Lately I cannot get enough of this recipe, and I've had it for breakfast three days in a row now. Not only is it a tasty recipe, but it's healthy, filling and extremely quick and easy to make as well. So give this oatmeal a try and let me know what you think!
Cinnamon Bun Oatmeal:
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup instant oats
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon 100% pure maple syrup
1 ripe banana
1. Begin by heating the water over high heat until it comes to a boil. Stir in the salt and the oats and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until most of the water has evaporated.
2. Add the cinnamon and maple syrup to the oats, and stir thoroughly to combine. Continue to cook on low heat until the oatmeal is the perfect consistency.
3. Once the oatmeal is cooked to your liking, turn the heat off and thinly slice the banana. Add the slices to the oatmeal and stir gently to combine.
4. Finally, pour the oatmeal into a serving bowl, let cool a few minutes, and enjoy with your favorite cup of tea or coffee!
Serves: 1
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Notes: as the banana gives this recipe a natural sweetness, you may not need to add a lot, if any, of the maple syrup. I just like things on the sweeter side, so that's why I add it to mine.
I also am a huge cinnamon lover and I probably add well over 1/2 a teaspoon of the spice to my oatmeal. So feel free to add more if you feel that your oatmeal needs more flavor.
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Movie Review: Still Alice
I recently watched the 2014 film called Still Alice, starring Julianne Moore in the title role. My overall opinion on this movie after watching it was that it was pretty good; not outstanding by any means, but none the less a really well-made motion picture that was enjoyable to watch on screen.
First, I'll give a quick summation as to what exactly Still Alice is about. The main character, Alice Howland, is a linguistics professor at a college and prides herself in her intellect and intelligence. After getting diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease, her life undergoes a massive change as her and her entire family cope with her developing illness.
I found the storyline of this movie to be really good, and I think that it paints a good picture of the struggles related with Alzheimer's disease. I felt that the directors, Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, did a very thorough job of broaching not only Alice's mental decline but also the profound effects that this has on her life and family. It was a very real and believable movie that I felt was very sincere.
I would say that the main problem I have with Still Alice lies in the acting. This issue certainly is not pertaining to Moore's acting, as she pulled off the character of Alice seemingly flawlessly. I also thought that Alec Baldwin, who plays Alice's husband in the film, did a good job portraying a man who is slowly losing the wife that he once knew. The main issue for me lies in the character of Alice's daughter Lydia, played by Kristen Stewart, and the mother-daughter relationship between them. I didn't feel a genuine connection, and especially felt that Stewart's portrayal of Lydia lacked the appropriate level of emotion that was required for the role. I'm not saying that Kristen Stewart should have portrayed a daughter hysterical with grief to the point of being unbelievable, but I didn't get any sense of emotion from her whatsoever throughout the entirety of Still Alice. There just seemed to be something lacking, and the character Lydia and her relationship with her mother Alice never blossomed into anything special on screen for me.
So in conclusion, I feel that Still Alice does have some very strong points, particularly with the way that the storyline was handled and in Julianne Moore's acting. But the movie as a whole, despite being touching to watch, was relatively unremarkable in my opinion. I probably would recommend this movie to anyone that typically enjoys dramas, and perhaps some will find this movie more profound than I did.
First, I'll give a quick summation as to what exactly Still Alice is about. The main character, Alice Howland, is a linguistics professor at a college and prides herself in her intellect and intelligence. After getting diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease, her life undergoes a massive change as her and her entire family cope with her developing illness.
I found the storyline of this movie to be really good, and I think that it paints a good picture of the struggles related with Alzheimer's disease. I felt that the directors, Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, did a very thorough job of broaching not only Alice's mental decline but also the profound effects that this has on her life and family. It was a very real and believable movie that I felt was very sincere.
I would say that the main problem I have with Still Alice lies in the acting. This issue certainly is not pertaining to Moore's acting, as she pulled off the character of Alice seemingly flawlessly. I also thought that Alec Baldwin, who plays Alice's husband in the film, did a good job portraying a man who is slowly losing the wife that he once knew. The main issue for me lies in the character of Alice's daughter Lydia, played by Kristen Stewart, and the mother-daughter relationship between them. I didn't feel a genuine connection, and especially felt that Stewart's portrayal of Lydia lacked the appropriate level of emotion that was required for the role. I'm not saying that Kristen Stewart should have portrayed a daughter hysterical with grief to the point of being unbelievable, but I didn't get any sense of emotion from her whatsoever throughout the entirety of Still Alice. There just seemed to be something lacking, and the character Lydia and her relationship with her mother Alice never blossomed into anything special on screen for me.
So in conclusion, I feel that Still Alice does have some very strong points, particularly with the way that the storyline was handled and in Julianne Moore's acting. But the movie as a whole, despite being touching to watch, was relatively unremarkable in my opinion. I probably would recommend this movie to anyone that typically enjoys dramas, and perhaps some will find this movie more profound than I did.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 101 minutes
Release Date: December 5, 2014
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
Thursday, January 1, 2015
The Best And Worst Movies Of 2014
Well, I guess it's that time of year for me to yet again sum up my favorite and least favorite movies for 2014. This isn't a new tradition, as I've ranked movies at the end of the year several times before. However, it seems like my lists change every year, as in 2012 I only did my top 10 favorite movies and in 2013 I did my top 10 and bottom 5. But this year I wanted to change it up again and I felt like my favorite 3 and least favorite 3 movies would make a well-rounded list. Overall, I feel like this year has been pretty solid in the movie department. There weren't a lot of terrible movies that I saw, but there also weren't many outstanding movies either. However, a few did stand out to me on either side of the spectrum. I also want to add that all of the movies that I evaluated for my list this year were both released in 2014 and watched by me in 2014. Enjoy, and tell me what your favorite and least favorite movies of 2014 were.
BEST MOVIES OF 2014:
1. Interstellar:
Overall, I really enjoyed Interstellar and I feel like it brought not only great directing, acting, screenwriting and visuals to the table, but also had an outstanding soundtrack. I had some minor issues with this film (which I won't elaborate on as this isn't a review for Interstellar), but the high points exceedingly outshone any negative aspects about this film, and ultimately this is why I chose it as my favorite movie of 2014.
My Rating: ★★★★☆
2. Nightcrawler:
The crime thriller Nightcrawler "crawled" its way to number two on my favorite movies list for this year. I wasn't expecting much from this movie, but maybe that's why I enjoyed it as much as I did. It's certainly a dark film, but is pulled off with the perfect combination of elements. Overall, I was very impressed with the acting on Gyllenhaal's part, and also the atmosphere that Nightcrawler evoked. These are the reasons why it's one of my favorite films of 2014. (Read my movie review for Nightcrawler here).
My Rating: ★★★★☆
3. Lucy:
The 2014 science fiction film Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman, landed in third place on my list for the best movies of 2014. I thought that this movie had a fast-paced, unique and very intriguing plot that I had never seen before, and it held my attention from beginning to end. I will admit that this movie did not have it all; certain parts of it were a little over-the-top. However, to me this does not overrun the many aspects about Lucy that I really enjoyed, and so it is my 3rd place pick for the best movies of 2014.
My Rating: ★★★★☆
WORST MOVIES OF 2014:
1. Divergent:
What can I say about this film, other than predictable. Having never read the series of books that the film Divergent is based on, I had no preconceived notions about this movie. But between the easily predictable plot from beginning to end, poor acting, and cookie cutter character relationships that I have seen all too much of in many movies recently, Divergent left me sorely disappointed. Ultimately it was, in my opinion, the worst movie that I saw all year. (Read my movie review for Divergent here).
My Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
2. Men, Women & Children:
I wanted this movie to be good, but boy did it let me down big time. This movie was simply too messy, and what could have been a solid concept for a film was over-complicated. There were too many different storylines going on for there to be any real substance, and in addition I found all of the storylines to be overdramatic and unrealistic. Ultimately, director Jason Reitman took what could have been a great movie and bogged it down with too much drama, landing this movie at number two for my worst films of 2014.
My Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
3. Heaven Is For Real:
This movie wasn't entirely bad and did have some positive elements. But with this being said, its plot lacked the anchor that it desperately needed to really pull the audience in. It also didn't help that throughout the length of Heaven Is For Real, I kept feeling like religion was being shoved too far down my throat. I feel like the religious part of the film could have been handled in a different way that would have made it much more enjoyable to watch. This is why Heaven Is For Real is one of my least favorite movies of 2014.
My Rating: ★★☆☆☆
BEST MOVIES OF 2014:
Overall, I really enjoyed Interstellar and I feel like it brought not only great directing, acting, screenwriting and visuals to the table, but also had an outstanding soundtrack. I had some minor issues with this film (which I won't elaborate on as this isn't a review for Interstellar), but the high points exceedingly outshone any negative aspects about this film, and ultimately this is why I chose it as my favorite movie of 2014.
My Rating: ★★★★☆
The crime thriller Nightcrawler "crawled" its way to number two on my favorite movies list for this year. I wasn't expecting much from this movie, but maybe that's why I enjoyed it as much as I did. It's certainly a dark film, but is pulled off with the perfect combination of elements. Overall, I was very impressed with the acting on Gyllenhaal's part, and also the atmosphere that Nightcrawler evoked. These are the reasons why it's one of my favorite films of 2014. (Read my movie review for Nightcrawler here).
My Rating: ★★★★☆
The 2014 science fiction film Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman, landed in third place on my list for the best movies of 2014. I thought that this movie had a fast-paced, unique and very intriguing plot that I had never seen before, and it held my attention from beginning to end. I will admit that this movie did not have it all; certain parts of it were a little over-the-top. However, to me this does not overrun the many aspects about Lucy that I really enjoyed, and so it is my 3rd place pick for the best movies of 2014.
My Rating: ★★★★☆
WORST MOVIES OF 2014:
What can I say about this film, other than predictable. Having never read the series of books that the film Divergent is based on, I had no preconceived notions about this movie. But between the easily predictable plot from beginning to end, poor acting, and cookie cutter character relationships that I have seen all too much of in many movies recently, Divergent left me sorely disappointed. Ultimately it was, in my opinion, the worst movie that I saw all year. (Read my movie review for Divergent here).
My Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
I wanted this movie to be good, but boy did it let me down big time. This movie was simply too messy, and what could have been a solid concept for a film was over-complicated. There were too many different storylines going on for there to be any real substance, and in addition I found all of the storylines to be overdramatic and unrealistic. Ultimately, director Jason Reitman took what could have been a great movie and bogged it down with too much drama, landing this movie at number two for my worst films of 2014.
My Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
This movie wasn't entirely bad and did have some positive elements. But with this being said, its plot lacked the anchor that it desperately needed to really pull the audience in. It also didn't help that throughout the length of Heaven Is For Real, I kept feeling like religion was being shoved too far down my throat. I feel like the religious part of the film could have been handled in a different way that would have made it much more enjoyable to watch. This is why Heaven Is For Real is one of my least favorite movies of 2014.
My Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Movie Review: Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler was truly a movie that took me by surprise. In viewing the trailer for this film, it was honestly not a movie that appealed to me all that much, and I originally had no intention of watching it. But on one boring night with nothing better to do, I opted to watch Nightcrawler for some random reason and was quite pleasantly surprised with the film overall.
Nightcrawler follows the story of Louis Bloom who is looking for a job. Upon witnessing a car accident one night and seeing a news crew turn up to record the action, he eventually works his way into the cutthroat crime journalism industry. Becoming caught up in being the best in the business, Bloom walks the fine line between reporting and perpetuating the crimes that bolster his paycheck.
The movie itself is fast and precise, just like its lead character. There's no off-shooting storylines that weigh this movie down. I think this is largely why I enjoyed it, because I quickly got swept up in both the plot and the character of Lou Bloom and his brash way of operating. I actually had apprehensions about Jake Gyllenhaal playing the lead in this movie, as in my opinion some of his other characters have been somewhat overacted (namely Detective Loki in the 2013 film Prisoners). However, I found his portrayal of Lou Bloom in Nightcrawler to be a good mix of believable, idiosyncratic, and unhinged to the perfect degree.
The one negative aspect that I felt pulled this movie down a bit was the relationship between Lou Bloom and Nina, the news director that buys his footage. I found it to be bizarre and slightly off-putting in a way that's hard to explain. I can see the vision that Dan Gilroy (writer and director) had for this part of the storyline, but it was nonetheless an element of Nightcrawler that didn't seem to mesh correctly with the rest of the movie.
Overall, if you typically enjoy thrillers and crime movies and can stomach seeing some blood and gore, I would recommend seeing this movie. It's not a film that I would proclaim to be amazing, but it is certainly worthy of any award nominations that it receives and is worth a watch.
Nightcrawler follows the story of Louis Bloom who is looking for a job. Upon witnessing a car accident one night and seeing a news crew turn up to record the action, he eventually works his way into the cutthroat crime journalism industry. Becoming caught up in being the best in the business, Bloom walks the fine line between reporting and perpetuating the crimes that bolster his paycheck.
The movie itself is fast and precise, just like its lead character. There's no off-shooting storylines that weigh this movie down. I think this is largely why I enjoyed it, because I quickly got swept up in both the plot and the character of Lou Bloom and his brash way of operating. I actually had apprehensions about Jake Gyllenhaal playing the lead in this movie, as in my opinion some of his other characters have been somewhat overacted (namely Detective Loki in the 2013 film Prisoners). However, I found his portrayal of Lou Bloom in Nightcrawler to be a good mix of believable, idiosyncratic, and unhinged to the perfect degree.
The one negative aspect that I felt pulled this movie down a bit was the relationship between Lou Bloom and Nina, the news director that buys his footage. I found it to be bizarre and slightly off-putting in a way that's hard to explain. I can see the vision that Dan Gilroy (writer and director) had for this part of the storyline, but it was nonetheless an element of Nightcrawler that didn't seem to mesh correctly with the rest of the movie.
Overall, if you typically enjoy thrillers and crime movies and can stomach seeing some blood and gore, I would recommend seeing this movie. It's not a film that I would proclaim to be amazing, but it is certainly worthy of any award nominations that it receives and is worth a watch.
Rating: R
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
Run Time: 117 minutes
Release Date: October 31, 2014
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Friday, December 12, 2014
Album Review: Goddess
I decided to do yet another album review here on my blog, and this one is for the album called Goddess by the singer Banks. This is her debut album, and overall I am enjoying what I've heard from her so far.
All of the songs on Goddess have a very smooth-sounding quality to them, with a combination of both electronic and R&B influences. I feel that this style of music that Banks has created for herself is a good mix of the electronic sound that dominates many popular songs today, but is balanced out well by the use of more soulful and slower R&B. It's the kind of music that one can slowly fall asleep to at night, due to it's slow and methodical qualities.
But despite the album's calm and soothing sound, the lyrics that Banks applies to her melodies on Goddess pull the songs down to a, for lack of a better word, depressing place. This is the one aspect of this album that I dislike somewhat, as its seemingly dulcet exterior gives way to woeful lyrical themes. In other words, listening to this album will not necessarily put you in your happy place.
Putting this one negative aside however, overall I have enjoyed the majority of the tracks on Goddess. I think that Banks is one musician to keep our eyes (and ears) out for in upcoming years, as I see a lot of potential in her debut album Goddess.
All of the songs on Goddess have a very smooth-sounding quality to them, with a combination of both electronic and R&B influences. I feel that this style of music that Banks has created for herself is a good mix of the electronic sound that dominates many popular songs today, but is balanced out well by the use of more soulful and slower R&B. It's the kind of music that one can slowly fall asleep to at night, due to it's slow and methodical qualities.
But despite the album's calm and soothing sound, the lyrics that Banks applies to her melodies on Goddess pull the songs down to a, for lack of a better word, depressing place. This is the one aspect of this album that I dislike somewhat, as its seemingly dulcet exterior gives way to woeful lyrical themes. In other words, listening to this album will not necessarily put you in your happy place.
Putting this one negative aside however, overall I have enjoyed the majority of the tracks on Goddess. I think that Banks is one musician to keep our eyes (and ears) out for in upcoming years, as I see a lot of potential in her debut album Goddess.
Artist: Banks
Genre: Electronica/R&B/trip hop
Number of Songs: 14 (plus 4 bonus tracks)
Release Date: September 5, 2014
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
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