Movie Review: Paper Towns

Photo from: Paper Towns Facebook page

Star Rating 4/5: ★★★★

So I recently saw Paper Towns directed by Jake Schreier and starring Nat Wolff, Cara Delevingne, Austin Abrams, Justice Smith, Halston Sage and Jaz Sincalir. It is a mystery/drama film. Paper Towns is a fantastic film, which really kept my interest throughout the whole movie. 

For a basic sum up of the plot line, Quentin Jacobsen [Nat Wolff] has lived across the road from his childhood crush, Margo Roth - Spiegelman [Cara Delevingne] since they were little kids. By the end of high school Quentin and Margo have drifted apart. Quentin becomes a quiet and studious boy, whereas Margo becomes popular and rebellious. After some issues with her friends Margo enlists Quentin's help to seek revenge on them, and the next day Margo is nowhere to be found, however she leaves clues behind that take Quentin and his friends on a journey of a lifetime. 

I've never seen Cara Delevingne or Nat Wolff in anything before, but I really enjoyed their performances in the film. I would definitely go and see another movie with Cara Delevingne in it and I think she has a long film career ahead of her. 

I loved how this movie has a bit of everything in it from funny moments to touching ones. Some funny highlights are Ben Starling's [Austin Abrams] frequent attempts to pick up girls and the collection of black santas at Radar's [Justice Smith] house. One of the sweetest moments in the film is when Quentin and Margo are dancing. Even though it's not a really a comedy the film had funny scenes in it here and there, which made the audience laugh. Of course the mystery theme of the movie kept me interested and entertained as well. 

I think the film had a pretty clear message about taking risks and having adventures in your life, because Margo is always doing risky things, and she teaches Quentin to let go and do it too. I thought the film conveyed that message quite well because by the end of the movie Quentin understood more about Margo's adventurous lifestyle.

Without giving the ending of the film away for those of you who haven't seen it yet, there is a little bit of a twist at the end, which I was surprised by, but I guess it keeps up with the mystery theme of the movie. Paper Towns is actually based on a book of the same name. The novel is written by John Green, who incidentally also wrote The Fault In Our Stars. I actually think if you enjoyed The Fault In Our Stars you'd also enjoy Paper Towns. 

Overall Paper Towns was a great film, with a mix of mystery, drama and laughs. It is honestly one of the best films I've seen this year and it really exceeded my expectations. 

Paper Towns official trailer courtesy of: 20th Century Fox

Have any of you guys seen Paper Towns? What did you think?

The Hot List: August 24, 2015

It's time for The Hot List! Here are the top 10 iTunes music downloads, the top 10 songs on the Billboard charts and the top five movies at the box office in Australia and the USA this week.

Top 10 iTunes downloads
1) How Deep Is Your Love - Calvin Harris & Disciples
2) Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd
3) Wings - Delta Goodrem
4) Peanut Butter Jelly - Galantis
5) Are You With Me - Lost Frequencies
6) Wildest Dreams - Taylor Swift
7) Get Stupid - Aston Merrygold
8) Locked Away - R.City feat Adam Levine
9) Drag Me Down - One Direction
10) Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) - Silento

Billboard Hot 100
1) Cheerleader - OMI
2) Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd
3) Watch Me - Silento
4) Lean On - Major Lazer & DJ Snake Featuring M0
5) The Hills - The Weeknd
6) Fight Song - Rachel Platten
7) Trap Queen - Fetty Wrap
8) My Way - Fetty Wrap Featuring Monty
9) Bad Blood - Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar
10) Good For You - Selena Gomez Featuring A$AP Rocky

Top 5 Box Office Results (USA)
1) Straight Outta Compton
2) Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
3) Sinister 2
4) Hitman: Agent 47
5) The Man From U.N.C.L.E

Top 5 Box Office Results (Australia)
1) Trainwreck
2) Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
3) The Man From U.N.C.L.E
4) Fantastic Four (2015)
5) Last Cab To Darwin

Information from: iTunes Australia , Billboard and eBroadcast . 

STARDUST News Bytes- August 21

Photo from: Ellen McLaughlin's Pinterest account

It's Friday, which means the weekend is here (TGIF, right?) It also means it's time for STARDUST News Bytes, so here are some of the top entertainment news headlines from around the world...just in case you missed it!

Jennifer Aniston shows off wedding ring
It's been two weeks since Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux tied the knot in a top secret wedding at their Bel Air mansion and now we finally get a glimpse of her wedding ring. The former Friends star was at the premiere of her new film, She's Funny That Way. She was sporting her new wedding ring on the red carpet. Aniston's red carpet appearance signals the end of the couple's wedding celebrations. Aniston and Theroux have spent the last two weeks on a tropical honeymoon in Bora Bora. The exclusive guest list for the wedding included Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Ellen Degeneres, Howard Stern, Chelsea Handler and Lisa Kudrow.

Jennifer Lawrence tops highest paid actresses list
Forbes magazine released its list of the world's highest paid actresses over the last 12 months this week, and at the top of the list is Hunger Games star, Jennifer Lawrence with $52 million. Coming in at second place is Scarlett Johansson, who earned $35.5 million this year thanks to her roles in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Lucy. In third place is Melissa McCarthy. The actress made $23 million over the past year, which could be due to her new clothing line Seven7. This year's list is very much global, with Chinese actress, Bingbing Fan coming in at number four with $21 million. Taking fifth place is none other than newlywed, Jennifer Aniston. I guess she hasn't been plugging that Smartwater for nothing right?

Kelly Clarkson pregnant with baby number two
Kelly Clarkson announced that she's pregnant with baby number two during her concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. "I was not planning on announcing this, but I'm totally pregnant again" Clarkson admitted. The revelation caused a loud cheer among the audience. The 33-year-old revealed that she and her husband had not yet told some of their family members. Clarkson and her husband, Brandon had their first child, River Rose in June 2014.

Liam Payne criticized for homophobic comments
One Direction's Liam Payne came under fire this week for remarks he made on stage during a concert, which some people interpreted to be homophobic. "This is my favourite song off the last album, and it is about trying to find that number one woman in your life, which none of you can relate to, because most of you are girls. Except for the boys in here, you know what I'm talking about" Payne said as he introduced the song, Girl Almighty. The 21-year-old has now taken to Twitter to defend himself against the accusations. "Some people take things too literal these days. I am in no way, shape or form homophobic. That's a ridiculous thing to say and I'm not here to offend people so take it as you will. I'm sorry to those I offended I really am, but there;s no need for some of the things I'm being called" Payne tweeted. 

Cara Delevingne quits modelling
Cara Delevingne is currently one of the most successful models in the industry, but apparently a modelling career is a price that is too much to pay. The 23-year-old says she's "not doing fashion work anymore" in an interview with The Times. Delevingne explained that the demands of the industry has taken a serious toll on both her physical and mental health. "I was like fight or flight for months. It is a mental thing as well because if you hate yourself and your body and the way you look, it just gets worse and worse. Modelling just made me feel hollow after a while. It didn't make me grow at all as a human being" she said. The Paper Towns star has talked about quitting modelling before, revealing that acting is her true passion. The last runway the actress/model walked was the Chanel Fall/Winter 2015/2016 show at Paris Fashion Week in March.

Got any opinions, comments or thoughts on this week's News Bytes? Feel free to leave your comments in the box below!

Information compiled from: Entertainment Tonight and News.com.au  

Caitlyn Jenner could face manslaughter charge

Photo from: Justin Sims Pinterest account

If convicted Jenner could face up to a year in county jail. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has completed its investigation into the car crash that Caitlyn Jenner was involved in this February, which left a woman dead. According to the report Jenner was not speeding, but she was still driving at an unsafe speed. Jenner's vehicle rear-ended two cars, pushing Kim Howe's car into oncoming traffic, which resulted in Howe's death.

Entertainment news website, TMZ had previously reported that Jenner would be unlikely to face felony charges, however if she is convicted on the misdemeanor charge she could face up to a year in county jail. Detectives are recommending that the district attorney charge Jenner with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. 

Jessica Steindorff, the other driver involved in the crash was driving with a suspended license, and could also be charged with a crime. Jenner is also being sued by Howe's step-children in a wrongful death lawsuit. They are claiming that Jenner was travelling at unsafe speeds and was negligent when she rear-ended the car, causing the death of their step-mother.

Got any opinions, thoughts and comments on this news story? Feel free to leave them in the comments box below! 

Shannen Doherty battles breast cancer

Photo from: Krystal Biersack's Pinterest account

Doherty is battling breast cancer. The former Beverly Hills 90210 star was diagnosed in March 2015 and has been forced to disclose the illness now after legal documents surfaced on entertainment news website TMZ, revealing that the actress is suing her former business manager for failing to pay her insurance premiums, which allowed her health insurance to lapse, during which time Doherty did not receive medical care. 

The 44-year-old actress was informed that had she been insured and able to visit the doctor the cancer would have been caught earlier. Doherty discovered that she had "invasive breast cancer metastatic to at least one lymph node, and the cancer spread during 2014" the lawsuit reveals. Doherty will likely have to suffer through chemotherapy and a mastectomy now.

Shifting into a slightly less newsy mode and into a more personal one. I am a huge fan of Shannen Doherty from her Beverly Hills 90210 and her Charmed days. I was so shocked to hear the news. I hope she is staying positive and I hope she finds the strength to get through this. I wish you a speedy recovery Shannen!

As always feel free to share your thoughts, comments and opinions in the comments box below!

The Hot List: August 3, 2015

It's been ages since I've done a Hot List, so here are the top ten songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the top ten Australian iTunes music downloads and top five movie box office results from Australia and the USA this week.

Billboard Hot 100
1) Cheerleader - OMI
2) Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd
3) Watch Me - Silento
4) Bad Blood - Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar
5) See You Again - Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth
6) Trap Queen - Fetty Wrap
7) My Way - Fetty Wrap featuring Monty
8) Fight Song - Rachel Platten
9) Shut Up And Dance - Walk The Moon
10) Lean On - Major Lazer & DJ Snake featuring M0

Top 10 iTunes Downloads
1) Are You With Me - Lost Frequencies
2) Peanut Butter Jelly - Galantis
3) Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd
4) Like I'm Gonna Lose - Meghan Trainor
5) How Deep Is Your Love - Calvin Harris & Disciples
6) Headlights - Robin Schulz featuring Ilsey
7) Shut Up And Dance - Walk The Moon
8) Fire and the Flood - Vance Joy
9) Watch Me - Silento
10) Powerful - Major Lazer featuring Ellie Goulding

Top 5 Box Office Results (USA)
 1) Ant-Man
2) Pixels
3) Minions
4) Trainwreck
5) Southpaw

Top 5 Box Office Results (Australia)
1) Ant-Man
2) Trainwreck
3) Andre Rieu's 2015 Maastricht Concert
4) Magic Mike XXL
5) Paper Towns

Information sourced from: Billboard , iTunes Australia and Box Office Mojo  

STARDUST News Bytes- August 2

Photo from: Kristen White's Pinterest account 

I know it has been ages since I've done one of these! I really enjoy writing my weekly entertainment news wrap-ups, and I know people enjoy reading them, so here are some of the top entertainment news headlines from around the world...just in case you missed it!

Bobbi Kristina Brown has intimate memorial service
The late Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of music legend, Whitney Houston was laid to rest yesterday. The intimate memorial service focused on spirituality, family and of course music. The service was held at St. James United Methodist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, and it included a loving tribute from Bobbi Kristina Brown's father, Bobby Brown. Many of the 22-year-old's relatives spoke at the memorial, including her aunt, Pat Houston and grandmother, Cissy Houston. A page in the memorial program featured a smiling picture of Brown with the caption "I also will always love you. Love, Daddy", this is a reference to Whitney Houston's popular song, I Will Always Love You. Despite a plea to attend the memorial service, Brown's ex, Nick Gordon was not there. "I loved Krissi with all my heart, and I am destroyed that she is gone and I need to say goodbye. Krissi loved me very much and she would want me there" Gordon wrote in a message to Brown's family. Bobbi Kristina Brown will be buried next to her mother, Whitney Houston in New Jersey on Monday.

Charlize Theron adopts baby girl
Charlize Theron has adopted a second child. A baby girl called August. The 39-year-old worked with an adoption agency for six months before adopting the African-American girl in July. Little August joins big brother, Jackson, 3, who Theron adopted from her native South Africa in 2012. The adoption comes just one month after Theron split from actor, Sean Penn.

Ashlee Simpson welcomes baby girl
 Keeping up with the theme of new celebrity babies, Ashlee Simpson and her husband, Evan Ross have welcomed the arrival of a baby girl on July 30. Simpson arrived at a Los Angeles hospital on Thursday just in time for her due date. The baby girl is the 30-year-old's second child. Her first child, Bronx Mowgli was with her ex-husband former Fall Out Boy bassist, Pete Wentz. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger celebrates 68th birthday
The Terminator star turned 68 years old on Thursday, and celebrated his birthday with his ex-wife, Maria Shriver in Beverly Hills. The pair had lunch at the Montage Hotel with their two daughters, Katherine and Christina. Schwarzenegger's son, Patrick instagrammed a shout out to his father. "68, and you're still bigger than me. When will you let me catch up?!? Happy birthday pops" he wrote. The former governor of California also took time out to record a special video for his fans. "I want to thank everyone for all the birthday wishes. I'm having the greatest time. My 68th birthday, wow. I'm in the gym working out, and now I'm going to have a little bit of lunch with my family, so hasta la vista, and have a great time , OK?" he said.

Kardashian sisters still call Caitlyn 'Bruce'
Khloe Kardashian admitted on Australia's The Project that her family are still adjusting to Caitlyn Jenner's gender transition, including calling her by her new name. "We don't like to say Bruce is gone per se. We, my sisters and I, we will call Caitlyn 'Bruce', and we've been told that's completely fine. She has told us we are allowed to call her any name we want to, because on the phone when she calls me it's still the same voice as Bruce. If I'm not physically with her it's hard to remember in the moment that I'm talking to Caitlyn if that makes sense" the reality TV star explained. Kardashian mentioned that Caitlyn has accepted that she may sometimes still be referred to as Bruce Jenner.

Got any opinions, thoughts or comments on this week;s news bytes? Feel free to leave them in the comment box below!

Information compiled from: Entertainment Tonight 

Bobbi Kristina Brown; dead at 22

Photo from: Juanita Beckett's Pinterest account

Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of singers Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown died while in a coma in hospice care in Duluth, Georgia on Sunday. Brown had been in a medically induced coma since January 31st, 2015. Medical examiners are now faced with the task of solving how the daughter of the music legends died. 

It will likely be several weeks before the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office can rule on a manner and cause of death for the 22-year-old, the agency said in a statement today. The agency said its initial autopsy showed "no significant injuries" or "previously unknown medical conditions". The next step in finding out how Brown died is to order lab tests and issue subpoenas for documents, which would most likely be Brown's hospital records. 

Any drugs that Brown may have taken would have passed through her bloodstream long ago, even while she was in a coma. Physical injuries would have also healed. Recovering any physical evidence that the police may have overlooked when Brown was hospitalised six months ago may be nearly impossible now. 

Bobbi Kristina Brown was found face down in a bathtub on January 31st, 2015 in her Georgia home, and was hospitalised. This is similar to how Brown's mother, the late Whitney Houston died in 2012.  

Oprah heading Down Under

Photo from: Michaela Yvette's Pinterest account

Yes! It's true the queen of daytime television is coming back to Australia. Oprah Winfrey was last on our soil in 2010, when she did a recording of her show at the Sydney Opera House. Remember she bought a legion of her fans from the US along with her? 

This time around Winfrey will be doing a talk show tour similar to her Live The Life You Want Weekend tour in America. She will be visiting Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth, and Winfrey's Australian tour is entitled An Evening With Oprah. The 61-year-old talk show host will be touring the country from Wednesday, December 2nd to Saturday, December 12th, 2015. She will start off at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, and finish the tour at Allphones Arena in Sydney.

Pre-sale tickets are already available to fans with a Visa credit, debit or prepaid card, however if you want to spend an evening with Ms Winfrey it doesn't come cheap. Tickets for the full 'O' VIP Photo + Soundcheck Experience reportedly costs up to $2,600. This means that fans will be seated in rows 4-10, they will get the opportunity to have a personal photo with Winfrey, as well as participate in a 15 minute Q&A session with the talk show megastar. Fans who purchase the VIP package are also invited to a 90 minute pre-show cocktail party, which includes a selection of canapes, fine wines and premium beers, but sadly Winfrey will not be attending the cocktail party. 

The cheapest tickets will set you back about $100. Winfrey's Australian ticket prices are supposedly double that of what a similar audience in the US would pay. I'm not sure how that's fair, and I'd love to know why Winfrey's management or whoever is in charge of that kind of thing expects Australian people to pay so much more than their American counterparts? It's not like she needs to cover the cost of flying here. I'm sure she's being paid for that! I was considering going to the Sydney show, but when I got a look at the prices I was out. I honestly hope you have a good time when you come to Australia, Oprah, but I will not be seeing you live.

I'd really love to know your thoughts on this one! Do you guys think it will be worth it to go at that price? Is anyone planning to go, or have you bought tickets yet? Feel free to leave your comments in the comment box below as always!     

Neighbours cast at Westfield Penrith

Photo taken by: Kim Ravia

I know this blog post is about a month overdue, and I've been a little MIA for the last few weeks but that will all be explained now. I just started doing some volunteer work a few days a week at the Salvation Army and I've had a lot on my plate recently with getting used to it so STARDUST was in the back of my mind for the past few weeks because I haven't had too much time for blogging. I have time now though and that's what matters. 

This blog entry is a bit of a special one, and hopefully it makes up for me not updating you guys with entertainment news for a while. As some of you may know it's Neighbours 30th anniversary this year and to celebrate that the cast of the show have been doing appearances at Westfields around the country.

On Saturday, the 20th of June some of the Neighbours cast did a meet-and greet in Sydney at Westfield Penrith. Scott McGregor (Mark Brennan), Tavis Burns (Tyler Brennan), Rebekah Elmaloglou (Terese Willis) and the legendary Stefan Dennis (Paul Robinson) attended this particular one. As a massive fan of Neighbours I went along of course! It took me two hours to get to Penrith, but it was well worth it in the end.

Photo taken by: Kim Ravia

Unfortunately when I got to Westfield Penrith the line to get autographs, and meet the four of them personally was already at maximum capacity. (I got there an hour earlier than the time the cast was expected to arrive, and there were already close to 200 people waiting in line!) I managed to sneak into a good spot on the side of the stage to get some good photo opportunities though. It was great to go to a Neighbours meet-and-greet, because I actually hadn't been to one of those in such a long time. The cast don't often come up to Sydney since the show is filmed in Melbourne, so the last time I went to a Neighbours meet-and-greet was in 2003, when I was 15!

Photo taken by: Kim Ravia

Scott McGregor, Travis Burns, Rebekah Elmaloglou and Stefan Dennis did a bit of a Q&A with the fans. There were quite a few disabled people in wheelchairs who came out to see the cast, and the four of them got up from their chairs to meet these very special fans. I thought that was so touching. In a nutshell a two hour train trip well spent! 

  Video footage shot and edited by: Kim Ravia