibility of taking care of her thanks to his wives presence. Elliott quickly develops a drinking problem, and is later used against him in court when Eloise’s paternal grandmother, Rowena (Octavia Spencer) tries to fight for custody. She is doing this because she feels that being the age that Elliott is, he is not capable of taking care of Eloise.

"Mostly Martha": Review *Edited*

When most people want to be happy, they try everything to make it happen, right? The German film “Mostly Martha”, Is a mournful comedy. When a completely thrown together family become happy in the end, you ought to know what they had to go through.

I think this movie was great because it shows a lot of changes and challenges that a very emotional person has to go through, and in the end she starts to see the light in the end of the tunnel. The movie had a lot of inspiration tied into its melancholy mood until the end, where the mood was uplifted.

Martina Gedeck plays Martha Klein, a woman who is all about her work life. She is the master chef and ruler of the kitchen at a restaurant named Lido, located in Hungary, Germany. Martha’s obsession with her cooking sometimes gets in the way and causes outrageous confrontations with customers. The owner of the restaurant, Frida (Sibylle Canonica), recommends that she starts talking to a therapist (August Zirner), who did a very good job listening. I thought it was funny because, her therapy sessions often turn into food monologues instead of a stress manager. Martha get stuck raising her niece Lina, played by Maxime Foerste. She did an amazing job with this role. There were some parts that must have been unbelievably hard to act out, like losing your mother.

After Lina meets Mario, played by Sergio Castellitto, a fun-loving person, she starts to emerge from her depression. Martha realizes she is going to have to accept the fact that she has to share her kitchen with another chef. She accepts his loving personality into her life and opens up to him tremendously. I was very surprised with this because Martha is very uptight about who she talks too and never seems to find love in any human.

Martha reaches out to Mario for help in contacting Lina’s Italian father, Giuseppe Lorenzo, who has been out of the picture since before Lina was born. I’m actually glad that Martha and Mario are starting to hit it off because I thought they would have been a cute couple.

Now, Martha and Lina’s relationship isn’t all that perfect either. With many outrageous fight scenes they had, it almost surprised me that Martha let the girl back in her house. After smacking her, trying to run away to Italy because Martha had simply stated she couldn’t bring her to work anymore because she was missing school.

In the end of the movie, they all end up being a big happy family, but they obviously needed to go through many battles to make this happen. I think this film was truly amazing! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves rom-com dramas. I enjoy that this film was about love and food, my two favorite things.