http://www.viewpoints.com/aboutme/Rachel Mon, 16 Jul 2007 02:06:26 GMT Reviews by Rachel http://www.viewpoints.com/Confessions-of-a-Shopaholic-review-e3960 Confessions of a Shopahoilc brings us the tale of Becky Bloomwood - a journalist who writes for a financial publication by day and charges up her credit cards by night (and on lunch break). — This book is a fun look at the madness you sometimes feel shopping - but Becky feels it all the time. What's another $200 here? This scarf is worth it and I'll use it all the time. I myself have had these internal arguments myself standing at the counter. — Becky's drug of choice is shopping - doesn't matter for what. She avoids her drug dealers (i.e. the banks, credit card statements) by simpling throwing them away. If you can't see them, they aren't there, right? — Each time Becky falls into depression over her boring job or piles of debt, she turns to the only thing that can make her happy....a little splurge. — You do like this character; she's funny and very self-aware of her problem. Plus, Kinsella turned Confessions of a Shopaholic into a series. — If you've... Mon, 16 Jul 2007 02:06:26 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Confessions-of-a-Shopaholic-review-e3960 Rachel 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Alpha-Dog-review-3dfa Alpha Dog is the true story of punk and small time drug dealer Jesse James Hollywood and his friends kidnapping an enemies kid brother and eventually murdering him. The names were changed for legal reasons, but the storyline focuses on actual events. — The real reason I rented Alpha Dog was to see Justin Timberlake act - and he is pretty good as Frankie. He is one of the better actors in this film. He is sympathetic to the group's capture, but too dumb to do the right thing. He actually becomes big brother to Nicholas - the stolen boy - the only two characters you have compassion for. — All these rich kids do is smoke weed and act like gangstas. For some reason, they all idolize Emile Hirsch's Johnny Truelove. — Ben Foster plays Jake - the older brother of the unfortunate kidnapped kid. The oddest part of the movie is when junky Jake shows up at a party looking for Johnny Truelove and turns into Bruce Lee when nobody has answers for him. — Sharon Stone and... Mon, 16 Jul 2007 01:54:55 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Alpha-Dog-review-3dfa Rachel 1 http://www.viewpoints.com/Universal-Studios-Universal-City-CA-review-3742 I recently went to Universal Studios in Los Angeles, CA, and loved every minute of it. — After I paid my $90-something fee (plus $30 for a VIP pass that got me to the front of every line - worth every penny!) I went straight to the studio tour. Strike that - After I was interviewed by Jay Leno doing a JayWalking taping right by the entrance - I went to the studio tour. — We went on a trolley car that took us thru the War of the Worlds set, the streets of New York where many movies were made and the King Kong Skull Island set. We didn't get to drive thru Wisteria Lane where Desperate Housewives because they were filming. Bummer. — The tour was really cool; lots of Hollywood tidbits. Universal Studios staff even warn you that you may see celebs on location during your tour - unfortunately I saw zero. — After the tour, we hit the rides. What a blast! The Waterworld sound stage was definately my favorite. You enter Waterworld as they put on a show for... Mon, 16 Jul 2007 01:42:40 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Universal-Studios-Universal-City-CA-review-3742 Rachel 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Blades-of-Glory-review-8f57 Blades of Glory stars Will Ferrell as Chaz Michael Michaels - a mushy, flirty pro ice skater who fueds with his top competitor John Heder as Jimmy MacElroy - a frilly, frail pro ice skater. The two wind up fighting on the podium and are barred from Men's Singles for life. Eventually, the two have found themselves in going nowhere careers and when a fan finds a loophole for them to re-enter the sport - as a men's pair team - they are both eager for the spotlight once again. — Blades of Glory is hilarious as the two rivals have to work together towards their goal. Ferrell is at the top of his game here. I was laughing out loud in the theatre throughout this movie. — The plot is pretty predictable, but the film is not going for any Oscars here - just laughs and you'll get plenty of them. —... Mon, 16 Jul 2007 01:32:29 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Blades-of-Glory-review-8f57 Rachel 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Blow-review-c41e Johnny Depp stars in Blow - the true story of the rise and fall of drug dealer George Jung. He starts out dealing a little marijuana in California and eventually becomes one of the biggest cocaine dealers in the States. — You follow George's life thru 3 decades (60s, 70s and 80s) and meet new friends, women and enemies along the way. The soundtrack and costumes are an added bonus. — Don't watch this movie if you are offended by watching drug use. George not only distributes drugs, but he does them. Lots of them. — Blow shows us the rise of George's "career" - his house is literally filled with money. There isn't too much violence - which I like. Depp is great as a naive kid on the beach selling dope all the way to the frumpy, worn out prisoner. He goes from top of the world to the lowest point - and somehow the viewer feels for him. — ... Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:57:47 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Blow-review-c41e Rachel 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Bed-of-Roses-review-8103 Bed of Roses stars Christian Slater (when he was yummy) as Louis - a flower shop owner who loves to deliver the flowers to see the happiness of people's faces. He sees Lisa (Mary Stuart Masterson) crying in her window one night and begins to stalk - I mean court - her. Somehow this dude - who admits he was watching in her window - woos her and they fall in love..... — Lisa is annoying as she can't open up to anyone and is uncomfortable being around his family (she had a horrible childhood, abusive foster parent, etc.). Her hard background is understandable, but she is so closed off that it is borderline ridiculous. But then again, she is dating someone obsessed with her, so I probably would be hiding some stuff too (my social security number, last name, address, etc.) — The best part of this movie? Lisa tells Louis that she loves a lavender-colored rose and he sends her every lavender-colored rose in New York City (I swear). That is my dream - an entire home filled... Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:43:00 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Bed-of-Roses-review-8103 Rachel 2 http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Notebook-review-15e0 The Notebook stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as young lovers Noah and Allie - he's a sweet, poor kid working in a lumber yard and she's a privileged, beautiful girl at the familiy's summer home. They meet and are soon inseperable. They are passionate, fun loving and are crazy for each other. Everything is perfect until Allie's mother forbids her daughter to see Noah anymore and packs the famliy back to the city. — Noah writes to her everyday for a year and eventually gives up and turns into a recluse, angry at life. Years later Allie is engaged to a charming and handsome man that mommy just adores. Everything is perfect once again. Until she sees a picture of Noah in a local newspaper that sends her packing. — She enters Noah's life again - just to check on him, but you know they both have those old feelings. (Their life is narrated by an older Noah - James Garner reading to an Alzheimer's patient Allie - Gena Rowland). Does she go back to Noah and give in to... Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:32:40 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Notebook-review-15e0 Rachel 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Walgreens--21176-review-ab22 I use Walgreens online photo center to print my photos. It is easy to use - just load your photos directly to their site. All you need is to create an account (it's free) and you can load and store all your photos here. — I have about 20 photo folders created on the Walgreens photo center. They are easy to manage, rearrange and use. I can go online and choose what size and color I want to print each photo. I can add cool features like borders, color tint, captions and more to my photos. — The best part? I can send them to any Walgreens location for one-hour processing. If my sister in California wants a print, I just type in her zip code and choose the store location where she will pick them up. — I would recommend the Walgreens photo center to anyone. —... Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:21:55 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Walgreens--21176-review-ab22 Rachel 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Real-Housewives-of-Orange-County-review-e721 The Real Housewives of Orange County finished its second season this year filming the lives of 5 families in Coto De Caza, California. The show follows the lives of: — — Lauri - In Season One, she was introduced as a former rich, now divorced single mother without much money. She has three children - one is a troubled teen, one is a cute kid, and the oldest is the most horrible, selfish, ungrateful thing I've ever seen. So, we watched Laurie's struggles with her children and money. Then, in Season Two we watch her get engaged to a super rich dude with an army of children himself. He showers her with vacations, jewels, cars, clothes, horses and more. Even as she becomes increasingly spoiled, it's hard to not root for her, because she hasn't changed much. — Jo - We met her as a young, hard partying 24 year old engaged to Slade - a 40-something rich real estate dude. She struggles with wanting to party versus staying at home with him and his kids. She's a selfish brat.... Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:07:15 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Real-Housewives-of-Orange-County-review-e721 Rachel 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Project-Runway-review-0bb1 Supermodel Heidi Klum hosts Bravo's "Project Runway". T — his reality show puts designers into a house and places them in clothing challenges. It's fun to see how they create a concept from scratch, run to the fabric store with $200, sew their own creations, give the hair and makeup input to the stylists and admire their garments on the runway. To them, fashion is art. Now, I'm not the snazziest dresser, but I can appreciate and love the designs. The challenges are exciting to see where the draw inspiration - one that stands out was they had to choose a style icon and create an outfit to match - some were horrible (Cher) and some very right on (Jackie O) — My favorite? Jefferey Sebelia - owner of Cosa Nostra. He was the winner of Season 3. His creations were fashion forward, original - but still resembling his style. I've checked and his Web site and can afford absolutely nothing on it - but it's still fun to look at. — Bravo often airs reruns of all the... Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:51:49 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Project-Runway-review-0bb1 Rachel 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Meet-Me-In-St-Louis-review-55c2 Judy Garland stars as Esther in Meet Me In St. Louis - the story of a Midwestern family awaiting the arrival of the 1904 World's Fair. This moive was made in 1944, but I think it's a classic. The songs are fun; I first fell in love with this movie when I was ten years old. — Esther is silly, beautiful and commited to her family. She falls in love with the new neighbor John, only to be soon told that the family is relocating to New York City. The family decides to make the most of their last year in St. Louis - holding parties, going to balls, Halloween for the kids and more. — This movie is romantic, the costumes are great and the dances are amazing. — My favorite character is Esther's youngest sister Tootie (Margaret O'Brien) - a nine year old obsessed with death. She "murders" scary neighbors at Halloween and holds funerals for her dolls. —... Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:32:29 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Meet-Me-In-St-Louis-review-55c2 Rachel 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Mean-Girls-review-bc26 Mean Girls stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams and Tina Fey. Lohan says at Cade - a young girl who was home schooled by her anthropologist parents in South Africa. They moved her into a public school to bring her a sense of "normalcy". — Enter "The Plastics" - three snobby, selfish, beautiful girls who invite Cade into their world. Except to be part of teenage royalty, there are rules - one ponytail a week, no sweatpants, watch what you eat, and more. — Lohan is great as she tranforms from the nice, sweet girl into a "plastic", eventually taking the crown as the queen of high school. McAdams is hilarious and the mean, coniving Regina. — I promise this movie will remind you of your high school - everyone had "the plastics", the art freaks, the mathletes, etc. — It's a fun movie. You don't have to be in high school to enjoy this one. —... Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:20:29 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Mean-Girls-review-bc26 Rachel 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Youll-Never-Nanny-In-This-Town-Again-review-a0d0 Suzanne Hansen's "You'll Never Nanny In This Town Again" is the true story of Hansen's adventure living as a live-in nanny for Creative Artists Agency head Michael Ovitz's family. I couldn't put this book down; it's funny, shocking and unbelievable. At times, it did remind me of "The Nanny Diaries" - the plot is similar, wealthy parents who pay others to assume the role of parent. — You get a glimpse into how the rich live and how selfish this family is. They call from a VIP two week vacation to check in on the kids and complain about how much the call is costing them. They don't buy their staff a new iron, but spend $750,000 on art - a canvas painted all black. It is a fresh, enjoyable read. Plus, it's fun to laugh at how ludacris the family is. It just proves that money can't buy happiness (or class). — Bonus - Hansen tells of encounters with celebs through her nanny experience, whether it's listening to her 5-year old charge ask Tom Cruise all about Top Gun (she adds... Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:13:15 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Youll-Never-Nanny-In-This-Town-Again-review-a0d0 Rachel 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Express-review-375b I love going into Express. The clothes are always trendy, cute and avaiable in many sizes. The big trend right now seems to be billowy tops, ranging from silk to cotton. I love browsing the store, but am not too quick to purchase because the prices are pretty steep. Usually $50 for a top that will be at least 30% that price after a few weeks. That is my only complaint about the store. — The girls working are always helpful. They do have great sales pretty frequently; and often have try-on promotions where you can receive discounts just for trying a pair of jeans on. — The quality is great; I have several tops that are still in style that I've had for many years and have held up fine. — Plus, your boyfriend can shop at Express Men now instead of sitting on the chair by the dressing room looking bored! — ... Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:00:05 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Express-review-375b Rachel 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Clinique-3-Step-Skin-Care-System-review-98af I bought Clinique's 3-Step skin care system one day while recieving a makeover & I have to say I'm not a big fan. It comes with three products: — — 1. Liquid facial soap - I use this soap every day and I don't notice a difference between this and less-expensive brands. It smells nice and my skin feels fresh afterwards, but I can buy the same thing for much less at my local Wal-Mart. — 2. Step 2 includes Clarifying Lotion and tis is my favorite of the group. My skin feels tight and tingly after I use this product. I would buy this seperately. — 3. Dramatically Different Lotion is Step 3. This lotion feels very greasy on my skin. I have used other facial creams from Bath & Body Works, etc. for much less with much better results. — It's a bit pricey (approximately $50) and I won't be purchasing this again. —... Wed, 11 Jul 2007 02:21:30 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Clinique-3-Step-Skin-Care-System-review-98af Rachel 3 http://www.viewpoints.com/Dirty-Jobs-with-Mike-Rowe-review-2032 Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe airs Tuesdays at 9pm on The Discovery Channel. Rowe is the perfect host and he "interns" for a day in some of the worst jobs on the planet. He'll spend a day as a roadkill collector, cleaning farm equipment, at a monkey habitat in South Africa - nothing is off limits. — After watching this show, you will really appreciate your own job and the people who do these "dirty jobs" to make your life easier. The jobs featured on this show are filthy, hard and include long hours. — Rowe works side by side with the men and women featured on this series - and brings some recognition to very deserving people. He brings a sense of humor to each task. It is really entertaining. The Discovery Channel runs reruns often, so be sure to check it out! — ... Wed, 11 Jul 2007 01:45:28 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Dirty-Jobs-with-Mike-Rowe-review-2032 Rachel 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Garden-State-soundtrack-review-58c4 Zach Braff has put together the greatest compilation of unknown (at least to me) music. I'd never heard of The Shins before watching Garden State and am not a huge fan. It's obvious Braff put a lot of thought into the perfect songs to accompany his thoughtful movie. It's an emotional set; each song seems to really the capture the feeling behind Garden State. I read that Braff put the soundtrack together as a "score set to his twenties", but I think any demographic can enjoy this collection. It's always in my cd player. — Don't Panic - Coldplay — Caring Is Creepy - The Shins — In The Waiting Line - Zero 7 — New Slang - The Shins — I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You - Colin Hay — Blue Eyes - Cary Brothers — Fair - Remy Zero — One Of These Things First - Nick Drake — Lebanese Blonde - Thievery Corporation — The Only Living Boy In New York - Simon & Garfunkel — Such Great Heights -... Sat, 23 Jun 2007 22:30:15 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Garden-State-soundtrack-review-58c4 Rachel 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Kurt-Cobain-Journals-review-58f3  Journals is a collection of Cobains's beautiful diary entries (set lists, doodles, etc.). It is haunting to see his passion and genius turn into paranoid and drugged-out. It is all hand-written, which sort of adds to the feeling of grave robbing his writings, but I couldn't stop reading. He is actually funny, tortured and thoughtful. — There are no entries about wife Courtney Love.The entries are both pre-fame and post-fame entries. He often includes letter begging for a chance to get Nirvana the fame it deserves (and that he wound up despising). — Sometimes his writings are hard to make out, but I just love his style. It's no wonder Nirvana songs are still staples in the music industry today. —... Sat, 23 Jun 2007 22:19:51 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Kurt-Cobain-Journals-review-58f3 Rachel 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Outsiders-review-6a74 The Outsiders is narrated by Ponyboy Curtis - a young "greaser" from the wrong side of the tracks. Ponyboy has no parents and lives with his older brothers Sodapop and Darry. The have no money, but they have each other and life is good. They have a group of friends, all greasers that look out for each other, including 16-year-old Johnny, a jumpy, fragile favorite. — Their enemies are the Socs....rich kids with fast cars, girls and attitudes. The groups always fight and one night Ponyboy and Johnny and beaten and things go too far. — — This is a beautiful story about friendship and looking past appearances. Hinton's descriptions make you visualize the locations and characters, you feel like you are there. — It really makes you think about the value of life and why some struggles/fights seem so small. —... Sat, 23 Jun 2007 22:12:13 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Outsiders-review-6a74 Rachel 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Never-Been-Kissed-review-6e7a Awww...the pains of high school remembered. Never Been Kissed follows Drew Barrymore as Josie Gellar a young copy editor with the Chicago Sun Times. As part of her first undercover piece, she is sent back to high school to uncover any scandal she can dig up. The problem is, she remembers her own high school days as "Josie Grossie" - where she was teased unmercifully. Can she make it thru high school a second time? — This film is great because it has heart to it. It celebrates the nerds and the popular kids. Barrymore is terrific as she transitions from clueless nerd to the new "it" girl, but she never loses her heart, which makes it a great character. — For anyone who's ever gone to school, you can find your group in this comedy. — This also stars David Arquette, Molly Shannon, Leelee Sobieski and Michael Vartan. Look for an early Jessica Alba too. —... Sat, 23 Jun 2007 22:00:04 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Never-Been-Kissed-review-6e7a Rachel 5