REVIEW | The Spanish Princess

Howdy!

Two weeks ago, we were given a free weekend of STARZ. It was for four days, but I found out about it on the 5th, I tried to take as much advantage as possible, but I was not happy with myself because I had started watching The Wife on demand on the 6th and wasn’t allowed to finish it. Thankfully, I din’t get too far into it so that helps out a lot. We did get a couple of new movies for our folder, but my main objective out of the whole thing was completing The Spanish Princess!

Even though, I have never read Philippa Gregory’s books about the Plantagenet and Tudor families, I have been a fan of the film and television versions. I actually became interested in Anne Boleyn after watching Natalie Portman play her in The Other Boleyn Girl. Unfortunately, after I saw The Tudors series created by Michael Hirst, and saw Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maria Doyle Kennedy and Natalie Dormer as King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, and Anne Boleyn, I was kind of blown away with their chemistry. so I haven’t been able to watch the previous ever since.

Backstory

I have talked about The White Queen on here, so it’s only right to continue sharing my thoughts about this third series about Catherine of Aragon.

Catherine was the daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. At the time when women were looked upon as the lesser sex to royal, these two were co-rulers and fought hard to stay together for the sake of both kingdoms. After Henry Tudor became king and married Elizabeth of York, they welcomed their first son, Arthur, Prince Of Wales. Once he was born, it was important to send a message to everyone that he was the true heir of the English empire, so Henry sought out an opportunity between royal families and arranged a marriage between Arthur and the youngest princess of the Spanish throne: Catherine of Aragon, thus she would become the Princess Of Wales.

Since I know the story of the end of Catherine and Henry VIII’s relationship ends and the fact that he breaks away from the Catholic faith to be able to divorce her in the first place,. it was honestly so hard to learn of how much he loved her after his brother Arthur died. So, being able to watch it flourish on screen in a very fictional way, was a bit difficult but it also made me love the strength of Catherine even more. I have been a strong supporter to Anne Boleyn for many, many years but the way she was treated is so heartbreaking even now.

What I Really Thought

What I really liked about this series was the fact that it gave you all of the stories of Catherine’s life while in England, as she was the wife of both heirs to the throne. And what was left after the final episode of The White Princess, so there’s the story of Margaret Pole and her family. You even get a snippet of Princess Margaret in the process of becoming the newly wife and Queen of Scotland.

One thing that I really enjoyed about this series over the others were you got another element to the story, Catherine came with many ladies-in-waiting when she first came to England, but the two that were featured on the show: Lina and Rosa were very helpful because you got to see their point of view being apart court life. If you were a ladies-in-waiting to the Queen or Princesses, you had a better chance in marrying into a wealthy family. So, the fact that their stories were featured will tell what’s to come when they finally start talking about the Boleyn sisters. As they were both ladies-in-waiting to Catherine.

I have to say, if you hated Margaret Beaufort in the previous series, you definitely will not like her in this one either! I still don’t think she ever acted like that though, but I do believe she loved her son very much and knew in her heart that he deserved the throne because of his bloodline, but the way she is portrayed towards others was really rude! I don’t know if it was because she was getting older and her attitude needed to be even worse than before. The last episode actually made me cry a little because as she realizes her only son, the King has died, we are given a flashback of the day she gave birth to him at 13 years old. You quickly realize that this was a real person, she had a difficult time as both a mother and woman of the differentiating crown.

I think Charlotte Hope, Angus Imrie and Ruairi O’Connor were amazing! I was a bit worried because I didn’t want to judge Charlotte, who plays Catherine because she didn’t look like she could pass for someone in the Spanish Royal family, but I was quickly told by many other fans of the series and supporters of Queen Catherine in general that she never looked like a true Spanish woman like what we would consider one today, and that the real Catherine of Aragon had strawberry-blonde hair! As a historian of any kind, it is normal to find out what you’ve been told all this time is really false, so you can literally deny the claims or accept it and go forward.

After I finished, I was happy that I managed to complete all 8 episodes in basically two days but I knew what is to come and instantly became depressed because they literally bleed out their emotions that I will be lucky to make it through in one piece! Thankfully it’ll take a little more time for them to film season two, but internally I am not ready for it!

What did think of The Spanish Princess? How are you with these fictionalization stories of these big historical figures? Who do you think they should talk about next, Anne Boelyn, Princess Mary, or Mary, Queen of Scots?

REVIEW | The Perfect Date

Howdy!

I was really confused about what kind of review I thought you’ d most likely enjoy on here so I decided that it would be good to mix things up a bit. I am usually talking about albums, EPs, & TV shows, but I’ve recently seen a new movie early last week and I just thought I need to discuss it only so maybe somebody will understand my feelings on it and we’ll become best friends….or not, who knows!

I was on Netflix one night and honestly I was quite bored. I have a nice hefty list of other movies and TV shows I’ve been trying to finish for the past month but I wanted something new to apparently sink my teeth into, and the first one that popped on my screen was The Perfect Date. Now as many of you know, I have a love/hate relationship with romantic comedies. I used to like them when I was younger, it was just my teenage years really screwed me over of ever believing in love and unfortunately because of that, I can hardly watch one without seeing right through it.

Backstory 

So the story of this movie is the lead character, Brooks basically overhears a classmate of his talking about the fact that he is getting paid by his own uncle to take his cousin to a formal at her school. Of course, the guy doesn’t want to take his own cousin out on like a date, because that’s really weird so Brooks comes up with the idea that he goes with her instead and not only does he get the cash but also to drive the other dude’s car too.

The second part of it is afterwards, is that he gets the idea of becoming a chauffeur by allowing young, rich girls to choose whatever they want him to be, like being a total jerk in front of her parents; complete with the hat tilted on one side and wearing a massive gold chain around his neck he found at a Thrift Shop. He becomes this totally different person both this way and in reality as he uses this ability to his advantage later in the film that makes him rethink everything he wants to be as a human being.

What I Really Thought About It

Personally, I thought I was going to be somewhat confused an maybe it would drag on about it, but I was totally wrong with my expectations on all fronts though. I was really surprised on how light-hearted it was, there wasn’t any type of bullying involved or too much sexual talk in it, it was so clean but absolutely hilarious anyways!

I was a bit worried about Noah Centineo though. Since he was in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before film last year, I was hoping that this had a different storyline to it. That’s the one thing about rom-coms is that themes can overlap each other and since I remember both big and little things in various things, I can spot similarities very easily. There was a moment in this movie that immediately brought me back to the previous film and I thought “oh no!” but luckily it wasn’t too weird. I thought it was different from the other movie so I went on without ever having another thought like that again for the rest of the film.

Although I did recognize Noah and eventually Camila Mendes from “Riverdale”, he was the only one I knew from other releases. I know a lot of people were freaking out about the fact that Laura Mareno was going to be in it, and that she and Noah would be reunited since they were on a Disney Channel show together several years ago, but I didn’t know anybody else, but I actually liked it that way though! It allowed me to see the film and not have me think of where else I might’ve seen the rest of the cast on before. However, I did gush about Noah being on there though. He’s just too damn cute and I couldn’t help myself!

If you’re looking for a fun and relaxing film to watch you might want to consider watching this, because honestly I had the best time ever! It was both funny and full of really cute moments with all of the characters. It was just different so if you’re like me and you also have issues with romantic comedies too, this might be the perfect starter to attempt to get back into them!

Have you seen The Perfect Date yet? If you have, what were some of your thoughts about it? Let me know below!

6 Halloween Movies For Kids!

Howdy!

Since I’m not able to decorate pumpkins this year, I had to come up with another Halloween-y post for you guys and I thought collecting a bunch of movies that you either have seen at different parts of your life or not at all. For this list, I decided to talk about what is kid-friendly, it might be movies you remember watching with your parents or at a sleepover with your cousins or friends growing up. I tried to board out my search of different movies and I really like the lineup I have so far, and I hope you enjoy them as well!

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The first time I ever watched this movie was in seventh grade, weirdly enough three days before we went on Christmas break. There are not very many movies that can pass being two holiday movie lists, but this is one! Unfortunately, I didn’t want to watch it and was very happy to be sitting in the back of the room. It wasn’t until about three years later that I finally watched it on my own and I actually kind of enjoyed it.

I think this is a good, fun movie for young kids to watch because they will love the characters, but be careful they do show the Bogeyman and other monsters in the closet and under the bed, so there’s that part to watch out for the younger kids!

Halloweentown (1998)

I love Halloweentown! However, like TNBC I did not want to watch this when it aired on the Disney Channel one October night at a friend’s house. I wasn’t the bravest of kids in my age as you can see, but my sister and her friend stayed up and watched it. You’re never going to believe this, but I actually fell asleep before it even started, so at one point of time, I could fall asleep on cue apparently!

So what changed? I think I was always haunted by the fact that I couldn’t watch it back then that once I got into high school I was like, “you have to suck it up” and it’s been one of my favorite Disney Channel franchises, and my favorite one being Halloweentown High. The last one isn’t really the best because they replace Kimberly J. Brown to Sara Paxton. Nonetheless, the films are good and they’re not really dark, some of the costumes are a little “scary” for some young kids, but other than that it’s a Disney so your child should (grow to) like it very much.

Alvin and The Chipmunks: Meet The Wolfman (2000)

When I decided that I wanted to write this post, this was actually the first movie that popped into my head. I remember watching this as a kid with my sister, who would have been in preschool at the time. We rarely watched Alvin and The Chipmunks and honestly I haven’t seen any of the sequals of the newer films, so the fact that this made the cut is interesting for me. I try to watch it whenever it’s on, even if I miss the majority of it!

If you’re looking for a cartoon-ish, Halloween movie for your children to watch, I’d definitely recommend this because this is generally adorable then spooky. If you didn’t love the Chipmunks, especially Theodore, you will after watching this film.

Mom’s Got A Date With A Vampire (2000)

This is another favorite of mine, that unlike the first two movies I talked about, this was easier to get into and maybe it was because Charles Shaughnessy was in it! You have to understand that when this came on, I was busy watching Full House, Mad About You, Family Matters, and The Nanny with my mother almost every other day with a bowl of potato chips for an afternoon snack when we came home from school! I don’t remember watching Sabrina the Teenage Witch so this is how I fell in love with Caroline Rhea for the first time.

You can find this on Disney Channel too! It likes to creep up on me sometimes, because there will be times where it’s easy to find but then they don’t play it at all and that part really sucks! It is a nice Halloween movie for kids, Charles is somewhat spooky but it’s mostly because of his accent and hair!

Twitches (2005)

I literally almost forgot about this one! It does help if you make sure you have the right amount of movies that it says on your banner before saying you’re done for the day! Anyways, Twitches is such a good movie, I’d say it’s a safe movie that discusses witches in general, but what I really enjoyed about it was seeing real twins Tia and Tamara Mowry play separated after birth sisters that are indeed witches. However, the real part I loved about it were Karsh and Ilena, they are absolutely hilarious and really bring the comic relief to this movie.

This movie has some dark tones in it, but I don’t think it’ll be that big of a deal for someone over the age of seven, but that’s only my opinion! I think kids will enjoy the fantasy and magic being shown between the characters, and will hopefully see through the character Thantos’s scary demeanor.

Hotel Transylvania (2012)

Are you surprised to see a recent release on my list? I actually had a hard time finding movies that I had seen that would work for this, and HT was the only one that fit the bill. I actually enjoyed this film, unfortunately I have yet to watch the other two and I do want to see them, because I really like the cast who are voicing these characters: Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, and David Spade just to name a few.

This film is really nice, it’s not too scary for kids, it could actually help children understand to never to assume the worst out of people. I actually like this direction of the story of Count Dracula, they made the character slightly approachable whereas how they will probably learn of the real story of him, so right now this is family friendly enough right now!

So now we’re finished with the first list! I had lots of fun telling kind of embarrassing stories of my childhood on my blog again.. Oh, just wait until we get to the adult post, you’ll probably be laughing at me while reading it. I originally had seven on this, but I realized that I had two movies that I haven’t really seen a whole lot, so I figured it would be easier to talk about ones that I have watched and liked throughout the years instead. Before I go, I wanted to list a couple of TV shows for kids that have a sort of a spooky flare: Goosebumps, Are You Afraid Of The Dark? and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.

What are your thoughts of the movies above? Which one is your favorite?

 

Favorite Romantic Comedies!

Hi 🙂

I hope you’re not getting tired of these movie posts because I’ve got a few others that I’d like to discuss sometime in the future! As you might’ve seen in my last movie post, I added Sweet Home Alabama as one of my favorite chick flicks, which is what it is, but after searching around for my favorite romantic comedies I started to think that maybe I should have left it out and put it on this list instead. And then I had another thought, that maybe if I hadn’t added it, would I even think of doing this post?

I don’t honestly like the lovey-dovey films. It’s just not in my DNA to believe in love at first sight, at least not with people. Blogs, music, and books are totally different for me. You can tell a lot about those things with whatever cover is on the front. People can be very difficult to read I think. So honestly I have a love/hate relationship with the romantic comedies because there’s a lot of love-y scenes that usually make me want to barf, but yeah there are some that tug at my heart and I end liking it a lot more than I had planned on and that is why I decided to give you this list.

The Parent Trap (1998 – Natasha Richardson, Dennis Quaid, Lindsay Lohan)

I actually watched this recently. I hadn’t watched it in a really long time and so the fact that I was wanting to watch it one afternoon was a mystery to me. Surprisingly, I still remember quite a bit of this film.

I think some of my favorite scenes are really when Annie and Hallie start playing tricks on each other at camp. I mean, the last one in Annie’s cabin is flat out hilarious and something I thought was weird was the fact whenever they show the scene inside the cafeteria and you see those pictures of the previous camp goers and then they have this last prank of these girls sneaking around putting shaving cream and honey on some of these girls, I thought how does one sleep through all of that?! Because I’m picturing loud creaks everytime the girls walked along the floors.

I did like the chemistry between Elizabeth and Nick, they seemed genuine and I loved the scene whenever Liz decides to take Hallie back to California and exchange her with Annie again, because she literally becomes this crazy woman! She’s nervous about seeing her ex-husband and the girls make up this big scheme to get their parents back together. The final prank to get Meredith out of the picture is funny as hell! See, I’d never be that clever to be able to do that to a person, but then again I’m naturally a fun, loving and warm type of person! I’ve got family members laughing at that sentence right now I know I do!

Look Who’s Talking (1989 – Kirstie Alley, John Travolta, Bruce Willis)

I really love this movie! I’m still kicking myself for removing it on my DVR about two years ago because leave it to my mother to delete it on her side. And she wonders why every once in a while I go and delete some of her stuff. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve deleted Fifty Shades Of Grey! I think this is truly one of my best movies and I’ve watched a LOT of movies over the years! I can watch it in the morning, late afternoons when my energy is getting low and late at night when I can’t sleep.

I don’t really like Bruce Willis, but I absolutely love him voicing Mikey. I think he is freaking hilarious! I’ve always wanted to know what babies and toddlers are really thinking about the people that are around them 24/7 and he brought every thought and emotion in each scene, because babies don’t know any better and he manged to figure out what to say in each section so perfect! I wonder if he ever ab-libed any of those scenes?

The Back-Up Plan (2010 – Jennifer Lopez, Alex O’Loughlin)

Every once in a while, I’ll see a trailer for a film and fall completely in love with it. This was one of those movies!

I am a sucker of anything with Jennifer Lopez in it, so it was only natural to get into this film I think. I thought the story was very adorable and made me wonder about my future.  I’d love to have a family of my own, I’ve wanted that for majority of my life so watching this woman have like a deadline that if she didn’t find her true love by a certain age that she was going to do her back-up plan and basically go to a sperm bank and create that family that she wants. It’s such a sweet and funny movie!

Legally Blonde (2001 – Reese Witherspoon, Matt Davis, Luke Wilson)

Years ago, I want to say a month or two before we left so I could have my surgeries, my aunt on my dad’s side gave me Legally Blonde and it was seriously the most played movie besides The Little Rascals! My roommate Shelby and I were freaking obsessed with it! The nights before our surgeries we would eat chips and salsa and watch Legally Blonde. When we were lying in bed recovering, we would have portable televisions and VCR on a table and we’d watch it as part to comfort us in those times!

My mom and I can STILL quote the entire film! We both have our favorite scenes and characters! We solely have a chihuahua because of Bruiser and when Matt Davis appeared on The Vampire Diaries in 2011, I was in denial because I knew I recognized him but I couldn’t place him in anything I had watched recently, but once I showed my mom, she was like that’s “Warner!” and so if it wasn’t for her I would have forgotten about that! She actually had a hard time watching Charlie Sheen’s Anger  Management during it’s first season because Selma Blair was in it and she had a difficult time not seeing her as the “rigid bitch” in LB!

What are some of your favorite romantic comedies? Is there a genre of film (besides horror!) you’d like me to talk about in a future post? Let me know! 

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How I Got Interested | Anastasia Romanov

Back in May, I wrote about my love for Anne Boelyn on the anniversary of her execution. I’ve been a supporter of Queen Anne for so long that I felt if there was one royal that I could freely talk about on here, it would be her, but my knowledge of British royalty goes back a little bit further until reaches out to the current royal house: Windsor.

In today’s post though, I wanted to discuss another previous royal family that I have always been interested in since I was a young girl. Like most children of the nineties, we all watched the movie Anastasia and fell in love with the myth of the one Romanov family member to survive the end of the empire in the early 1900’s. Of course, it was all fictionalized of the demise of the Romanov family.

There was a real Anastasia Romanov but she was one of four daughters of Tsar Nicholas II and his British wife, who was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Tsarina Alexandra Fedorovna. Their children were Olga, Maria, Tatiana, Anastasia and heir apparent Alexi. Their son had the disease haemophilia, this is where the blood can’t clot properly so there’s a lot of bleeding after suffering any other damage to the body, even if it’s a simple bruise. This was a serious condition back in the 1800’s to mid 1900’s as there wasn’t any antibiotics for it that could help.

I don’t remember how I came to know the origins of the Russia’s last royal family, I think maybe a teacher had told us because it was popular among my friends, but I don’t think I was told by anybody in my family though. Not because they didn’t know about it, I just don’t think they wanted to explain the brutality of their murders so that’s how I see that piece of information wasn’t passed down to us.

I don’t know how I get started with these different families through the films I watch and why they’re always of people who were killed at the hands of somebody else. If anybody’s counting, that’s two already! I’m in the next post I figured a more happier royal, if there is such a thing.

How did you figure out that Anastasia Romanov was actually a real person and not just a made up princess for a movie?

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