Harvest Time Orchards | Twin Lakes, WI

It’s been three years since Markus and I went apple picking at County Line Orchardin Hobart, Indiana. I liked our experience there, but there are so many orchards near Chicago that we decided we wanted to check out another place this year. We’ll probably check out a new spot next year as well. Maybe I should make it a goal to visit all the popular orchards and see who has the best donuts. Because let’s be real, that’s why we go to orchards, for the donuts or maybe that’s just me?

This year, we decided to check out Harvest Time Orchards in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. They have lots of activities for the family: apple picking, donut shop, country smoke house, corn maze, cider barn, brat shop and more. Unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to pick apples, because you have to drive into the orchard and we were having car troubles. We didn’t want to breakdown in the middle of a family picking apples. There were a lot of people at the small orchard, but it didn’t feel too packed. There were lots of things to do so people were spread out all over. We did wait an hour and half for three apple cider donuts, but I have to tell you, those were worth it. I know it sounds crazy to wait that long for something so little, but these donuts were delicious. They were warm and light and not too sweet. I would wait in line again for those fluffy treats.

Creepy Cinema 2017: Week 2

It's Week Two of Creepy Cinema and one of my favorite Korean movies is on the list! Can't wait to share my thoughts on that as well as the beauty of Gong Yoo! Keep scrolling for this week's films and don't forget to let me know what you think in the comments below! 

4. Train to Busan (2016)

Disclaimer, this film stars my favorite Korean actor of all time, Gong Yoo, so there might be a lot of gushing in this review. The film follows a group of strangers that board a cross country train bound for Busan. Fun fact, the two years that Markus and I lived in South Korea, we lived in Busan! So we’ve actually taken the same route in the film, which made it even cooler and realistic, at least for me.  As someone who is absolutely obsessed with Korean food, music, shows, etc., I’m not the biggest fan of their films. Korean films tend to be too long and often flounder in their storytelling at the beginning of the third act. At that point I often find myself feeling the length and losing interest quite quickly. Every Korean film I’ve seen thus far seems to be plagued with these two things. Thank goodness Train to Busan proved me wrong and is the best Korean horror film I’ve seen so far.

I cannot express to you how much I loved this movie. It’s chock full of action and the acting was on point. Gong Yoo is pretty dreamy even though he’s playing an absent father, but I kinda loved that he was terrible at the beginning of the film because it gave his character the opportunity grow into a protagonist we actually care about. A real revelation was Kim Su An, the girl playing his daughter. She was such an incredible actress for her age. Actually, the entire ensemble was great and I enjoyed all of their performances, each holding a good amount of character development for a film with such a large cast. Of course no character was safe, and just when you start to get attached to one of them, in true horror movie fashion, they perish along with your heart. Train to Busan manages to be both an incredible Korean film, but also a fantastic survival horror film. Honestly, if there is only one movie you watch from my list this year, please watch this one. If not for me, at least for Gong Yoo, because he’s my fave.

5. Alien Covenant (2017)

I will forever be haunted by my first viewing of Alien back in 2012. It was one of the scariest films, I’ve seen to this day. So much so that when we watch any other films in that universe, I get a bit of anxiety. In regards to the sequels, nothing has been more frightening than the first and I’ve started to lose that initial fear along with interest. I know that it’s hard to meet the standards of the first film in a franchise, but my golly, do we really need this new iteration?

I’m not 100% sure why they made another movie in the vein of Alien prequels when the response to Prometheus was so mixed, but who knows why people make movies these days anymore. (Ahem, money.) Either way, at least this one attempted to get back to the roots of its predecessors. It follows a ragtag crew of people who face the unknown, only to end up being trapped with a killer alien. Who’s going to survive? Who cares, because I sure didn’t. I couldn’t tell you much about the character except that they all possessed some jerk-like qualities and did a lot of senseless and reckless things. Also Michael Fassbender’s weird accent--No. The film also seemed to have tonal issues. The first half of the film was what I feel audiences wanted, explorers discovering a strange land full of mystery and danger. Then we run into a big slow-down where the film starts rambling via creepy Fassbender-bot about the genesis of this world, evolution, blah blah blah. Then out of nowhere it turns into a monster-chase film! I really felt the length of this movie, and I would pass on this one to just re-watch Alien.

6. The Babysitter (2017)

This movie was a last minute addition and I never heard about it before Markus suggested it. I think not knowing anything about it was an advantage because it was a really fun movie.  It definitely felt like an homage to classic 80s horror flicks but with a fun twist. The story follows Cole, a twelve-year old boy, who is having a rough time in middle school - who didn’t have a rough time then? Cole is quite book smart, but when it comes to people, he’s a bit awkward and is often bullied and overlooked in life. To add insult to injury, he still has a babysitter, that stays with him when his parents go out of town. It's okay though because she’s real hot and they have an amazingly geeky and almost sibling-like relationship. The montage of all their inside jokes was actually really cute and one of the best parts of the movie.

The first 20 minutes or so didn’t feel like a horror movie at all, then when you least expect it the rug gets pulled out from under you-and you get beaten with it. Things get a bit crazy when Cole decides to spy on his babysitter and see what she does when he’s asleep. Then the film ramps up and it’s a non-stop action horror until the very end. In these sort of movies, you usually expect the women to be the damsels in distress, but not in this movie. The Babysitter was tough as nails and pulled no punches. However what I think makes this movie so strong is that at it’s core, it’s really just a coming of age story and those are always my favorites.

Sacré-Cœur | Paris, France

The final stop on my tour of Montmartre was the beautiful Sacré-Cœur Basilica. It's one of the most popular sites in Paris and droves of people visit every day. Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, translates to Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As someone who has Catholic parents that planned trips specifically to visit churches and basilicas, I've seen my fair share of religious monuments. Sacré-Cœur was definitely a stunner with the most beautiful facade. The walk there was quite lovely and I was hoping that there wouldn’t be too many people there, but I was unfortunately mistaken. It was a beautiful Summer Sunday, so I should’ve known better. The line snaked all around from the doors, across the street and to the top of the stairs. We had so much planned that first day, so we opted to skip out on the inside. I'm a bit bummed we didn't get to go inside, but it's okay because the outside and surrounding areas were beautiful. 

The one thing that really ruined the vibe was dudes aggressively hawking bracelets. They were stationed in groups all over the hill. They would go up to unsuspecting tourists holding the ends and tying them onto their wrists. Obviously it was a scam and they would harass people until they paid them. That kind of thing really annoys me and at times. Even though we didn't make eye contact, the would still come up to us. I would get really aggressive back and just say “no” really loudly. It stinks that these sort of people and scams exist, but it’s all about being aware and just avoiding it. So, if you ever make it over to the Sacré-Cœur, just avoid the shady dudes with string! 

Creepy Cinema 2017: Week One

Hello boils and ghouls, October has finally arrived and you know what that means! It's time for Creepy Cinema on Ganda-Ganda! I honestly can't believe it's been five years of horror movies. I didn't think I was going to last one year, but here we are half a decade later and we're still doing it. If this is the first time you're hearing of Creepy Cinema, I'll give you a quick rundown. I'm terrified of scary movies, I just can't do them. I get scared by anything and have been known to scream quite loudly at the littlest things. My husband Markus on the other hand, has loved them since he was a kid. His knowledge of horror films is so vast and since he's an incredible husband every day, I decided to give him October to indulge in all things creepy. Thus the beginning of Creepy Cinema.

This year, I'll be watching and reviewing ten movies created from 2010 to this current year. I will say that I've gotten better with some genres of scary movies, but in some cases, I'm still the same and can barely watch in one sitting. There have been some incredible movies this year and some stinkers. This year Markus suggested that I implement a rating system to help separate the tricks from the treats. I hope you guys enjoy the offerings this year and don't hesitate to leave me your thoughts on the films below! 

1. Get Out - (2017)

I’m obviously super late to the party on this one, but wanted to include it because it was such a great movie and truly one of the most terrifying ones in so many ways. So if you’ve been living under a rock and have no idea what Get Out is about, I’ll give you a quick run down. Basically, the story revolves around a young, interracial couple, Chris and Rose. Chris hasn’t met Rose’s parents, so they decide to spend a weekend at her parent’s country estate. From the start, everything seems a bit off. Let’s be real, her family is real WASPy and there are major Stepford Wives-vibes happening. As the viewer you know that these people are doing something awful and that something terrible is going to happen.

The thing I loved most about this film was how relevant and real it was. There was no sugar coating on anything. It tackles the race issue head on. It was so much more than a “horror movie”. Get Out is not only clever and well acted, it makes you think about the social issues of today. It becomes a conversation starter and hopefully sparks the change for something good. At least, that’s what I think. Either way it’s an incredible film.  Usually with these sort of horror movies, I can guess or make predictions and I’m dead on. I was close with this one, but they managed to surprise me with another layer to their horrifying twist. If you haven’t seen Get Out, please do.

2. Beware the Slenderman (2016)

For the first time in Creepy Cinema history, I’m going to write about a documentary, but this documentary is based off of something truly terrifying and worst of all, very very real. Not sure if you know this about me, but I am a huge fan of true crime. I watch tons of crime shows like Dateline, 48 Hours, etc., and listen to lots of podcasts that cover murderers and mysteries. I attribute it to the fact that I watched Unsolved Mysteries with my dad when I was little girl. True crime and mysteries were also so interesting to me, because I always wanted to know why someone could do something so terrible. Also, I don’t trust people, so it’s always good to be educated. So when I heard that they were making a documentary of the horrible story of two 12 year girls that attempted to murder their friend in the spring of 2014, I knew I had to watch.

I don’t want to give too much away, because I think it’s really interesting to know the story and motivation behind why these girls did what they did. It wasn’t something as simple as jealousy or monetary gain, like most true crime stories. It was something completely different, it had to do with the modern day Bogeyman better known as Slenderman. Those that are current with memes and pop culture know who he is and most know that he’s a fictional character meant to scare people. However for these two girls, he wasn’t make-believe, he was very real. The documentary tackles issues of adolescence, parenting, bullying and mental illness. For me, I had problems with the way they tried to downplay the crime that these girls committed. However it does give us an inside look from the point of view of the parents of the two accused girls, and sheds a light on some really tough issues. Of all the things I’ve seen this year, this was by far the scariest and truly hard to watch.

3. The Girl with all the Gifts (2016)

We watched this film on the recommendation from our friends from the U.K. They knew that Markus and I do Creepy Cinema every year and suggested we check it out. Fun fact, scenes were shot in Stoke-on-Trent, the little town we spent Christmas 2016 in. The Girl with all the Gifts is based off the 2014 book of the same name by M.R. Carey. I didn’t know much about the novel or film before watching, and sometimes that’s a good thing. The film is set in the near post-apocalyptic, dystopian future. Everyone pretty much speaks British English except for Glenn Close. Humanity was wiped out by a type of fungal disease that causes everyone to lose their minds and suddenly crave flesh, so this brand of zombies are dubbed “hungries”. The hungries remain dormant, until disturbed by the scent of uninfected humans, at which point they attack you crazy-fast. The only hope for humanity is a small group of gifted children and most importantly one specific girl named Melanie.  

Overall, I thought The Girl with all the Gifts was just okay. It wasn’t terrible by any stretch, but it wasn’t great either. In the past five years or so, there has been an onslaught of these female-driven, post-apocalyptic films as well as heaps of zombie films. So for me, the market is just too saturated with movies that contain a lot of the same tropes. I definitely got some 28 Days Later vibes when I was watching, which was refreshing. I also like that the main character was different from most protagonists, however the storytelling was a bit awkward and slighty unmemorable.

Mini Tour of Montmartre | Paris, France

Since Montmartre is a bit further away from all the popular sites we decided to spend our first real day in Paris in Montmartre. We woke up decently early and had breakfast at Cafe des Deux Moulins from the film Amélie. Afterward we decided to take the 15 minute walk to Sacré-Cœur. We passed the Moulin Rouge and it definitely wasn't what I was expecting. Maybe it was because it was daytime. I didn't get the full effect and maybe I needed a bit of help from the Green Fairy? I did look up tickets and they were around 115€ and up. Maybe one day we'll be able to catch a show! It was our first taste of Paris and it was really lovely. The real star of Montmartre is the Sacré-Cœur, but that will be a post for the future. Just for now, enjoy all the photos from our mini tour of Montmartre!