Shadowhunters Recap - "Dead Man's Party" (S01E03)

 This episode was all about saving Simon.

Clary asks the Shadowhunters to trust her with this mission and she reminds them that they're at fault for leaving Simon alone. As they make a plan, Jace points out that the vamps started this by kidnapping a mundane, which violates the Accords so technically they're doing their jobs. Alec isn't too sure about this. They devise a plan to sneak out of The Institute and to get weapons without Hodge knowing.

The group goes to a cemetery and Clary is very confused. They explain that they can find weapons at any religious place because all religions believe in demons-or they used to at least. Apparently the Shadowhunters are too good at their job. Isabelle gets a text from a Seelie (faerie) named Meliorn who she has had a fling with. She lets the group know that she's going to go get intel on the vamps from him and leaves. Clary, Jace, and Alec keep looking around. Alec tries to talk to Jace about why he is trusting Clary and if this is a good idea. Jace asks Alec to trust him and that should be enough. Jace is clearly getting annoyed with Alec. Clary finds the grave they were looking for, and the guys remove the stone. Inside the casket is full of weapons. Clary pulls out a seraph blade and Alec tells her she should put it away before she hurts someone. They have an exchange until Jace steps in and says he will teach her. There are no arrows in the casket so Alec says he is going to sneak back into The Institute to get some. Before he leaves, he and Jace apologize and he calls Jace his "parabatai" and leaves.

Jace and Clary talk and she complains that Alec doesn't like her. Jace assures her that Alec doesn't like anyone. She asks how he knows they'll come back and he says the Lightwoods are basically his siblings, they'll come back. He also says that Alec is his Parabatai and he explains to her that a parabatai is a pair of warriors who fight together as lifelong partners and who share a heart during battle. If one of them dies, then a piece of the other one will die. He knows Alec will be back. In a rewarding "Clace" moment, Jace helps Clary with the seraph blade and they both look like they enjoyed the closeness. Clary looked like she wanted to kiss him. They leave the cemetery and head to the Hotel Durmot where the vamps live.

Simon is freaking out about being held captive and keeps trying to talk his way out of it, but Raphael won't budge. He brings him to Camille who seems to be in charge. She keeps entrancing Simon and making out with him and feeding him blood. He acts as if he's high or drunk, it's crazy.

Meanwhile, Isabelle meets with Meliorn to get the information she needs and they have sex. She gets her information and leaves to find her brother. Alec is getting his arrows when Hodge comes in. He tells him he doesn't want to know what he's doing, but tells him to think for himself. He doesn't like that Clary is Valentine's daughter and thinks there is an issue. He also reminds Alec not to be in another's shadow like he was. Alec and Izzy enter the hotel through the service entrance and serve as the distraction. Izzy talks with Alec and hints at him being himself. They run into vamps and take them down like complete bosses.

Jace and Clary go to a bar and he points out a vampire and tells Clary to go compliment his bike. She does it and he puts her under a spell so she is entranced by him. Jace intervenes and grabs the keys and Clary and they take off. He shows her that the bike actually flies, so they ride/fly to the hotel. They get in and run into vamps so they begin to fight. The bar vamp shows up and he's pissed at Clary so he attacks her, she almost fights him off until he grabs her and threatens to kill her when Izzy and Alec enter. Alec looks like he could care less and shoots out the window behind him, letting the sun in so Clary escapes and kills the vampire.

Raphael tells Camille she is too valuable and has to get out so she flees. They hunters find Simon and Raphael has a knife to his throat. He yells at them to go out the door or he'll kill Simon. They lower their weapons and do as their told, Jace has to keep pushing Clary along thorugh the tight hallway as she fights to get back to Simon. Raphael yells at them to open the door when they reach one, reluctantly they do and realize he lead them to the roof. He pushes Simon after them and yells to Jace to remember who his real friends are.

Once they're on the roof, Clary hugs Simon and they share a moment which Jace looks pissed about. Clary shares how scared she was that she had lost him and he promised that he's not going anywhere. She tells him that she needs him in her life and they hold each other. Alec starts in to Jace again about Clary and Jace is pissed. Alec won't stop until Jace yells at him. Alec tells him he's not in his shadow and leaves. Izzy looks confused and Jace just stares at Clary. Simon also stares at her, but he can't stop focusing on her vein...

Pretty Little Liars Recap - "Charlotte's Web" (S06E12)

After the funeral, Aria decides to head back to Boston, claiming that her boss is making her go back. Before she leaves the hotel, Hanna asks her why she left the night Charlotte was murdered and Aria plays dumb. Hanna says she saw her leave around 3 AM and tried to wait up but Aria didn't come back. Aria lied and said she was getting something from her car. The girls are a little suspicious.
Before Aria leaves, she stops to see Ezra and tells him that they didn't see each other the night Charlotte died then she leaves.

Hanna is surprised by her fiance Jordan (who is really hot and has an accent) and she seems genuinely happy. Spencer feels like she is going to ruin her mother's senatorial campaign when someone online tries to connect Spencer to Charlotte's murder. Ali sees Sara Harvey leave the police station and Lorenzo tells her that she isn't a suspect because her hands are so severely burned that she couldn't have killed Charlotte. He reveals her neck was broken before she was thrown from the tower. He asks Ali if she thinks any of her friends have anything to do with Charlotte's death and she says no. They find out that Charlotte's finger nails where cleaned and she was given the flowers to make it look like a suicide.

Spencer freaks out to Caleb because in college she wrote about a criminal case in which the bride was killed in the same way. She's afraid this will come out and someone will try to frame her for Charlotte's death. Caleb insists that won't happen. Emily's mom tries to get her to go to the cemetery with her to see her dad's grave, but she refuses to go and says Ali really needs her.

Aria is back at work and we finally meet Liam. After a meeting, her boss wants to know why Aria didn't get through to Ezra and why he is thinking about giving their advance back. She's not happy and assigns Liam to be in charge. Aria and Liam try to fight it, but they can't.

Ali invites the girls to her house for dinner and they agree to come. Emily is at Hollis Medical Center getting blood work done and we find out she has some kind of medical issue, possibly cancer. She finds out she is supposed to do treatment in one place, and that she should stay in Rosewood for a month. She agrees and then tries to leave, but her credit card is denied. The woman who runs the Brew recognizes her and covers her fee. She asks her not to mention that she saw her to anyone, especially not her mom.

Later Emily and her mom are at the Brew and her mom sees an alert pop up for Hollis Medical Center, she questions Emily who says she is applying for a job. Emily sees Aria sneaking up the stairs. Aria tries to talk to Ezra about the book and he says he has a draft of it. She asks if he went home after she went to the hotel and he says yes, but she thinks he's lying.

Jordan and Caleb finally meet and everything is calm. Ali says grace and asks God to bring the person responsible for her sister's death forward and stares Hanna down while they eat. Hanna tells the girls about Aria and they end up watching the security footage. The know Charlotte was killed around 4 AM and they see Aria meet Ezra at the hotel lobby. They leave and Aria returns alone around 4:30 AM. They decide they need to talk to Aria. They find her at her house and confront her. Aria tells them that Ezra came to see her because she couldn't sleep that night so they went for a walk to find an open pizza place. When they were about to head back, they saw Charlotte and Aria was scared but Ezra seemed angry. He sent her back to the hotel and claimed he returned home but Aria thinks he is lying. Now the girls think Ezra did it, and Spencer tells them about her paper that she had Ezra look over. No one knows what to do.

Hanna erases the security footage for Aria. Spencer helps Caleb settle into the barn and tells him she's glad he's staying to help with her mom's campaign. Emily is crying/confessing to her father's headstone when she looks over and sees Sara Harvey. Emily takes off running.

Shadowhunters Recap - "The Descent Into Hell Isn't Easy" (S01E02)

Clary decides to trust Jace, so she brings Simon inside The Institute with her and Jace. Simon is amazed when it is de-glamourized and asks what is going on. Alec is annoyed that a mundane is in The Institute and demands to know why Jace brought him there. He says that another Circle member followed Simon to get to Clary so he had to kill him. None of them know much about the Circle, other than it was really bad and it has been wiped from their history. Jace has an idea about who they can talk to about it. Isabelle introduces herself to Simon and Jace tells him to stay where he is or the runes will kill him. He takes Clary with him to the training room and Izzy promises to watch the mundane. She says she is making breakfast and Jace makes a remark about the food being deadly.

Clary follows Jace and is introduced to Hodge, their trainer and former Circle member. He tries to tell them about it, but the Clave has given him a rune that burns whenever he mentions the Circle or it's leader Valentine. He tries to give them some information, but is constantly burned. Clary feels bad and doesn't want to push Hodge but he tells her that he did know her mother and her mother is in danger if Valentine has her. Jace and Clary leave and he asks her to think about her mom and the Mortal Cup. He tells them that the Circle is no longer together and Valentine is dead. Jace explains that the Mortal Cup has the power to make more Shadowhunters, but in the wrong hand it can control demons so it is very dangerous. Clary insists that whenever she tries to think about it, her mind is blank basically black. Jace is convinced that her memories have been wiped. He says a warlock could have done it and described a warlock for Clary. Clary realized Dot was a warlock and that they need to find her.

Dot meets with Luke who is cleaning up the remaining items in Clary's room and taking them with him. Dot says she sent Clary to him at the police station through the portal, but Luke insists she was never there. Dot searches for Clary and goes to Pandemonium to find Magnus Bane, a very powerful warlock. Magnus is getting warlocks through a portal when she shows up and he tells her that she is being foolish and that she should come with him otherwise Valentine's men will capture her and kill her. He is hunting down all of the warlocks trying to find whichever one put Jocelyn into her magical coma. Dot refuses and says that Clary needs her so she goes searching for her.

Clary and Isabelle talk in her room while Isabelle gets her something else to wear. Clary brings up Jace and Izzy makes it clear that Jace is basically her brother. They have a bit of a pep talk and Izzy reminds her that she is born a Shadowhunter and she can do anything. Izzy also shares that she thinks Simon is "nerd hot" and Clary clearly doesn't know how to feel about that.

While trying to figure out what to do, Clary grabs the necklace her mother gave her, then sees Dot running into Pandemonium. She tells everyone that she thinks she knows where to find Dot and takes off towards Pandemonium. When they arrive, the place is empty. Clary touches her necklace again and sees Dot being taken from the alley so she runs to try and help her but she is too late.

Jace tells the rest of the group what he thinks and suggests bringing Clary to the Silent brothers in the City of Bones. Isabelle and Alec protest, citing how creepy the Brothers are but Jace insists he isn't afraid of them.They get some weapons and Simon drives them to a creepy area. Jace tells Clary to wait by the van so he can make sure it's safe.

The shadowhunters check it out while Simon and Clary wait. Alec demands to know why Jace is going so far to help this girl he just met. Jace replies that she has lost everything and he knows how that feels, and he wants to help. Clary and Simon follow the hunters to the opening of what looks like a cave. Jace tells them that Simon has to stay, or he'll die upon entering. Izzy offers to sit with him as she's creeped out by the Brothers. Jace tells Clary that she will have a bone drilled into her head and that she will be in excruciating pain while it's happening. He also warns her that if she isn't strong enough, then she will die. Clary insists that she doesn't care what it takes, she will do anything to get her mother back. Simon reminds her that she's "Clary freaking Fray and you can do anything." With that, she and Jace make their descent into the City of Bones.

Jace takes out his witchlight to give them some light to walk by, and they stop and admire the statue of the Angel holding the Mortal Cup. Jace shares with her the creed of the Shadowhunters, "For Shadowhunters the descent into hell isn't easy." Clary asks him if his dad is buried in here and Jace says no because he was a Circle member. Clary is shocked to here that and Jace says that he spent the rest of his life trying to make up for what he did but because he was a Circle member, he forfeited the honor of being buried in the City of Bones. Clary feels bad and tells Jace she's sorry, and he laughs telling her that "it's cute you assume I have feelings." He leads her to the Silent Brothers and she stands in the middle of the circle. The Brothers reveal their terrifying stitched up faces and Brother Jeremiah brings the drill down on Clary's head. We're taken to a flashback where Clary is pretending to be asleep and over hears her mom and Luke talking. Luke is trying to convince Jocelyn that Clary needs to know about Shadowhunters and what she is. Jocelyn insists that she never wants Clary to find out that Valentine is her father.

Clary is incredibly freaked out and Jace is concerned. He asks what she saw, and she reveals that Valentine is her father and then she runs out of the City of Bones. Meanwhile, Simon and Izzy went to the van because Alec was going to lose it on Simon. They hear something so Izzy tells Simon to stay in the van while she checks it out and he is kidnapped by something. When Clary and Jace come out, Alec is waiting for them. They tell him what happened and that Valentine is her father. Alec says it's awfully suspicious that Valentine's daughter shows up out of the blue and Jace tells him to knock it off. Clary is really upset and then asks where Simon and Isabelle are. Izzy shows up and says Simon is gone, and she can't find him. Clary freaks out and runs to look for him, and Jace is annoyed that the mundane got himself into a situation. They here someone yelling and look up under the high bridge to see 2 vampires, 1 of them is holding Simon over the edge. The other vampire calls down to them and tells them to bring the children of the night the Mortal Cup or they'll kill the human. Jace offers to kill them right now, but Alec says that violates the Accords (these are basically peace treaty rules).

Pretty Little Liars Recap - "Of Late I Think of Rosewood" (S06E11)

Wow a lot can happen in 5 years. I almost don't know where to start.

Ali is teaching English at Rosewood High.
Aria is working for a publishing company, dating a coworker (Liam), and her company is Ezra's publisher.
Hanna travels around the world for her work in the fashion industry and she is engaged to, wait for it, NOT Caleb but a guy named Jordan.
Spencer works in Washington D.C., she basically works for a lobbyist and no she and Toby are not together.
Emily is...working at a bar. Apparently she lost her father in the 5 year time span.

Ali has sent out the distress signal to all of the girls, who are already being court mandated to return to Rosewood, because Charlotte/CeCe/A is up for release from the mental institution she's in. Ali thinks she can live a happy life and she begs the girls to lie to the Judge and say they would still feel safe if Charlotte was released. They all agree that none of them would feel safe, but they aren't sure what to do.

Spencer goes to visit Toby and Spencer's mom is running for government so Spencer joins her at a rally where she runs into Mona who asks her if she still has nightmares because she does. Spencer tries to shrug it off. Emily spends some time with her mom. Aria finds out from her dad that Ezra is back in town and living above The Brew. Apparently he went with Nicole to work with Habitat for Humanity and while they were working in South America, Nicole was kidnapped by rebels and presumed dead. Aria visits Ezra who is clearly a mess and he insists she's alive. Hanna visits her mom at her new hotel - The Radley aka Radley Sanitarium. Yup, you read that right. Ms. Marin revamped the sanitarium into a stylish hotel.

The girls all meet before the judge and every one lies, except for Aria. Aria tells a chilling story to further her point that she would not feel safe with Charlotte free. Every Liar lied once again because Ali asked to, except Aria.

The girls all meet at the hotel for drinks and find out that Charlotte has been released. Spencer confesses that the reason she lied was because she didn't think the Judge would set her free no matter what they said. The girls get drunk and end up staying at the hotel with Hanna.

Charlotte comes home to Ali who is waiting for her with beautiful flowers. In the morning, Ali calls Hanna asking if any of them have seen Charlotte, saying that she is missing. The girls agree that they haven't seen her. Charlotte's body is found outside of the church with Ali's flowers in her hand, and it appears as though she jumped from the bell tower. Toby and Lorenzo who is now a detective find her. Ali is devastated and Charlotte's doctor, Dr. Rollins blames himself and apologizes. He asks Emily to stay with Ali. Caleb surprises Hanna at her hotel room, asking her how she is doing with everything that is happening. He mentions Spencer and Hanna is obviously surprised because she didn't know that they had become close.

The girls attend the funeral and who walks in? Sara Harvey of course, in her Black Widow veil. The girls can'y believe she is there and Spencer suspects it is because she wants to make sure Charlotte is really dead. Emily still feels a little guilty about what they did to Sara that night and the girls have to remind her it wasn't their fault. As the girls leave, Lorenzo lets them know that Charlotte was killed before she fell from the tower and her death has been ruled a murder. He asks them all to stay in town.

This is going to be crazy. I can't believe A is dead. I want to know who killed her and I really hope it wasn't one of the Liars.

Shadowhunters Recap - "The Mortal Cup" (S01E01)

Shadowhunters is based on The Mortal Instruments book series. It follows 18 year old Clary Fray as she embarks on the journey of a lifetime. We meet Clary on her 18th birthday, as she is applying for the Brooklyn Academy of Art. She shows them her drawings and is accepted. She celebrates with her best friend, Simon and goes home to tell her mother. She plans on going to a club with Simon after watching his band play a gig.

While at a club, Clary runs into Jace Wayland who is surprised that she can see him. Clary follows Jace as he disappears in the club. She walks in on what looks to be Jace murdering a young woman. Clary intervenes and a fight ensues. Jace and his fellow shadowhunters, Alec and Isabelle, fight a group of demons. Clary ends up in the middle of the fight and gets one of their weapons, a seraph blade, which lights up in her hand. Jace protects her during the fight and Clary runs away.

Clary is followed home by mysterious men. When Clary finds her mom,  Jocelyn, she tells her what happened. Jocelyn tries to tell Clary that she's a shadowhunter and that she angered a very powerful man so she has been in hiding. Jocelyn is warned by Dot the witch who lives downstairs that she has been found. Jocelyn gives a confused and frantic Clary a necklace and tells her to find Luke, that he is the only one she can trust. Jocelyn tells her to trust her instincts and that she is more powerful then she knows. Jocelyn pushes Clary through a portal and she ends up at the police station where Luke works. She's told he is in a meeting and too wait for him, but she eavesdrops on the meeting.  Clary witnesses Luke talking to some mysterious men and saying that Jocelyn means nothing to him and he could care less about her.

Meanwhile, Jocelyn is attacked and she fights back like a badass. She burns Clary's room so now one will be able to fight her. The men steal all of the cups from her apartment, as they are looking for an ancient relic called The Mortal Cup. They believe Jocelyn stole it and hid it. When Jocelyn realizes she can't win, she drinks a potion Dot gave her which seems to put her in a magical coma. Dot is killed and the men take Jocelyn to their leader Valentine, who is in love with her.

Clary returns home, panicking and looking for her mother. She hears something and sees Dot so she runs to her. Dot questions her about "the mortal cup" and Clary insists she has no idea what she is talking about and Dot tries to attack her. Clary struggles and knocks her down. Dot transforms into a creepy demon that goes after her. It's claws get her and she is backed against the wall when Jace kills the demon. He promises Clary that it will be ok, and he takes her unconscious body to The Institute, where he and the others live and train.

Clary wakes up to Isabelle watching over her. She's confused and Isabelle says she had to see the mundane that had Jace so distracted. Jace and Alec come in, and Jace informs them that she's not a mundane (ordinary human), she's a shadowhunter and he knows this because the seraph blade lit up in her hand. Alec seems particularly annoyed about this fact and even more so when Jace asks to be alone with Clary. Alec is even more upset and Isabelle calls him on it.

Jace talks with Clary and tells her that she was unconcious because of the demon poison, but she should be ok now.He realizes she has no idea about what she is or their world. He sums it up by telling her that all of the legends are true. Clary is freaking out and tells him that she doesn't care and she doesn't want any part of it, all she wants is to find her mother. Jace tells her that he's the only one who can help her with that. Clary's phone rings and it's her best friend Simon who has frantically been looking for her since she disappeared from the club 2 days ago. He tracked her phone to an abandoned church where The Institute is hidden. She tells him she'll be down when she gets dressed and asks Jace what happened to her clothes. He tells her he burned them because of the demon poison, but Isabelle left her something to wear.

Clary gets dressed and finds a reddish "tattoo" on her neck. She questions Jace about it, and he informs her that it is a rune and she wouldn't have lived if he hadn't of used it on her. Runes are powerful markings that the hunters draw on themselves with their stele so they can use it's power. Clary meets up with Simon and is annoyed that Jace is using a glamour rune so he is invisible to Simon.  Simon is deeply concerned for Clary and she freaks out as she watches Jace kill someone. Jace tells her it was a Circle member who followed Simon here and was after Clary. He removes the glamour so Simon can see him, and Simon is obviously confused. Both men try to persuade Clary to go with them. Jace tells her that he has to protect her and he promises to help her find her mom. Simon tells her they will figure it out together and they need to find Luke. Clary says he can't be trusted.

The way Jace was instantly so protective over Jace, was so hot. As he carried her to The Institute, he promised her that he's got her and later on her promises her that he will find her mom. He confesses that he has to protect her- not want, but has to. I love that. Even Isabelle can't believe how distracted he is by her. It's as if his whole world shifted, and now he just has to protect her and do anything he can to help her.

Tune into Freeform next Tuesday at 9 for episode 2.

PLL #5YearsForward & Shadowhunters Premiers!

Tuesday January 12th is going to be a big day, well evening. 

ABC Family will officially and forevermore be known as Freeform. 

Pretty Little Liars 5 Years Forward will premier at 8 pm EST. 

Shadowhunters will premier at 9 pm EST. 

I'm beyond excited for both of these premiers, but lets start with Pretty Little Liars. Although we know a few things about what will be going on and where the girls are at in their lives, I'm really excited to actually see it. I can't imagine the fact that Hanna is engaged to someone who is not Caleb and who is Ali married to?! I can't believe that Alison was the first one to get married! I'm curious to see what the girls have to say about Charlotte/A being set free. I wonder if Spencer's bangs will grow on me...I want to know what Aria is up to and Ezra as well. 

I'm very curious about who the new "big bad" is this season. The girls seem very scared, but I have a hard time imaging the stakes being any higher then they were/have been the last 5 1/2 years. I mean the girls have watched how many people die and have narrowly avoided their own deaths how many times? Now what's going to happen? I'm also curious to find out where the Liars parents are, because last we saw the moms, they were all trapped in the basement of the DiLaurentis' house. I can't wait to see the girls acting like girls my age or the actress' ages for that matter. 

Now on to Shadowhunters, I am so excited for this show I can hardly contain myself. The promo's for this show were so enticing that I bought the book and I am completely sucked in.Halfway through The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, I ordered the rest of the series. I'm so pumped. I know the show is going to stick to the books, but they also keep teasing surprises which I'm curious and excited about. I think the only issue I have from the promos is Isabelle Lightwood's clothing. She is a complete badass woman and I think she will be great for girls to look up too, however they have dressed her in very skimpy clothing unnecessarily. She's stunning, don't get me wrong but I would have liked them to cover her up a little more. Maybe they do in the show, I don't really know but we'll see. 

I know in the show everything starts on Clary's 18th birthday, but in the books Clary is 15 and turns 16 later in the week while she is at the Institute (her and Jace in the greenhouse is one of my favorite scenes, so I'm disappointed that it won't be included). Clary also goes off to college to be an art student, so I'm curious as to how that will fit in with her shadow hunter duties. I'm very excited for this show (have I mentioned that yet?!) and I think the cast looks amazing. 

Tune in to Freeform tomorrow night at 8 for the beginning of what is sure to be one memorable night!

"Concussion" Movie Review

This movie was absolutely magnificent. It was pretty intense. Will Smith did an incredible job playing Dr. Bennett Omalu.

Dr. Omalu is a Nigerian forensic pathologist who ends up doing the autopsy for the famous Pittsburgh Steelers player Mike Webster. Mr. Webster essentially began going crazy before he died and no one could figure out what was going on. He was a drug addict, he was hallucinating, and even tasing himself with a taser. Dr. Omalu found that the cause of Webster's death was head trauma due to concussions. He explains what happens to the brain when we get hit in the head and it is actually pretty scary. He says that hummingbirds wrap their tongue around their brain as a protective measure when they hit their heads and that rams have "padding" to protect their brains when they collide. Humans have no such thing. Our brains just gets smashed and it can only handle so much. Dr. Omalu estimated that Webster had sustained over 70,000 hits to the head in his lifetime. No wonder he lost his mind.

After Dr. Omalu and his colleagues publish their findings, the NFL is quick to shut them down and essentially say that they are wrong. The Steelers former team doctor works alongside Dr. Omalu and proves to be quite the ally. More football players die and Dr. Omalu's test results all come back in support of his hypothesis. The NFL continues to deny it and comes after Dr. Omalu and his family. Dr. Omalu is forced out of Pittsburgh and relocates to California with his wife. a few years later another famous football player commits suicide, but shoots himself in the chest with the specific purpose of Dr. Omalu studying his brain. The same conclusion is found.

Dr. Omalu basically forced the NFL to acknowledge what can happen to players after they play football for so long. Supposedly the NFL already knew about this, but they withheld the information from their players which is pretty shady.

I completely understand why Will Smith was nominated for a Golden Globe award for this role and I hope he wins it- he was truly amazing. I could care less about football and I enjoyed every minute of this movie. It's a must watch!

"Joy" Movie Review

"Joy" is based on the real life story of inventor and entrepreneur Joy Mangano. While her story is real, there is still a fictional element to the movie (including a crazy half sister who doesn't actually exist). Jennifer Lawrence played the title character and stared alongside Bradley Cooper (aren't they great together?) and Robert De Niro.

In the story, Joy was a very creative child and liked to build things and create things. Her creativity had to be pushed aside when her parents went through a messy divorce. Her mother basically became stationary and only stayed in one room to watch soap operas. Her dad was in and out of her life with different women. She ended up getting married, having 2 kids (in real life she and her former husband Tony share 3 kids), getting divorced, and having her ex-husband live in her basement in her Long Island home. Her dad comes to live with this already full house when his current girlfriend dumps him on her doorstep.

Her father owns a car garage which has been doing poorly. Joy works for an airline and they can barely make ends meet. When she is cleaning up a mess in her kitchen, she cuts her hand on broken glass while ringing out the mop. This leads her to inventing the Miracle Mop which she attempts to get patented and sell. This film is an emotional and empowering roller coaster. It makes you realize how important family is and how far you can by believing in yourself and not taking no for an answer.

I'd say this film is a must see and another winner for director David O. Russell, Jennifer Lawrence, and Bradley Cooper.

The Mortal Instruments/Shadowhunters = My New Obsession

Holy crap. Holy crap. HOLY FREAKING CRAP! What the hell have I been missing?!

Let me start at the beginning: After watching the promo for Shadowhunters on Freeform (formally ABC Family) for the millionth time, my curiosity was finally peaked. The show wouldn't premier for 2 more weeks and I wanted to get in on it. The solution? Read the books of course! After being burned by a series or two, I only bought the first book just in case I didn't like it. Literally I read until chapter 5 of that book, picked up my phone and ordered the hardcover box set from Books A Million. I have been trying to read slowly until the rest of my books come and I am now at chapter 20 of City of Bones and I'm trying so hard to not read the rest until Wednesday. I may not make it you guys!!!

So now I'm just obsessed. Clary amazes me, I just love her so much. Jace...how could you not love the sexy bad boy with a heart of gold? The way he protects Clary and the way he cares for her...I can't. I love it. Simon is the epitome of what you want a best friend to be. While I think he and Clary would be cute, she is meant to be with Jace. Isabelle is a bad ass. I think she's a fierce female character and I really hope she and Clary become close friends. Alec...I don't know what to make of him...he hates Clary and I've figured out why and that's really sad but to threaten her like that? I don't know. I think I'll grow to like him eventually.

I'm so looking forward to seeing these characters that I love brought to life. I think Kate and Dominic are perfect. Just seeing them in the promos- the casting for this show is on point (it's way better than the movie which was cast terribly and drove me away from this series...it's sad there could have been 6 movies...but hopefully this show will last quite a few seasons). I can't say enough how excited I am for this show and for my books...I can't wait. I seriously can not wait.

In case you didn't get the hint before, I love Clary and Jace. I want them to be together, they're perfect together. I want to know what happens with Luke because he really pissed me off just shoving Clary aside- although I have a feeling that was for her own good.

I can't wait you guys!!!! Watch the show on January 12th at 9 on Freeform (ABC Family!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!