Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Hot movie review - ‘A Girl Like Her’


A conceptually sophisticated, emotionally manipulative drama about America's teen bullying epidemic.
 
 
The causes and consequences of teen bullying get a potent if not entirely persuasive airing in “A Girl Like Her,” a mix of found-footage thriller, mock-doc realism and public service announcement that rings true almost as often as it rings false. There is much to admire in writer-director Amy S. Weber’s well-acted, well-meaning cautionary tale about a high-school student who attempts suicide after being relentlessly targeted by a verbally abusive classmate. Yet the film’s agenda-driven approach, while sure to strike topical chords and generate exposure in American high schools far and wide, has the inevitable effect of compromising the drama, which seems less and less convincing the more blatantly it strives for authenticity. 

Weber’s film has a tough opening scene: Jessica Burns (Lexi Ainsworth), a sophomore at South Brookdale High School, opens her parents’ medicine cabinet, downs a bottle of pills and falls unconscious. All this is shot from Jessica’s p.o.v.: She’s wearing a pin concealing a tiny camera, which we later learn was given to her six months earlier by her friend Brian (Jimmy Bennett), for reasons that will be revealed shortly. As the girl lingers in a coma, watched over by her heartbroken parents (Stephanie Cotton, Mark Boyd), a documentary filmmaker, Amy (Weber herself), starts filming in and around the corridors of South Brookdale High, determined to capture a definitive snapshot of the average public-school experience. It’s not long before Amy has begun tracking the story of Jessica’s suicide attempt, the motive for which she soon traces to Avery Keller (Hunter King), one of the most popular girls in school — and, as we later observe in Jessica’s secretly recorded footage, the sort of mean girl who would give even Regina George pause. 
 


In short, every moment of “A Girl Like Her” is meant to be perceived as “real,” captured by cameras that are explicitly accounted for in the story — whether it’s Jessica’s pin, Avery’s own video diaries or the more heavy-duty equipment wielded by Amy’s crew. It’s a shrewd enough conceit, nicely reflecting the obsession with self-depiction and technology that afflicts the average modern teenager (and quite a few adults as well), while also heightening the verisimilitude of what we’re watching. Working with d.p. Samuel Brownfield and editor Todd Zelin, Weber capably simulates the look and texture of a documentary, observing with fly-on-the-wall detachment as students hang out in the hallways, capturing the heated discussions at an emergency PTA meeting, and using school administrators and teachers as calm, rational talking heads. 

At a certain point, however, Weber pushes her conceptual strategy well past the point of plausibility. If what we’re seeing here is supposed to pass for an actual documentary, the result feels clumsy enough at times as to suggest a textbook demonstration of how not to make one — starting with the crew’s habit of eavesdropping on students in their most private moments (the sound recording in these scenes is improbably first-rate). Elsewhere, there are instructive reminders that throwing a verite frame around a scene doesn’t automatically render it believable, just as the act of filming a parent’s grief doesn’t become less exploitative simply because the camera is shaking along with them. 

What makes “A Girl Like Her” intriguing in spite of these flaws is the fact that Weber’s interest clearly resides more with the villain than with the victim in this scenario, which may account for why Jessica, though well played by Ainsworth, never becomes more than an object of sympathy. Avery, by contrast, emerges as the true protagonist of a story that fully intends not only to expose her, but also to redeem her — to hold her up as a living, breathing embodiment of the old saying that “Hurt people hurt people.” Heading up a strong cast, the 21-year-old King (an Emmy winner for her work on “The Young and the Restless”) etches a fully rounded characterization here, doing full justice to Avery’s viciousness, but also to the defensiveness and vulnerability lurking beneath her stereotypical blonde-queen-bee surface. 

Humanizing a monster — and allowing her to tell her story in her own words — is an eminently worthy aim in a movie that is nothing if not eminently worthy. But at a certain point, Weber’s meddlesome alter ego doesn’t seem to be documenting the events in question so much as auditioning for the job of guidance counselor, all but enfolding her characters in a group hug. The teary-eyed, over-scored montage that closes “A Girl Like Her” would feel manipulative in the extreme even if it didn’t build to a final shot of altogether remarkable dishonesty: For a movie that’s trying to teach the teenagers of America that their actions can have tragic repercussions, there’s something borderline irresponsible about the idea that a simple show of remorse is all it takes to make everything OK.  

Source: http://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/a-girl-like-her-review-1201462415/

Monday, March 30, 2015

Get Pavtube ByteCopy for Mac with 50% Discount on Easter Day

Do you want to enjoy a good quality Blu-ray/DVD movie on your trip for Easter Sunday? Get your 50% OFF ByteCopy for Mac at Pavtube 2015 Easter Sale to realize.

Easter is a Christian festival and holiday according to the New Testament- celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion. On my to-do list for 2015 Easter, one of the plans is to collect great Easter Holiday deals, take advantage of my favorite ones and share them with friends. Sounds weird? Well, to begin with, I'd like to recommend this not-to-be-missed ByteCopy for Mac with 50% OFF from Pavtube 2015 Easter Promotion.



This Easter Sunday, Pavtube Studio fares forth to greet 2015 Easter holiday with a 8 days Big Sale of its tried-and-true ByteCopy for Mac to brighten up customers' Easter festivities. From March, 30 to April 5, 2015, customers can not only seize the No.1 fast Pavtube ByteCopy for Mac - as MakeMKV/DVDFab Alternative for Mac mainly for Blu-ray/DVD backup and conversion without costing a dime, but also get its all-star software programs with up to 50% off discount.

With this intuitive and insanely fast BD/DVD Converter, you can effortlessly achieve all your multimedia demands on Mac and enjoy Blu-ray/DVD movies anywhere and anytime you like. In additional, it can be used as movie backup tool which can lossless backup BD/DVD to MKV with all languages and subtitles, but also encode source movie to multi-track MP4, MOV, and Apple ProRes MOV for smartphones, tablets, HD media players, game consoles, and more.



What Pavtube ByteCopy for Mac can do for 2015 Easter Holiday

1. Make digital backup of a Blu-ray/DVD sent from your friends.

2. Copy Blu-ray/DVD movie to iPhone, iPad, iTouch, Android phone, Galaxy Tablets for watching on your road trip.

3. Just stay at home and enjoy the latest Hollywood block-busters by copying the BD/DVD content to hard drive. In this way, you can prolong the life of your disc without causing scratch.

Hurry up to grab this opportunity to own such a professional yet easy-to-use BD/DVD ripping tool and memorize the Jesus Christ with movie enjoyment.

Main features you will be interested in:

1. Support latest Blu-rays and DVDs

With its advanced techniques and frequent updates, almost all Blu-ray and DVD movies like Disney Frozen, Hunger Games Catching Fire, Gravity, 12 Years a Slave, Big Hero 6, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Guardians of the Galaxy, Game of Thrones, etc can be easily converted to suit your needs for entertainment.

2. 200+ video/audio formats included

Freely convert BD/DVD disc, BD/DVD folder, BD/DVD ISO, DVD IFO to a wide range of video and audio formats, like MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, M4V, and any other video and audio formats you like disregarding any copy protection.

3. Preset output formats for iOS/Android/Windows tablets & phones

The beefed up Blu-ray ripper for Mac also takes a leadership role in flawless devices support. Infused with 200+ preset profiles, it makes a faultless bridge between optical discs and mobile devices, including the latest Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 Edge, iPhone 6/6 Plus, iPad Air 3, iPad Mini 3, Apple TV 3, HTC One M9, Surface Pro 3, WD TV, PS3, Xbox 360, and many more. And this perfect converting assistant can also handle all different HD videos shot to other file types for editing in FCP X/6/7, Aperture 3, DaVinci Resolve Lite(DaVinci Resolve 11), iMovie, FCE, Avid Studio, Adobe Premiere Pro/CC, etc.

4. 1:1 BD/DVD disc backup

Clone Blu-ray and DVD from physical disc to computer with original structure in 1:1 without any quality loss including all audio streams, subtitle tracks and chapter info.

5. Save a 100% M2TS/VOB movie without extras

Leave out extras but preserve a complete BD M2TS or DVD VOB movie from original movie and include same audio and subtitle content.

6. Extract Multi-track MKV, MP4, MOV

Compress a Blu-ray or DVD to MKV, MP4, MOV, Apple ProRes MOV with multiple languages. And you are allowed to remove unwanted audio tracks and subs streams before conversion.

8. Edit and enhance your video before converting

You can create your own movie experience by freely adjusting profile parameters and editing movie with the video editor. Optionally set video codec, video size, bitrate, frame rate and more in profile settings, you could achieve the better video and audio quality during playback. Plus, with the help of video editor, you are allowed to trim, crop, split, merge, attach *.srt, *.ssa, and *.ass subtitles, add video effects before conversion.

6. Convert 2D/3D BD or standard DVD to 3D Video

Create 3D videos out of source 2D/3D Blu-rays and standard DVD to enable users watch movies in 3D on any 3D devices like Samsung Gear VR, Lakento MVR Glasses, 3D TV, 3D Home Theater Projector with ease.

Besides having a good consistency with the video quality, the Easter gift leads the park of competitors in terms of Blu-ray/DVD ripping speed. Perfect customer service you can enjoy all the time. In this Easter holiday, the chance to get ByteCopy for Mac with 50% off discount is open to all people. Also Pavtube offers up to 50% price cut on iMedia Converter for Mac to refresh customers' digital entertainment too. And 50% coupon code good for any product on this page is available if you like us on Facebook.

Here are two tactics that may help you make the most of available software deals for Easter 2015.

1. Keep an eye on your desired software brand, by signing up for e-mails or following the company on Facebook. Then you can receive the company's Easter Discount for the very first time.
2. Don't be too distracted by the deals, though. Keep focused on your own shopping list, not what the software authors are pushing.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Put DVD on Western Digital My Cloud for Sharing

An easy workaround for copying DVD to Western Digital My Cloud for streaming by ripping DVD to Western Digital My Cloud friendly video format. 
 
WD My Cloud is a fast, easy-to-use NAS server for your home that includes an excellent personal cloud function. It has a USB 3.0 port for storage extension or backing up data. When you have collected lots of DVD movies, are you planning to backup these DVDs to  
a video file while keeping its audio and video effect unchanged? This disambiguation article will give you the effective way to put and rip DVD movies onto your WD My Cloud for sharing and streaming with ease. 

Although WD My Cloud can support a wide range of format like MP4, MOV, AV, due to the reason of lacking DVD drive, WD My Cloud can not meet the demands of put DVD discs online. To achieve this goal, an easy-to-use DVD Converter is the key. Pavtube DVDAid is such a wise choice for you to solve the problem. Read the Top DVD Ripper review for WD My Cloud. 

You can rip and convert DVD to WD My Cloud with super fast conversion speed and excellent image and sound quality. It is capable of ripping DVD to MP4, AVI, MKV for NAS streaming with no quality loss; you can easily backup your DVD disk with whole content copy or backup main movie only. If you are running on Mac OS X, turn to Pavtube DVDAid for Mac. If you haven’t got the software, download it now and let’s start the conversion. 



Free Download this Top DVD Ripper for WD My Cloud: 

       

Step 1:  Launch the DVD ripping program for WD My Cloud. Then click "Load DVD" to import the DVD files you want to convert. To select the subtitles you like, simply click Subtitle and select the one you prefer.



Tip 1: Before start converting DVD movies, you can backup your DVD contend first with its full disc copy or directly copy features. 



Step 2: As My Cloud is powerful enough to almost all kinds of formats, you can choose the format according to your own needs like MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, etc.  



Tip 2:  You can click settings button to customize the output parameters, such as resolution, bitrate, etc, you can also skip this step. 

Step 3: After all settings, click convert button to rip/convert DVD to optimized format for WD My Cloud. Once you've liberated your DVD movie library, you'll make it available for viewing anytime, anywhere just with the help of your WD My Cloud. 

After all, you can enjoy your DVD movies from WD My Cloud on your Samsung smart TV, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6/6 Plus etc and any portable devices as you want.  

Read More:

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Best 3D Blu-Ray Movies to Watch at Home

Less-than-optimum projection setups and sometimes questionable movie quality are making the future of seeing 3D movies in the theater an uncertain one (though we're admittedly excited to see Titanic 3D, which hits theaters today). But with 3D home theaters, you can control the experience by buying the right equipment. That just leaves the question of what to watch. Although the choices for the stereoscopic enthusiasts seem frustratingly limited for the moment, these 5 films could make the solid beginnings of a 3D Blu-ray library. 

Top 1 - Big Hero 6 Blu-ray 

 
From Walt Disney Animation Studios, the team behind "Frozen" and "Wreck-It Ralph," comes "Big Hero 6," an action-packed comedy-adventure about the special bond that develops between Baymax, a plus-sized inflatable robot, and prodigy Hiro Hamada. When a devastating event befalls the city of San Fransokyo and catapults Hiro into the midst of danger, he turns to Baymax and his close friends adrenaline junkie Go Go Tomago, neatnik Wasabi, chemistry whiz Honey Lemon and fanboy Fred. Determined to uncover the mystery, Hiro transforms his friends into a band of high-tech heroes called "Big Hero 6." 

Top 2- Hugo
 

 
Hugo is a story of magic, but not in the Harry Potter fashion. There are no supernatural or even science fiction elements in Martin Scorsese’s new film (although the terrible marketing campaign might have led you to believe there was something like that going on). The film is a deeply felt, hugely personal, glorious and heart-swelling ode to the magic of cinema and stories. The way they bring us together, allow us to understand each other, allow us to see our dreams come true. 

Ostensibly a children’s film, Hugo is really a movie for anyone who has a Pavlovian reaction to the sound of a movie projector. But to say that it only appeals to the cinephile is to discount the staggering mastery of Martin Scorsese, who has constructed a film that is beautiful and sweet and enormously touching. Yes, his love of the movies is at the center of Hugo, but his love of movies comes from something deeper and more universal: the desire to connect, to share, to create. 

Hugo Cabret is an orphan who lives in the hidden tunnels and pipes of Gare Montparnesse, a busy Parisian train station. He winds the clocks and hides from the station inspector and looks out at the lives of the people who work in the station. Scorsese sets most of this up in an astonishing, perfect opening sequence that is largely without dialogue, using only the language of filmmaking to tell us who everyone is, what their relationships are, what the station looks like, and most of what we need to know about Hugo.  The opening shot, which flies over Paris (which at first looks like a cog in a machine) then through the station, then up to the face of Hugo peering through the number 4 on a huge clockface, is breathtaking. Most other filmmakers would have fucked it up with an inane voice over - ‘My name is Hugo, and I live here behind the clocks’  - but Scorsese is no other filmmaker. 

More 3D Guides: