Movie Review: Spring Breakers

Spring Breakers (2013)

Cast: Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson and Vanessa Hudgens and some other people. (rolls eyes)

Writer and Director: Harmony Korine

Synopsis: Four childhood friends; now in campus would like to go for a spring-break vacation. They have been saving up for a while, but do not have enough money by the time spring break arrives. They decide to rob a restaurant for money for their spring-break trip.

 They get arrested at a party that was full of orgy-like tendencies drinking, despicable games, drugs and everything else you can imagine teenagers do in the name of having fun. Alien (James Franco) who is an underground rapper and drug dealer bails them out. Since they have no money on them, they have no choice but to follow the guy around.

Review: Never have I ever wanted to share my two cents on a movie so bad! What a waste of great talent, attention grabbing title (If that exists), and a whole 90 minutes. I first saw the trailer last year then forgot all about it until “spring break” Thing that drew me most into watching is Selena Gomez. God knows how much of a die-hard fan of hers I am. I figured, if Selena is featured it should be a good movie.

Thumbs up: Great movie title, Selena and Ashley. Good picture quality, okay music selection.

Thumbs down: Unnecessary elongated scenes, exaggerated effects, irrelevant speech, and lack of a story line.

Being In your 20's

If you are a keen follower of this blog (I hope there is someone else besides me) you have seen the feature on quarter life crisis I did a while back here. I found this on  This is Ess and thought id share. It has poetically expressed what I did and used a different approach which I kinda like.

Being in your twenties...

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start

realizing that there are many things about yourself that

you didn't know and may not like.You start feeling

insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two,

but then get scared because you barely know where you

are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that,

maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close

to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met,

and the people you have lost touch with are some of the

most important ones. What you don't recognize is that

they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty,

mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close to what

you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are

looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have

to start at the bottom and that scares you. Your opinions

have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and

find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly

you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life

and are constantly adding things to your list of what is

acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure

and then the next, secure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You

feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is

the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear

life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and

further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where

you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you

loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and

wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that

you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love

someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out

why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a

bad person. You want to settle down for good because

now all of a sudden that becomes top priority. Getting

wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.You

begin to think a companion for life is better than a

hundred in the shack and for once you would not mind

standing tall for that special someone which otherwise

you had never thought of until now.

You go through the same emotions and questions over

and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics

because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry

about loans, money, the future and making a life for

yourself... and while winning the race would be great,

right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that every one reading this

relates to it.We are in our best of times and our worst of

times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing

out. 

We call it the "Quarter-life Crisis".

Hope you enjoyed. 

Thank you

There’s always something to be thankful for and today I want is to be thankful for the year that God has let me see. It is not a guarantee that I’d see this day but He let me either way and that is what I call a blessing.

One person who never forgets my birthday is my father; it still leaves me tear-jerked, he called very early to wish me a happy birthday and I do not take that for granted.  He always thinks I’m groggy from crying (I was a cry baby most of the time he came to see me in boarding school back in Primary) whenever I sound like I’m asleep. Love you to bits pops, you are the best.

 I’d also like to be grateful for those who spared their time to be with me and those who made the effort to wish me a happy birthday indeed it has been a happy one.

To you reading this post, gracias; for stopping by, much appreciation.

Of Failure, Dreams and Works.

Another lot of hopeful candidates with valid dreams received their results this Monday. There are those who did great getting everyone marvelling at their excellence, the ones who got blinded with cameras on their grill and getting lifted shoulder high. They are the ones being used as a comparative in homes but hey, who wouldn't be proud? The future financial engineers, scientists et al.

However they are not the ones who caught my eye. I would like to talk about those who switched off their phones (if they have any) and slept hoping they would wake up to better results. Often, that’s when the wave of regret hits you. You are suddenly aware of the wasted years of worthless rebellion in the name of having fun and YOLO. Who knew it would shut so many doors, right?

Surely the Lord works in mysterious ways. The news was however shadowed with Lupita fever which I’d call a blessing in disguise in this case. The looming vibe after The Academy Awards seems to be discouraging dumping books and following dreams. It is a good thing to have dreams; I mean what would we be and where would some of us be if not for them? There has to be strategy and approach to it than the dream itself. It is all in the planning because if you are beaten down seven times you get up eight and that is exactly what we need to recognize and emphasize whichever career path we choose.

Lupita was in college furthering her studies and was three weeks shy of graduating. Got that? She did not drop out of school or just sit and wait. She was also featured in Shuga 1 among other projects and she was good at what she did. She was not fixed because she knew people who knew people but she did show up to grab the opportunities.

 What people on the outside don’t see in the glam, prestige and victory is the amount of time, toil, resilience and passion invested. If we want to be something, and that includes anything legit, we need not sit and tweak our dreams all day legs thrown up in the air. Working tirelessly and not losing the focus on the prize has to be the ritual you subscribe to in that journey. Funny thing is, she said she did not grow up watching the Academy Awards, meaning her drive came from zeal and success, not fame thirst. 

She turned 31 on 1^st of March just so you know. She did not feel too old to chase her dream neither did she let it take a back seat because she is from Africa. so hey, wherever you are from,your dreams are still valid; if you work for them.

The Pride of Kenya.

Anyone on social media can tell you how flooded their timelines are with Lupita News. I am one of those people who are thrilled that a Kenyan girl (forget where she was born) and #teamDarkSkin to be precise bagged that golden statue against big names like Jennifer Lawrence et al. 

Lupita Showing off her statue on stage.

Lupita Nyong'o  bagged herself the first Academy Award for best supporting actress in her role as Patsey in 12 Years a slave, She has taken  home the same award at the Screen Actors Guild awards which I hear is like a Mini-Oscar accolade. She has also won the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. Award for the role, as well as a number of regional tributes from critics in Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Phoenix and I think it is allowed if we lose count there. Nyong'o was three weeks shy of graduating from Yale Drama School when she was cast by McQueen.

A toon version of our girl stunning in Nairobi Blue baby!!!

I heard it on radio when I was leaving the house in the morning. Actually I was very excited I half expected someone to spring out of nowhere in traffic and entertain us with a happy dance. It could not be me since I am not as brave as our Sirkal brothers but still I would've loved to see something, anything. A flash-mob even. Don't mind me, I watch too many movies.

Everyone  was wishing her the best before the show commenced but the one that stood out for me was Mr. President getting in touch with the youngins in all the fields of work.  This is a summary of what he put up on the presidential website “Lupita’s accomplishment testifies not only to her stupendous talent, but also determination and a willingness to go that extra mile which success unfailingly demands. It is our intention that Lupita becomes the first of an endless line of Oscar nominees and winners from Africa and Kenya. I therefore wish Lupita and her proud family all the best tonight. May this be the beginning of many splendid achievements.”

Her acceptance speech was tear-jerking and I will not apologize for getting carried away with the wave of emotion in her tone (and isn’t she eloquent). “Thank you to the Academy for this incredible recognition. It doesn’t escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else’s. And so I want to salute the spirit of Patsey for her guidance. And for Solomon, thank you for telling her story and your own. When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid.”

I am forever inspired as a village girl myself to aim higher and one thing I this whole thing today affirms us of is the golden statue doesn’t discriminate and so does success. The people who toil for their dreams eventually have their big breaks and this is more of a ticket straight to the glitz and glam.

Your faith is in your ability to succeed; hard-work and humility will take you places. Truly Lupitas dreams were valid and she made them a reality by going for what she believes in.  *insertLuoAccent* #Giniwasekao!!! Thoo!

Doing the  happy dance  with Pharell  during his Performance.

And a collection of what Lupita wore on the red carpet over time.