E's List: The Psycho Edition.

Hollywood has a tendency of creating psychotic girls that are incredibly believable. These movies might not be the best in their genre, but their characters are worthy of mention. Warning, SPOILERS ALERT.

#5: Judith Fessbeggler, Saving Silverman.

Portrayed by: Amanda Peet.
Manipulative and controlling, Judith Fessbeggler is a psychologist who enters a relationship with sensitive and pushover Darren Silverman (Jason Biggs). Judith is emotionally (and somewhat physically) abusive towards Darren. She isolates him from his best friends, Wayne (Steve Zahn) and J.D (Jack Black) and forces him to make changes about his life he is unhappy about. The silver lining for Silverman is when Wayne and J.D kidnaps Judith to save their friend from a bad marriage.
Scale of Psycho: 2/5.

#4: Melissa Nelson, Malicious.

Portrayed by: Molly Ringwald.
A young, bright and beautiful medical student seduces Doug Gordon, her college's star baseball player. Knowingly to Melissa, Doug is in a long-term relationship with Laura. Nevertheless, Melissa pursues Gordon restlessly. After entering an affair with Gordon and being rejected by him, Melissa starts to harassed him. She soon threaten his life and Laura's. Melissa is one of the lesser known psycho, but she's still worth mentioning.
Scale of Psycho: 3.5/5.

#3: Andie, Crush.

Portrayed by: Caitriona Balfe.
Scott Norris (Lucas Till) is a popular high school soccer player. After injuring his knee and breaking up with his on/off girlfriend Jules Lindstrom (Sarah Bolger), Scott starts to receive love letters from Bess (Crystal Reed), a social outcast from his school. After ignoring the letters, Scott begins to receive threats. When Jules, who he is trying to back back together with, receives threatening messages as well, Scott decides to confront Bess who he believe is his stalker. Soon, Scott discover that someone else is after him.
Scale of Psycho: 4/5.

#2: Madison Bell, Swimfan.

Portrayed by: Erika Christensen.
When Madison Bell transfers to Ben Cronin's (Jesse Bradford) high school, she's immediately smitten by him. Even after Ben reveal he has a steady girlfriend, Amy (Shiri Appleby), Madison is still convinced that Ben is in love with her. Obsessed and dangerous, Madison stalks Ben and his family, desperately trying to force her way into Ben's life and heart. After ruining Ben's chances in a swimming competition and hitting Amy with her car, Madison still manages to put the blame on Ben.
Scale of Psycho: 4.5/5.

#1: Amazing Amy, Gone Girl.

Portrayed by: Rosamund Pike. 

Beautiful, smart, caring, Nick Dunne's (Ben Afleck) wife got it all! Except when she is faking her own murder and making sure her husband gets accused of the crime. Vengeful after learning of her husband's affair with one of his student, Amy goes to the extreme to make sure her vengeance is complete. She even goes as far as murdering a helpful friend. There is no denying that Amazing Amy is the craziest of them all.
Scale of Psycho: 5/5.

Book Review: Dangerous Girls.

"Wouldn't we all look guilty, if someone searched hard enough?"

Author: Abigail Haas.
Release Date: July 16th, 2013.
Description: Paperback, 388 pages.
Availability: Amazon, $11,23.
Genre: YA, Thriller.
Rating: 4 Stars.

Resume: This is the story of two girls; one alive and one dead. Anna and Elise are high school seniors and best friends. On their wild Spring Break vacation in Aruba, a tragedy strikes. When the ragged body of Elise is found, Anna's world is turned upside down. As Anna is targeted by the authorities of Aruba as the prime suspect of her best friend's atrociously violent murder, she has to clear her name before it's too late.

Review: Abigail Haas is a skilled author. Dangerous Girls is an entertaining, brilliant and well-written thriller. The timeline is organized greatly with chapters from their week in Aruba to Anna's trial with a few flashbacks of the girls' friendship. The book is written in the first person with Anna was our narrator.

Anna is the kind of girl who's likable from the very start of the novel. She's your typical girl-next-door, YA heroin. If Anna is the good girl, Elise is a wild child. She is always pushing the limits and often acts recklessly. She is the bad seed your parents warn you about. Ironically, she's the one who gets killed. The girls' friendship is great for the most part and suffocating at times. Both characters are complex in their own way. Haas created two beautifully flawed characters.

With six other teenagers on the Aruba trip along Anna and Elise, we have a wide range of suspects in Elise' murder investigation. However, the lack of backstory for many (if all) of those characters eliminates them as potential killers right off the bat. Along the way, the readers get very few clues to try and solve Elise's gruesome murder on their own. If this book has one flaw, it's that there isn't enough leads for to get lost into and cracking our brains about.

Dangerous Girls is exciting and thrilling. I enjoyed Dangerous Girls because it's a gripping and undeniable page-turner. I couldn't put it down. I had to know who killed Elise and why. Dangerous Girls is one of the best young adult thrillers I've ever read. If you are looking for a good read with a dark tone and atmosphere, you should definitely pick up a copy of Dangerous Girls.

E's List: The Sofia Coppola Edition.

A few weeks ago, I talked about my fascination for John Hugues' genius. Sofia Coppola is as very bit as worthy of being talked about as Mr. Hugues is. In her earlier life, Coppola worked as an actress and a model, however she found her true calling behind the camera. She has only directed a handful of movies, so far. Therefore, I will shrink my usual top 5 to a top 3. 

#3: The Bling Ring, 2013.

Starring Emma Watson, Katie Chang and Leslie Mann, The Bling Ring relates the true story of a group of teenagers arrested after robbing celebrities. With cameos from Paris Hilton and Kirsten Dunst, real victims of the teens' robberies, The Bling Ring sets itself apart from the other movies about the same subject. The acting is on point and Coppola's work is flawless. The soundtrack for The Bling Ring is also adding to the movie's quality with songs from Frank Ocean to Phoenix.

#2: Marie-Antoinette, 2006.

Reviving the decadent years of Marie-Antoinette, Coppola chose her favorite actress, Kirsten Dunst, to portrait the tragic Queen of France. The movie begins with the arrival of the young Archduchess of Austria in France at the age of fourteen. Sent by her dominant mother to marry the Dauphin of France, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette is about to loose her innocence. The rest of the movie follows the new queen as she embarks into numerous affairs and satisfies all of her decadent desires in a desperate effort to escape from her unhappy marriage.

#1: The Virgin Suicides, 1999.

Tragic, beautiful and breath-taking, The Virgin Suicides is a coming-out-of-age movie based on a novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. Set in the early 70's, the film relates the story of the Lisbon sisters; Therese, Mary, Bonnie, Lux and Cecilia. When The Virgin Suicides begins, Cecilia just attempted suicide. In consequence, their already strict parents tighten their hold on their daughters. Isolated, lonely and depressed, the sisters make a pact in order to escape their parents' controlling tendencies. There is a tone of melancholy throughout the movie that fascinates and perturbs. A brilliant and magnificent take on growing-up's hardships.