Looking back on the first year:

From film reviews to (vegan) product reviews, the discussion of past and present television series as well as music-related posts, and a few vegan recipes, Films and Veganism presents a compiled overview of a few of those favorites.

• Thoughts on LANA DEL REY and her influence on modern culture.

"Del Rey, with her unique music style, and overall vintage style, infused with her jazzy-reminiscent voice, is one that sonically carries through airways loud, almost erotically intoxicating, and evocative."

• BRINDO - a sweet song embedded within a sunglasses advertizement that appears as an intimate music video

film/television photos: Google Images

In a world of pretentious yuppies and superficial social-climbing aristocrats, it just wouldn't make sense for all of them to keep their heads on straight and remain, if ever were, sane.  American Psycho is the satirical film depicting this concept through Christian Bale's performance of a character whose mind slowly but forcefully shatters while his psychological reality goes with it. It is also the perfect depiction of white male privilege and entitlement at its worst.

Christain Bale. American Psycho. Harron, Mary. Lions Gate Films. 2000.

Bale depicts a notoriously narcissistic character who not only strives to be the best, but is convinced that he certainly must be because in his mind that is how he sees himself. This character resorts to the extremes of killing the person who upstages him as though they are nothing.. but ordinary. Bale brings a somewhat shocking, yet accurate look at what a privileged, violent egomaniac looks like in this early 2000 movie. It would be an understatement to say that his character cares too much about himself and how he is perceived, because it has become embedded in his mind and evident in his persona to think that everyone has to know and see him as a "big shot", a somebody of importance when he clearly isn't. The character moves along the two extremes, accentuating the psychopathic and egotistic. The female-directed (Dir. Mary Harron) film does not forget to show the misogyny extricated by this character. Myriad scenes exemplify the character's misogynistic, psychopathic tendencies from preying on, objectifying, and murdering women. But it doesn't stop there he further traverses the streets to kill other innocent people, a homeless person, then slashing co-workers and, by the end, killing anyone who cross his ridiculous inhumane path.

Christain Bale. American Psycho. Harron, Mary. Lions Gate Films. 2000.

By the end of it, through the bloodshed, we see a character psychologically breaking down, struggling to cope with who they really are after realizing what they have become and what they have always been.

One that expresses in extreme measure, the ridiculous and the absurd to the point where the audience questions whether the scene was one that actually happened or if it was just imagined by the character. Through all the absurdity of this killing satire, the point comes across in shocking ways. The biggest problem and most important point of this is that he still gets away with it because he is the result of as well as the embodiment of a misogynistic, white Capitalist male privilege and entitlement.

Amy's Margherita pizza is a nicely delicious, easy to make frozen favorite. It is probably the best vegan frozen pizzas available.. With a flavorful sauce, great seasonings, and lightly sprinkled Daiya vegan cheeze, this pizza will have you eating it whole. The crust is also soft and possibly comparable to a flatbread..  I don't know about anyone else who has tried frozen vegan pizzas but this is most definitely one of the best and most zesty pizzas from Amy's vegan-friendly selection. Of all of the frozen vegan pizzas and non-vegan pizzas (prior to veganism), this is the best. The only problem with this pizza is that I cannot find it anywhere.





 Also, I'm pretty sure it's a slightly better/more nutritious alternative to other mainstream frozen pizzas (those higher in fat with dairy, meat, cholesterol, and several other things). This is not the type of item to eat often as it is still high in fat and sodium, but every once in a while..

After watching the third episode, and observing its growing explosion of humor, I knew this was going to be a well-received series. The recently Emmy-nominated show that not only revolves around Charlie Sheen but also gave him a somewhat-comeback to television, provided several on-screen cameos, and welcomed a few unfamiliar faces to the mainstream television is Anger Management.



Anger Management, with a pretty hilarious cast and a contrasting clash of characters provide a means for a nicely entertaining character dynamic, something we see during the main group counseling sessions. The show revolves around its title as well as the use of other psychological and therapeutic concepts, depending on the episode subject of focus.  The counsel-related settings often showcased include a prison where the main character does anger management counseling, to the couches in his living room where the prime counseling takes place along with other lead cast-members, as well as the office of his own advice-providing therapist, depicted by Selma Blair.



Charlie takes on the role as therapist, one specializing in the counseling of anger management groups and whose character slightly differs from those typecast. Shawnee Smith, an actress I know from Becker, is brought back to television playing the part of Charlie's close friend, yet divorcee. Just as former Spin City actor, Micheal Boatman, depicts the close or "best" friend and confidant to the main character. 





It's apparent that the first few episodes acted as a counter-action and not-so-subtle reference to the events of drama that occurred between the Two and a Half Men producer a few years ago. Soon after the airing of the first season, FX announced the show's continuation. Due to the show's success, 90 more episodes have been acquired according to several media sources. The second season airs this Thursday, January 17th on FX.




Update: Season Two
May, 2014

The second season does not live up to the expectations I had for it when I first wrote this review. After Selma Blair left the show, it really hasn't been the same. Blair's character was an essential aspect of the show, and anyone who has seen the major shifts and changes from the first season to the second will be able to notice how vital this character is as well. The absence of her character made the show seem as though it had no idea where it was going to go, how it was going to replace this character, and even the overall subject-matter. With the number of noticeable female character changes, the addition of another male character, and filtering out of past characters of whom I described above (the ex-wife, daughter, and friend/next-door neighbor), completely changed everything around, making audiences wonder, 'oh yeah, what happened to those characters?' In my opinion, Anger Management just seems to have taken an extreme, slightly misogynist downfall as the second season progresses especially without having an almost-feminist, intelligent female character (Blair) along with other prominent female characters (intelligent daughter character, easy-going ex-wife character) who help balance out the overly male character dynamic and their toxic masculine traits (the show increased in overt objectification of women, revolving the show even more around the idea of sex, etc).

Basically, I only slightly recommend the first season, you know, it times when there's nothing else on TV. Just be aware that the second doesn't at all complement the first, the characters, or any part of the show in general.

Here's an excerpt from Bowen of Slant Magazine that accurately critiques the second season:
"A sexist, racist, homophobic dinosaur in the age of daring and empathetic comedies such as Girls and Louie, Anger Management, whose 2012 debut was shrewdly timed to cash in on the latest speed bump in Charlie Sheen's career, revels in a glib mean-spiritedness. The first season was inhumane and all the more popular for it, so there was little hope that creator Bruce Helford and his writers would try to rise above their tabloid muck. The only, admittedly qualified, hope that one might bring to a second season is that it at least exhibit occasional cleverness in its ongoing smear campaign of everything that isn't Charlie Sheen."


Photos: Google Images

Ingredients


I've become so used to assembling in place of cooking that I forgot cooking could be simple and easy as well. The hardest part seems to be acquiring the needed ingredients for whatever dish or dessert that is desired for preparation.

Reason for the title: in case the cookies didn't turn out... they would end up as almost cookies. Thus, the name "or something like it" and the discussion of the movie Life or Something Like It.


Life or Something Like It

Angelina Jolie. Life or Something Like It. 20th Century Fox. 2002. Film Still.

I love seeing Angelina Jolie kicking ass in action films and conquering roles of mass drama as well. But I'm going to save that for another day. Instead, let's talk about Life-- or Something Like It.

Angelina Jolie. Life or Something Like It. 20th Century Fox. 2002. Film Still.

Although we don't see Angelina acting up an amazingly dramatic storm or kicking in the shins of some bad guy, we see her in a different, and dare I say, dainty feminine light. Jolie still plays a headstrong, leading woman who kicks ass but does so through her success as a news anchor. In short, the career-driven character audiences see is one that takes pride in how "perfect" her life appears and believes, which soon changes in worry after a short interview with street-psychic (Tony Shalhoub). Not to forget the question of happiness brought to attention by cameraman (Edward Burns), a co-worker of whom she had a history.

Angelina Jolie. Life or Something Like It. 20th Century Fox. 2002. Film Still.

Angelina Jolie. Life or Something Like It. 20th Century Fox. 2002. Film Still.

The major, most important theme of the film is about life and how we live it. The film sort of reflects a philosophical theory that we shouldn't only concentrate and work for the future since the present could easily be missed out on and instead, should take time to enjoy the present while being in the moment.  Though, it is still important to plan for the future, it just as important not be consumed by it. A lesson well-learned in the film. It's not the best movie, but it's the kind to watch on a weekend.





Vegan Oat-Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't really like the idea of baking, but I do like the idea of eating vegan cookies.

The original recipe can be found here, at vegangela.
I only slightly altered a few things when making mine for whatever different reasons and ended up making another type of cookie (white chocolate chip) for someone else using the same recipe --- they both turned out nice.

Also, you're going to have to excuse my bad-picture quality of photos. Again, I do not have a good camera.
Reason for not posting cookie photo on a plate, since the lighting was not good and the quality was also pretty bad. But the cookies were good- and that's what really matters.









 Another nice thing about vegan cookies, you can eat the dough.

This is probably one of my favorite characters bitingly depicted by Cameron Diaz. The "bad teacher" Elizabeth character is the complete opposite to those common typecast super sweet and nice, seen earlier in Diaz's career. Instead, she portrays an outrageous, self-serving, callus teacher with a sailor tongue-- and she does it well.

Cameron Diaz. Bad Teacher (2012). Movie Poster.

Although Diaz's character is labelled "bad," she's actually one of the most authentic characters in this movie (not including the foil characters). Sure, there's a whole list of inappropriate and raunchy and politically incorrect mannerisms from which the Elizabeth character does not refrain, but what's even more offsetting about other characters, specifically the antagonists: rival teacher Squirrel (Amy Punch) and Elizabeth's short-time interest played by Justin Timberlake, are even more problematic and politically incorrect.. Only these characters try to hide their "badness" with false personas that portray a false niceness and attempt to conceal their truly conniving selves. The characters who hide behind too nice, goody faces are the ones whose true colors are actually the worst, and whose scenes I didn't like nor find amusing (referring back to the political incorrectness). At least the Elizabeth character isn't always hiding behind a false persona.

Jason Segal. Cameron Diaz. Phylis Smith. Bad Teacher (2012).

Other characters include the hilarious Jason Segal and The Office's Phyllis Smith who both play the role of more "normal" characters that humorously counter Elizabeth's radical antics and biting comments. Their characters are also the most likable and well-received characters in the movie. In my opinion, Segal and Smith's characters should have had more screen-time, seeing from the fact that they are both more realistic, less crazy-weird, not offensive, and they are funnier. 

Cameron Diaz. Bad Teacher (2012). GIF.

Welcome to the Rileys (2010) is an independent drama with a deep, captivating cast and a storyline that uncomfortably unravels its characters in an intricate and obvious manner. It has a way of reflecting the reality that everyone has their own personal problems and own way of trying to cope with whatever those problems may be.

Kristen Stewart. Welcome to the Rileys. 2010. Film Still.

I have to say out of any of the Kristen Stewart films I have seen, this is the one that [in my opinion] proves Stewart's ability to conquer roles outside of those seemingly typecast to her personality and vary beyond a "comfort zone." Stewart embodies a character that is completely different from what most audiences might expect. Through observing the way this character was portrayed, the almost over-played, typecast-awkward persona dissolves. In this independent drama, Stewart portrays a misunderstood,too-often mistreated, rebellious, and quite vulgar runaway teenager of who dances to make ends meet.


Stewart is not the only actor seen in a different light, James Gandolfini also portrays a character that audiences would not expect. A character dealing with a severe loss, but of course does not openly express it. The wife, more dramatic on the other hand, subtly displayed by Melissa Leo, depicts a mother who becomes agoraphobic as a result of this loss. Leo and Gandolfini later begin to play the role of almost substitutional parental figures for Stewart but whether things remain that way, are a question.

Kristen Stewart. Welcome to the Riley. 2010. Film Still.

The story in and of itself helps to reveal the way in which people's problems or issues can quickly become noticed. When the collision of these three main characters comes into effect, the truth emerges along with it. Once emerged, the process of actually being able to solve and move on with life can begin, as opposed to denying and avoiding the problems and personal struggles that often occur in life. 

Another underlining theme in the film is the complex intersection of relationships and how new relationships can easily be affected by one's own personal and private past. This is something I'm sure audiences can relate to, which allows for it to be a leading factor that makes this film feel both slightly real and somehow familiar.


Photos/Images: Welcome to the Rileys. Samuel Goldwyn Films/Destination Films. 2010. Film.

For a while, I've been re-thinking and re-evaluating my diet; wanting to alter it by adding more fruits and vegetables, while taking in less prepackaged and processed foods. So I figure the in-between is always a good idea: less processed foods and more raw, real, whole, clean foods. And that's what I've been doing.



So the first makeshift recipe to reflect the slight change is a "sub" wrap.

Ingredients I like to use for assembling

• - Romaine lettuce
• - Spinach leaves
• - Tomato
• - Avocado
• - Sprouts (forgot)
• - Hummus
• - Spinach or tomato wrap/flatbread/pita bread/lettuce 
• (I use a variety of either depending on what I have at the time)

This mixture assemblage of hummus, avocado, lettuce, and tomato just makes the wrap taste more like a clean, veggie-filled sub sandwich. By the end of it, I always want another one but I always end up feeling way too full to eat another.  That's the power of vegetables and substantial, whole foods.

I highly recommend trying this if you have not already.  It's super easy, don't have to cook anything, and after putting a few vegetables together, it's ready to eat.


Took a lot of snapshots and couldn't decide which ones I liked better, so that's why there's so many photos.









My recent favorite food-related catch phrase:  Snack it. Wrap it. Dip it. Eat it!
'Eat it' is the one I say all the time.

For weeks, perhaps even months, I had been going on about how I hadn't seen any good action movies in a really long time... After seeing the latest Daniel Craig lead of Bond, SKYFALL, I can no longer say that.

Daniel Craig. Skyfall. Dir. Sam Mendez. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Columbia Pictures. 2012. Movie Poster.

Skyfall glazes over a series of various and often reoccurring themes. In the film, not only will the audience see a nearly 'falling hero' tragedy but also a background theme reflecting the notion that sometimes, it's nice to do things the old fashioned way. Another thing we see taking place is the relationship between M and 007, as well as a short look into both of their pasts.

With the explosive expansion of technology and technological advances in society, this is a common theme that has been addressed in several films recently. And Skyfall conveys the message by both embracing the technological advances while also exposing its darker side. The detrimental sides (for lack of better expression) of technology is depicted through a rogue agent, cleverly and brilliantly portrayed by the very versatile Javier Bardem. Soon after we meet Bardem's character, we see him bring up the Jason-Bourne-esque thought that reminds us of the famous "look at what they make you do" quote. Yet another theme that is not unlikely to see in such action films where a character is putting their life and everything they have on the line for their often self-sacrificing job.

Daniel Craig. Skyfall. Dir. Sam Mendez. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Columbia Pictures. 2012. Film Still.

SKYFALL is amazing. Within the first ten minutes, I'm sure audience members will find themselves saying something along lines of "I've never seen that in an action film before", a major issue audiences find with films, especially action. But with Skyfall, not only were the choreographic fight sequences fresh and engaging but the cinematography was also something new and symbolic. I don't recall ever seeing the artistic use of silhouette in an action film but the use of this now-cinematographic effect was beautiful as it relates to another underlying motif expressed within the film: "shadows." I will say the use of the term "Skyfall" reminds me of the proto-influential, Orson Wells' classic cult, Citizen Kane (1941) and the prominence of "Rosebud."

Moonrise Kingdom, a film gazing upon the young, insightful perspectives on life and adventure. Set in 1960's New England, this is a film you won't often see.

Moonrise Kingdom. Dir. Wes Anderson. Focus Features. 2012. Film Still/Poster.

"This is our land!" yell the two adventurous escapees as they proceed to dive into the waters from off a low cliff. One escapes ostracizing foster homes and scouts as the other rebels against seemingly absurd parental authority. It's any romantic's dream to run away from the places of distress with the one you love. Something of which these two adolescents put into action. Properly planned and scheduled, of course.

Moonrise Kingdom. Dir. Wes Anderson. Focus Features. 2012. Film Still.

This Wes Anderson creation is one that evokes a sixties feel and purge of interest through the music selection/score, dialogue, and overall cinematography. It's slightly comedic, a little dramatic, romantic and all- but mostly, it's a strange film (in the good way of course) in that these very articulate 12-year old characters act a lot like young adults. This is a cute, light, funny, little love story. It is a film I could, and have, watched over and over again.

The 1994 New Jersey located film that seems a little over-the-top "90s" but in the way to remind and evoke a feeling of the 90's-era nostalgia in its viewers - mostly those of us who, of course, were existing at some point in time during the 1990's. Clerks.

Kevin Smith. Clerks. Miramax Films. 1994. Hypbeast.com.

About a month ago I sort of had a Kevin Smith movie phase, watching most the films I haven't already seen including Chasing Amy and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which all started with two movies: Mallrats and Clerks (both shown to me by a roommate). All humorous and/or dramatic in different ways and among different subject matters but still related through the actors and references to previous films within the Kevin Smith film series. Smith's reference-related films usually showcase similar actors, some of whom have become very well-known like Ben Affleck and Jason Lee. Even a young Matt Damon can be seen making short cameos in some of these films. But when most audiences think of Kevin Smith films, they're reminded of the one that started it all, Clerks (1994).

Photo: Clerks. Kevin Smith. Miramax Films. 1994. Gothamist.com

The famous Kevin Smith film follows a loosely-related series of off-beat, yet still very on-beat characters in and around the location of a New Jersey gas station (where the whole independent production took place). Between the quick, smart, and seemingly philosophical conversations that bounce back and forth off the characters to the odd sense and feeling that comes from watching a work-of-art film, Clerks is "where it's at."  Shown and filmed entirely in black and white, only manages to add to the distinction and, possibly, nostalgia that eludes from screen.


The background behind this film, and films after, is very interesting. In other words, a lot more could be said and added to topic, but I think I'm just going to try to leave it short.