Movie Review: Django Unchained

Let's talk about Django Unchained, seen it yet? No? Go see it right now.
In case you couldn't tell, I loved it, and I'll try to keep spoilers to a minimum while telling you why I loved it, to save those who haven't seen it yet and are not following my initial instructions to go see it right this second.

I'm going to start by saying that I am a huge Tarantino fan. My favorite movie of all time is Reservoir Dogs, so much to the point I have a wall sized poster of it, and watch it at least once a month.  WIth that said, everything I've seen by him I've liked. That isn't to say that I don't agree with some critics who say "bad" things about some of his movies. I can agree with the fact that Inglourious Basterds, while amazing, was a little pretentious, or Death Proof, which is actually playing on my TV right this second, is really long and a bit boring at times. That doesn't make me love either of those films any less.

Moving on, I loved Django Unchained and had few to no issues with the movie.
The first thing that really drew me to it, other than my undying love for Christoph Waltz, is that I do love a good western movie. While its set in the south in 1858, as the title card says, its filmed a lot like a western movie.
Another thing that I really loved about this movie, is the amount of blood and gore in it. Thats a warning; if you aren't a fan of blood and gore, this might not be a movie for you. It can be fairly brutal at times, the opening scene alone sets how much blood comes out of a person when they're shot. Spoilers: it erupts out of them with a bit of a "squish" noise. Gross, but adds to the humor of the movie.
Another thing that you should be prepared for in the "brutal" category, is this is a movie about bounty hunters set during the time of slavery. Keeping spoilers to a minimum, that means a lot of shooting, a lot of death, and a lot of brutality (both physical, and verbal) towards those playing slaves.

If you can get past that, the movie is actually very, very funny. It stars Christoph Waltz as an anti-slavery bounty hunter, and Jamie Foxx as a freed slave-turned-bounty hunter. The dynamic between the two is amazing, starting out with almost a baby-sitter/mentor type relationship, where Waltz teaches Foxx how to be a bounty hunter, growing into equals.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays the villan, and let me tell you he does a wonderful job. The trailer doesn't give away too much of the movie, so I wont spoil it for you, but I will say the focus is the rough and tough pair going to rescue Foxx's wife from DiCaprio's plantation.

My only problem with the movie is the run time, 2 hours and 45 minutes. Unlike Basterds, where I thought the movie with that run time was too short, Django's run time was a bit too long. The scene before the last scene, in my opinion, was too lengthy...if needed at all. The only point of that scene was to acquire something to use at the end of the movie. I don't think they needed that scene, granted if they cut it, Tarantino wouldn't have his 10 minute on screen time.

The last thing I will say, is I loved Samuel L Jackson actually playing a character in this movie. Not that he doesn't act normally, but whenever I saw him in a movie prior, it wasn't really acting for me. Rather it was "oh now Samuel L Jackson is on a plane with snakes." His character in Django Unchained was funny, and well portrayed.

I'll leave you with this, the review my lovely boyfriend made as his Facebook status; "Django Unchained was tons of fun! None of the pretentiousness from Basterds and 100% more horses!"

And if that doesn't sell you on it, I don't know what to tell you.
Loren ♥

Top 10 Teas

Hey there blog! Its been awhile, and its not that I've completely forgotten about posting, its just things have been so hectic here at school I haven't really had time to do anything except write essays. To be completely honest I'm currently taking a break from reading Pseudo-Xenophon for Greek history, so with this time I'll write a very simple blog post.

For those of you who read my blog and know me, you know that I really really really love tea. So let me tell you about my favorite kinds of tea.

      1. Matcha iri Genmaicha

This is probably my favorite tea of all time due to the fact its highly caffeinated. The color of the tea itself is a very odd shade of bright yellow-green, which is what drew me to it when I first saw it. The flavor is very nutty, and pretty strong, which puts some people off from it. But if you don't mind the flavor I'd give it two thumbs up!

I prefer my matcha, like most of my tea, without any additions; meaning don't add milk or sugar!

Just remember to brew it for 1-2 minutes to keep it light and avoid the really nutty taste.

      2. Twinings Pure White Tea

My god do I love white tea. 

I love how light and sweet it can be, and how you don't really need to add anything to it. Unlike the previous tea, its very very light and not quite as flavorful. White tea has caffeine as well, but not nearly as much as the last one.

For the perfect cup, keep it light and don't brew for more than 1 1/2 minutes! No seriously, any more than that throws off the taste, and most tea sites and experts will tell you to not brew for more than a minute. Personally, I think a minute isn't long enough and doing that you won't get as much flavor as you want.

      3. "Rory Williams"

Let's shift gears a little here, now I know I said I prefer my teas and coffees without add-ins, but this tea in particular tastes really good with a splash of milk, and a tiny bit of sugar.
The "Rory Williams" is a signature blend named after a Doctor Who character. I bought it...well mostly because Rory is my favorite character on the show, but also because the blend involves Irish Breakfast Tea, which I do really love.

This tea is very sweet, with hints of vanilla and, strangely enough, sweet potato. I had no idea that sweet potato tea would even taste good, but wow it sure does! Highly recommended by both myself and my boyfriend (I do believe its his favorite tea so far).

      4. Green Tea

Of any kind. No really, just go out to your supermarket and grab any kind of green tea. Preferably one not mixed with any other flavors, and a decaffeinated type, because with all the other teas mentioned, you'd want a minute to relax and not feel more awake.

Now why do I love green tea? Its so simple and smooth and plain. Also it has crazy antioxidants that just make you feel super! If its caffeine free, you can enjoy it whenever without the worry of staying awake all night, or being drowsy in the morning.

Plus its good for your health! Boosts metabolism, and it can go with whatever you're eating!

      5. "John Watson"

Ok, back to signature blends; this one is named for the lovable John Watson from BBC's Sherlock. This tea is a lovely mix of Irish Breakfast, Earl Grey, and cinnamon. Be warned though, the cinnamon is not terribly noticeable which is probably why I love the tea so much! I'm not big on cinnamon and was expecting a lot more, but luckily its very light.

I personally enjoy this tea both with and without milk and sugar. Its caffeinated, and I like mine brewed pretty dark so I can get the full flavor of the Earl Grey. I know that my boyfriend prefers it with some milk and sugar, but I think its because I brew it dark to begin with. If I were to brew it lighter, it would not need sugar...or milk for that matter!

But yes, definitely recommended.

Top 5 Honorable Mentions:

1. Earl Grey. Once again, any kind will do, but I prefer the Twinings kind. Its very refreshing, and I love it.
2. Irish Breakfast, of any kind. Dark, caffeinated, tastes good with a splash of milk. Need I say more? Oh yeah I do; eat with breakfast!
3. Jasmine tea. Light, flowery, look for a kind that has green tea in it!
4. Peach and Ginger black tea. That kind in specific. Very dark, but the ginger is very nice, and, once again, does not need add-ins.
5. And lastly, raspberry tea. Now I don't normally like fruit teas, but this one when iced with a dash of sugar makes the most perfect iced tea you could ask for. So it's worth a shot!

Happy brewing!

♥ Loren

Beauty Blogging

Oh thank the high heavens that midterms are over for me. Honestly this past week I've been stressed out, sleepless, hungry, and just irritable. (Bless Johnny for having to put up with my mood swings and crying over essays and not breaking up with me!)
But they are done and I can finally catch up on my sleep. Its time to relax again.

So the first order of business I tended to after finishing my last midterm was to properly pamper myself, I am a princess after all.
This past week in my favorite class this semester, Ancient Greek History, we learned about how people in Greece bathed themselves. As my professor said "soap is a very European way to clean yourself, and its not as useful as using olive oil."And that got me wondering about using olive oil instead of soap and what not, because let me tell you there nothing I love more than being pampered, and also Greek things (she said as she poured some honey into her Greek yogurt).

I set off to Google, looking up what people used olive oil for, and how I could use it in my shower. And there are a million different recipes on how to mix it because, turns out that its good for your hair, and skin, and just about everything. But I ended up doing my own thing, so here is what I did with it:

What You Will Need:

• 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
• About a cup of standard white sugar
• A razor (or two)
• A shower
• A towel that you don't mind getting dirty

So basically what I did was I heated up the oil (20 seconds in the microwave) and 15 minutes prior to getting in the shower, I rubbed it through my hair and let it sit.

Most of what was left I poured into the cup of sugar and mixed it with my hands. I used that to exfoliate my body. Once that was rinsed, I shaved normally, and so much dead skin peeled off! It was a little gross I'll admit.

I ended up using all of the sugar scrub, and poured the rest of the oil on my hair (and washed it out of course!), and now my skin feels like butter.

After getting out of the shower, use a towel to rub off whatever residue you have left on you. Normally this goes against my belief on pulling at your skin, but its needed in this case!

Dry out your hair, and bask in the soft clean glow your skin has. Hell I walked around naked for a bit, it was that nice.

To really top the feeling of being a princess off, but on some sexy underwear, even if its just for you!

It really is the best feeling in the world.

Loren ♥

Body Image + Cosplay

Hey there blog I've been neglecting for like a month. What's up?

Ok, what we're going to talk about today is my personal body image issues and how cosplay minimized them.

I guess I should start by telling you that I am not a skinny girl, and I never was. I'm about a pant size 10-12, dress size 12-14, and I wear a bra size of 36-38 D. All through high school and middle school, I was constantly bombarded by people telling me that I should lose weight, and that the ideal woman is skinny and beautiful.
It really hurt. For awhile there I was convinced no one would love me or find me attractive because I didn't fit the ideal. And it hurt like hell.

Getting out of that high school mentality really did help with my body issues. At college I picked up rugby, and that taught me to be tough (also that exercising is actually really fun). And I met a truly wonderful boy who loves me for me, and doesn't care what my dress size is, he thinks I'm beautiful no matter what.
Okay wow yeah that was really sappy, I'm sorry.

But lets talk about cosplay for a minute. Cosplay has really helped me with my body issues, because for at least a little bit, people who don't know me look at me as a character rather than who I am.
Instead of judging me based off of what I look like, people's first reactions are "oh you're so and so, wow thats a great wig/costume/skirt/contacts!" Its makes me feel good, you know?
Sometimes, if I get so lucky, people will come up to me and say that I make a fabulous [enter character here], and once this girl even told me that I was her brand new headcanon Roxy Lalonde!

Sure there are tons of times where I want to cosplay certain characters, but I feel restricted due to body shape (its really hard for me to pull of being male, I'm curvy), height, or even ethnicity. But then I think about it and I say "well fuck that." Because in the cosplaying community, well at least the one's I've encountered, people are really supportive. They say "go cosplay who you want to, regardless of what you look like. Be happy, and those who try to pull you down aren't worth your time."

Thanks to people like that, I've been able to do cosplay's I normally wouldn't be comfortable doing/think I could pull off!
Example 1; Sis Strider who is usually drawn as skinny and fit, blonde, and super hot. Yet I still put it together for NYC Promstuck, and I received so many compliments on it!

No idea who the artist is, please tell me!

Example 2; X-23. Still a work in progress, but she is my favorite X-Men character and wears pretty skimpy outfits, but I'm learning how to translate that into my body type and comfort zone. Plus the make up was super fun to do.

Also that comic is fantastic, go read it now.

With all that being good and said, there are still a lot of people I know who don't understand my hobby of cosplaying. They write it off as being silly, or a waste of time. I guess I get that, sometimes I write off what I don't know a lot about even though I try hard not to.

Understand it or not, cosplaying has become a big part of my life, and a very important part at that. It taught me that I can be happy with how I look, and that people will always appreciate what I put on, as well as be there to support me along the way.

Also that I don't make a terrible platinum blonde! Hehe.

Loren ♥

CA: Cosplayers Anon

I'm beginning to think I might have a problem.
In case it wasn't painfully obvious, I really like cosplaying, and I really like the webcomic Homestuck.

With that said, I'm convinced I need to either find or create a "Cosplayers Anonymous," because my constant desire to cosplay everything I see is getting out of control.
I am starting to worry about my need to dress up like characters because 1.) its taking a huge chunk out of my time and bank account, and 2.) I literally pounce on any new character I see.

Let me explain; for those of you who read my blog and also read Homestuck, you'll know (assuming you're up to date on it) that a week or so back Andrew Hussie (the creator/writer) made an update that was an interactive flash where you met the ancestors of some of the alien characters.
Here we meet the ancestor to one of my favorite characters, this new girl is named Latula. Instantly I fell in love with her design and, guess what, decided to cosplay her.

Here she is! So r4d ;]

I actually had to pause the game, I was just too excited about the idea of dressing up as her. I immediately set out in search of a wig, and like that, all my money started going out the window.

Do you see why this is beginning to be a problem?

On the brighter side, I'm actually pretty glad I did decide to cosplay her. I got a really great wig, and these rocking boots. And so far the costume is coming together quite well! All I'm really missing is the shirt.

Ok, so maybe this post was not so much to "address" my problem with dressing up as characters, maybe it was more of an excuse to show off my progress shots for my newest cosplay.
But hey, can you really blame me?

Loren ♥

I saw the coolest thing ever last night.

My boyfriend is a huge Amanda Palmer fan, personally I think she is pretty cool but I wouldn't really consider myself a fan of hers, but I do love concerts. So when he got tickets to her show last night at The Theater of Living Arts on South Street in Philly, of course I agreed to go with him.

Amanda Palmer's set was pretty fun. I don't know that much about her music so I don't really have anything to base it off of. The coolest part to me was that all of the opening acts for the show were used in her backing band at one point or another.

But thats not the cool part.

The cool part was the last opening act, two guys that go by the name of Ronald Reagan 80's, Boston's Premier 80's Pop Saxophone Duo.
And its exactly what it sounds like.
They played "Don't Stop Believing," "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and "Beat It." Also one of them beat boxed.

It was really the coolest thing I've ever seen, so naturally I bought their t-shirt.
Check them out sometime, not only are they super talented, but they also are really funny.

They even deserved their own post on my blog!

Loren ♥

Oops, Its been too long again!

Hello hello!
Wow its been pretty busy the last few weeks, which is honestly why I haven't been posting.

Lets see, the last thing I blogged about was going Dog Tier. And I'm super stoked to say I get to wear that cosplay to a Phillystuck meet up this weekend! Hopefully after the meet up at some point over the weekend, or next week, I'll do another make up video.
This time I figured out how to make myself look exceedingly anime, and my eyes look huge!

Teaser photo, video will be made soon

Ok, since my last post I went to Paris, France for a week.

Moved back to college.

Learned how to make a few dinners.

Turned 20.

And started the new school year.

Yeah, I've been pretty busy.

Actually, on the subject of my birthday (which was yesterday), I have fantastic news! My amazing boyfriend not only took me out to dinner and showered me with love/adorned me with a tiara because I was the birthday princess, but he actually made the most amazing gift ever.

Which also aids the progress of one of my cosplays.

Yep, he made me a portal gun.

Side view

There is a whole tutorial he made for it, in case anyone wants to make one! I read through it, and honestly if I think it looks easy, anyone can do it!

Also its so cool, it lights up.

And thats what I've been up to really. Besides school. Also wanting to master the art of French cooking.

Seriously. French food is the best damn food I've ever eaten. I just want to move to Paris and eat everything all the time.

Ah well, I guess finishing my cosplays comes first!

Loren ♥