Fright Night.


Finally. A supernatural movie in which the vampires are supposed to scare you, not dazzle you with their sparkling skin. Admittedly, whilst the trailer for Fright Night looked really great, I thought the actual movie was going to be really bad. The still adverts made it look like it was going to a be a typical teen horror movie where a crazy psycho, in this case, a vampire, moves in next door, but nobody believes the teenagers because the neighbour is just so god-damn charming. Surprisingly, Fright Night was nothing like that. Though I suppose I should've known that it was going to be really good, I mean, David Tennant is in it.



For those of you who haven't seen the 1985 original, Fright Night is basically about a teenager called Charlie and what happens after a seemingly charming vampire, Jerry - yes, Jerry the vampire - moves in next door. Charlie's classmates start mysteriously disappearing from school and so Charlie is forced into investigating these disappearances by his ex-best friend, Ed Lee (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). He soon discovers that Ed was right and Jerry is a vampire and worried that Jerry may have set his sights on his own mother, Charlie seeks help from the 'vampire slayer', Peter Vincent (David Tennant). It's not long before Jerry realises that Charlie knows his secret and let's just say, he wasn't very happy about this. That's a very brief synopsis because there are so many unexpected twists and turns and I don't want to ruin the plot.

After watching Fright Night, I'm certain that I've been paying too much attention in my English lessons as every five seconds I was saying to myself 'ooh, that creates a sense of foreboding'. There were certain things about this movie that was so subtle and so clever and they made this film a success. I don't want to give away exactly what these things are, but I recommend you pay extra attention to what programme the television is showing when it is on and what happens in the video that Charlie watches. The use of technology in the background, dare I say it, created a strong sense of foreboding and hints at what's to come.

David Tennant really can play any role

Charley's girlfriend turns nasty.

The soundtrack was truly excellent, which really surprised me. It was the music that got me frightened right at the very beginning and it does an great job at mediating your mood throughout the film. I don't know how they managed to do this, but at one point, I even started to feel hotter, just .... Another thing which surprised me, was excellent camera work. I don't think I've ever noticed camera work whilst watching a movie, but there really were some excellent shots in this. They weren't necessarily panoramic views (though there are plenty of those), sometimes they were really subtle things, but camera managed to capture each scene from the perfect angle.

Part of what made Fright Night a success was the great cast. The majority of the cast were actors of note and if not I still recognised them from one movie or another. I have to say that although I don't really like Colin Farrell as an actor, I think he made an excellent vampire - Farrell fans will be pleased to know that he seems to have worked out for the role. Anton Yelchin played Charley Brewster the main character and although I don't believe I've seen him in any movies before he's actually been in quite a lot. Academy-award nominated Toni Collette plays the mother of Charley, though she doesn't have a very large role in this film. David Tennant isn't as involved in the movie as I would've liked; however, his prescenece in the second half of the film definitely did a lot for this movie.

Definitely been working out...

One criticism of this movie is that whilst the majority of the drama and horror looked realistic, the spurting blood really did not. It was obvious that these scenes would've looked a lot better in 3D and I imagine they were pretty spectacular; however, I was only watching it in 2D and it looked like red plasma, not blood. The blood looked fine when it was just trickling or lying still, but as soon as it started spurting it began to look computer generated.

Fright Night was a lot better than I was expecting it to be and it instilled a sense of fear in me right from the onset with it's dramatic and bloody beginning. It's defined as a 'comedy horror' film and I guess that would be about right since there are some horrifying moments and others when I just wanted to laugh out loud. This definitely isn't a movie for squeamish people or people that get frightened easily. I have almost become immune to the frights of horror movies and I still found myself gasping at a couple of points during the film. I guess this would mostly appeal to teenage boys there's no reason why girls who enjoy a bit of horror *cough* David Tennant and Colin Farrell *cough* shouldn't enjoy this too.



 

The Dragonfly Prophecy by Jacquelyn Castle.

Cutey Charm Bracelets.

At some point in every girl's life, we develop an obsession with charm bracelets. Whether it's when you're 5 or when you're 50, women just can't seem to resist these timeless pieces of jewellery. The traditional charm bracelet consisting of a chain of links is still going strong; however, recently, a new and different type of charm bracelet has emerged on the market. These new bracelets consist of a simple, straight chain and instead of hooking on, the charms all have a hole straight through the middle of them and they slide on. Another way of looking at it is: traditional charm bracelets are made by LINKS and the new charm bracelets are made by Pandora. Both these brands are sell great jewellery, but the prices are not very affordable with most pieces costing well over £100 and charms costing around £30 each.  There is no way in hell that I'm ever going to put a hundred pound piece of metal round my wrist so I hunted around for alternatives and so I stumbled across Cutey, a newly launched online jewellery brand.

Cutey aims to provide affordable jewellery that is still of a high quality. As Cutey only launched in 2011 they currently only sell charm bracelets but they're looking to expand in the future. At the moment, they sell a large range of bracelets all priced at £12.99, which is a remarkably good price for the superb quality of the bracelets. Cutey's bracelets are the newer style of charm bracelets, or the 'Pandora' type bracelets. Many people find it annoying when the charms on these bracelets swing round and round as your wrist moves. Thankfully, Cutey has solved this problem by having two 'stoppers' along the bracelet so that the charms cannot all bunch up together. Upon first purchasing this bracelet I wasn't aware that you could change/remove the charms on it, but you can. I didn't realise this before because you cannot simply pull the charms off, you have to twizzle them around first which is a great safety mechanism as it means you won't lose any charms. The two stoppers at each end of the bracelet prevent the charms from flying off every time you remove your bracelet - something which I have done many a time in the past. Although you cannot purchase charms from Cutey, the bracelet itself is universal so you should be able to put charms bought from other places on it. The chain itself is virtually unbreakable. I've tugged, twistedThe clasp takes some getting used to and can be a bit fiddly at first but it is incredibly secure and there is not way that your bracelet could ever fall off. Cutey charm bracelets suit every occasion, be it everyday wear or party wear. There's a wide range of colours and designs to choose from with a variety of charms: clocks, locks, turtles, hearts, beads, stars and much much more! I love the flexibility that my Cutey bracelet gives me and with the large range of charms it's like having several bracelets in one! At the moment, there is only one charm on my Cutey bracelet and this makes for a nice chic and understated bracelet, but when I'm feeling funky I'll put all 7 charms on for more vibrance and colour.


All in all, if you're looking for a nice, quality, but cheap, charm bracelet, Cutey is the brand for you! You can order online from their website and if you order now there is free delivery in the UK and a 10% discount! Check out all of Cutey's bracelets here.

Hart of Dixie. 



Hart of Dixie is a new show to The CW that began this autumn. The basic plot line is about a young New Yorker, Dr Zoe Hart, who is probably the most dedicated and proficient medical student that the world has ever seen; however, slightly ironically, she lacks one thing: a heart. It is because of this that she misses out on a great medical fellowship and is told that she should come back when she has learnt to actually care about her patients - both physically and emotionally. She then decides to take up the offer from a complete stranger, Dr Harley Wilkes, to work in his practice. Every year since her graduation Zoe has received letters from Dr Wilkes asking her to come and work for him and every single time she has declined, but not this time. So, Dr Zoe Hart arrives in the small and cosy town of Bluebell, Alabama, which is possibly the furthest thing from anything she knows. Upon arriving in Bluebell, she is shocked to find out that Dr Harvey Wilkes has, in fact, passed away and left half of his practice to her. With many maladies completely unknown to the city doctor, and a less than warm welcome from the townspeople, she begins to feel extremely out of her depth and finally she decides to leave. That is until her mother turns up with a piece of news that changes everything.

Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson) and the mayor, Levon Hayes (Cress Williams)

I didn't know anything about Hart of Dixie prior to watching it, but, from the looks of it, it didn't look like the sort of show I would be interested in. However, I decided to give the show a change just because the main star was Rachel Bilson. I haven't heard a lot about Rachel Bilson for a long while, but I still remember her back when she was in The O.C - a show that I was completely obsessed with - and I was curious to see her new work. I wasn't really sure how I felt after watching the pilot episode as I had a strong feeling that this show wasn't for me and yet I also had a desire to watch more. I'm so glad that I decided to keep watching because it's gone from strength to strength! The plot just gets better and better each week with more excitement and drama. For me, personally, I find Zoe Hart's love life, or lack of thereof, the most entertaining, hilarious and heartbreaking part of the show. Others may be interested in Zoe's social life, or lack of thereof (see a trend forming?), or her working life or, wait for it ... lack of thereof.

George Tucker and fiancee Lemon Breeland

As time goes on we see Zoe soften to Bluebell's customs and traditions which she ridicules at first. At heart, she's still a classic New Yorker; however, she learns to accept other cultures and respects Bluebell and it's ways. She realises that the only way she's going to survive in Alabama is to immerse herself in their culture and so, with the help of Levon Hayes, the mayor and her neighbour, she begins to make some friends. What I love about her 'love life', is that I have absolutely no idea where it's heading. There are several leads in the show, some of which are obvious that they won't last, but others are really interesting becasue I can't quite pinpoint how their relationship is going to end up. Personally, I think Zoe Hart will end up with either Wade, her cool and country neighbour, or George, a lawyer. The problem is, George (a former New Yorker himself) is engaged to Lemon, who has hated Zoe since the very first time she clad eyes on her. It looks like it's going to be a sticky one. To make matters more complicated there is another couple in Bluebell - a very unexpected couple - who's relationship is no doubt going to stir things up for all the other characters and may just change the whole game plan. I'm curious to see how this show will end given that Zoe is only supposed to be taking one year out to 'find her heart' and if she were to return to New York that would be the end of the show and I don't envisage that happening. We shall have to wait and see.

Learning the ropes

As for the acting, it's brilliant. I recognise quite a lot of faces from the show, but I can't remember exactly where I've seen any of them before. The five main characters are: Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson), Lemon Breeland (Jaime King), George Tucker (Scott Porter), Wade Kinsella (Wilson Bethel) and Levon Hayes (Cress Williams). All five of these actors are absolutely superb and they all interpret their characters perfectly. The accents of every single character in the show are spot on and I completely believe that they are genuinely from Alabama. This show can be both funny and serious at times and this is conveyed perfectly to the viewer, in just the right balance. Although Hart of Dixie is defined as a 'medical drama', it's nothing like, say, Grey's Anatomy, where the majority of the drama is based in a hospital where the characters work. There are, of course, a large amount of scenes which are shot in Zoe's practice; however, I don't think that her medical work is the focus of the show. It is much more focussed on the development of Zoe's character, rather than her career.

Things get hot in Alabama

All in all, I think Hart of Dixie is a warm and cosy drama, that is also funny and dramatic (quite a contrast, but trust me, it works!). It's not like anything that's currently on air at the moment, so if you're looking for something different, here it is. This show will appeal to most women as the youth of the protagonist combined with the traditional values of Bluebell make it great for all ages. If you're already watching Hart of Dixie, but are thinking of stopping, think again. It gets better, I promise! If you're about to start watching it, stick with it, right to the end, because it's definitely worth it. Hart of Dixie looks like a show about a New Yorker turned country bumpkin, but it's so much more than that, so I recommend you give it a go!

So this is it. The final season of Desperate Housewives is here. I am quite saddened by this as Desperate Housewives has quickly developed into one of my favourite shows over the past few weeks. You would think that Desperate Housewives would appeal to, well desperate housewives; however, I've found that actually a wide age range love this show. I initially started watching this because my mum did and she specifically said that I was not allowed to. Of course, one of the worst things a parent can do is to say to their overly-curious child that they're not allowed to do something. I have to admit though this show has not only gotten better as it has aged, but also as I have aged. For this reason I'm going to suggest that perhaps only 16+ teenagers and adults watch this programme. In addition, a large part of the content just isn't appropriate for children younger than that age.

If you've never watched Desperate Housewives, it's basically a comedy-drama about a group of housewives who live on Wisteria Lane. The four characters who've been consistent throughout all eight seasons are Bree VanDeCamp, famous chef with impeccable manners, Lynette Scavo, mother to what I can only describe as an army of children, Susan Delfino, funny but vulnerable, and Gabriella Solis, former glamour model. Whilst many, many men have wandered into the lives of each and every one of these women over the series and other neighbours have come and gone, these four have stuck together through thick and thin (more often 'thick' than thin, I might add). Some might think this is a silly show about a bunch of bored housewives, but there's so much more to it than that. Whilst they've all got perfectly mowed lawns and impeccable houses, the majority of the time, their lives are in absolute turmoil. Be it murder, a felony or false identity, everyone on Wisteria Lane's got something to hide and don't be fooled by their sweet sweet smiles. On a side note, there is also a brilliant soundtrack which has been used throughout the series and still matches the action of the show perfectly.

The Desperate Housewives cast is made up of a bunch of phenomenal actors and actresses, young and old. Every single role is played absolutely perfectly with great consistency throughout the long series. Each and every housewife offers a different personality and all of them compliment each other. They are all hilariously funny, but this isn't slapstic. The balance between comedy and drama is absolutely perfect and I'm in awe of how they do it. The majority of the 'drama' in Desperate Housewives is very serious and there is great attention to detail with the threading together of the plot - which never fails to surprise me. The comic elements don't mock the drama, but compliment it and aid in making the show much more light-hearted, otherwise I fear the plot would be a bit too heavy for it's demographic. Two of the child actors who stand out to me are Darcy Rose Byrnes who plays sweet and innocent Penny Scavo, Lynette and Tom's daughter, and Madison De La Garza, who plays Juanita Solis, the greedy first daughter of Gabby and Carlos Solis. Both of these young actresses show great potential despite their age and the fans of Desperate Housewives have seen the pair grow up from when they were babies on the show. Incidentally Madison De La Garzon is the half sister of Demi and Dallas Lovato.  

Renee takes Lynette out to try and show her a little fun

The penultimate season of Desperate Housewives did not fare well as the series saw it's ratings hit an all time low. Viewership was still peaking at the beginning of the series but they lost a large amount of viewers in the second half which unfortunately did not pick up towards the end. For the first time in it's history it did not rank in the top 20 most watched shows; however, it did rank number 13 out of the most watched scripted shows of 2010-2011. Personally, I don't see why this was as although I've seen better seasons, this one wasn't that bad. Perhaps viewers got bored given that quite a lot of characters from the past reappeared, but I thought this made it more interesting as we delved further into past mysteries. Just a quick recap: the finale of season 7 saw the murder of Gabby's stepfather, by one member of the street, but the housewives decided to cover up the crime; Susan and her family finally returned to the street after clearing all of Mike's debts; Paul has been poisoned and eventually ends up back in jail, right where he started; Tom and Lynette's marriage breaks down and Bree's bagged herself a cop for a boyfriend.

The main focus of season 8 so far seems to be the aftermath of Alejandro's (Gabby's stepfather) murder. The four main housewives and Carlos are all badly shaken after the events and their subsequent actions and everybody seems to be dealing with it in different ways. Carlos is drinking and Susan has taken up an art class - but is it more than she can chew? The other three housewives seem slightly less phased by the event, but then again, Bree's always calm in a crisis, Lynette's more worried about the fact that Tom's moved out and is dating again, and Gabby's got her hands full as new head of the PTA. There is a new hottie on the street, Ben Faulkner, who immediately catches the eye of always-up-for-a-party Renee. At first it just seems superficial, but could something be blossoming here?

Ben asks Renee out on a date, but it isn't quite what she was expecting

As this is the last season ever of Desperate Housewives there is a great deal of curiosity as to how the series will end. There are already links to Mary Alice's death in this series so perhaps it's going to come full circle as we learn secrets all the way back from season 1. I sincerely hope that they do the series justice and leave with a bang, though judging by previous seasons, I don't think one - of all seasons - will be lacking excitement. A lot of character's futures hang in the balance at the moment as no one is really sure what will happen with regards to Alejandro's murder and I think this will be the focus of the first part of the series. I predict that the second half will focus more on the mysterious letter that Bree received which replicates that of the one Mary Alice received before she committed suicide. There is also strife between the four friends as the stress of the murder gets to everyone, is this the end of their friendship? We shall have to wait and see. This is the end of a truly brilliant show and if you don't already watch this, then I highly recommend you start now - you're missing out!

Glee.

I've been a big fan of Glee ever since its premiere back in 2009 because it was based on a unique concept that basically brought mini-musicals to our screens every week. It also dealt with serious issues that teenagers face such as bullying and portrays American high school from the point of view of the 'losers', rather than the popular so many people could relate to much of the drama. The cast members are all great singers and dancers and for the most part they've done great covers of some of my favourite songs.There was a lot of drama in the lead up to season 3 regarding which characters were staying for season 4 and which weren't and there was controversy over whether letting the lead roles go, but seriously, it's high school, they've got to graduate at some point.

Season 3 returned to screens for both US and UK viewers not so long ago; however, I have to say I'm rather disappointed. There isn't anything particularly unique about the plot line and everything seems to be pretty much the same. Mr Schuster is finally going out with Emma, but things are still not plain sailing because of Emma's OCD, Sue's on the warpath, the Rachel and Finn drama continues - a recurring story line from the onset - and Santana's still struggling to come to terms with her sexuality. Curiously, Quinn has had a huge makeover and has turned rock chick. I know things have been hard for her recently what with the adoption of her baby, but seriously? The new look just doesn't make sense. In no time Quinn is back to being blonde and normal, at least on the outside, but on the inside, she's still raging and has a grim determination to get her daughter back - no matter what the cost. Frankly it's all gone a bit weird.

Blaine transfers to McKinley, much to Kurt's delight!

So far I've watched four episodes but I can't seem to remember any of the numbers and I'm not entirely sure what all of the characters are up to. Shelby makes a reappearance, with Emma (Quinn and Puck's daughter), and starts her own show choir at McKinley High to rival the new directions. The splitting of the new directions into two parts ruins their united front and shows the bitchier side to show business which is not what I thought Glee was all about. There has always been tension within the group and competition for parts but the producers have done the worst thing possible by splitting the group as it suggests that if you don't get what you want, the only way to solve things is to leave, instead of working things out, which does not give a very good message to the teens who watch Glee. On the plus side, though highly predictable, Blaine has joined the new directions, but he's basically the new Mercedes and the Rachel-Mercedes power struggle has been transferred to Finn and Blaine.

Dancing on tables is cool and all... but so High School Musical

As I've previously said, these shows need to constantly provide fresh material for their viewers otherwise we're just going to go away and watch something else. I think Glee has lost what it stands for and is no longer the feel good show that it once was. There is so much competition in television production and there is an immense number of shows out there available for us to watch. In my opinion Glee should join the likes of Gossip Girl and 90210 and go back to the drawing board to think of some fresh content.