C - Desmond Hume, who, due to a heavy dose of electromagnetism, has become unstuck in time, and therefore has to seek out the one constant in each time period, who naturally is the love of his life, Penny Widmore.
L - A lonely Tokyo hotel room, with a tiny shower, and your own personal prostitute, who will demand you to lip her stockings.
O - A parkay sofa table that needs to be returned to the studio prop shop. Curses.
S - Bracing oneself for another lonely Friday. Just me and my laptop, writing lame page after lame page of whatever script I'm compelled to work on.
A - Wishing I was at home with my sister. Her life kinda sucks right now, and it kills me to be away.
T - Even if a dwarf tells you he's been boffing your dad, that's still no excuse to tie him up and feed him "valium". It can only turn out bad... and hilarious...
Just one thought for today:
Am I crazy, but is Lost in Translation one of the most romantic movies ever? That, along with Once are two films that really prove to me that love is best served between soul mates, and not necessarily romantic love. I mean, really, both films feature romances that are filled with love, and passion, but none of the icky stuff that seems to doom even the most optimistic couples. Instead, they're simple, sweet, and feature two of the most picture perfect endings, ever. Life could only dare to be as blissfully uncomplicated. Ah, to be lost and in love.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
No Direction Home
C - Natasha Haught-Fudge, who I still love and adore, even though she hated my favorite movie of last year oh so passionately. I would link you there, but I know she's embarrassed by it, so I'll spare her that.
L - Brown Brother's Gallery, where I spent a bit of my Friday being an extra for Nick Stenzel's four-one-nine. Sweet place... Gotta love that BL!!!
O - An Oscar, for Diablo Cody, Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova, and Marion Cotillard. You all deserved it! Way to go!
S - Realizing that I'm losing friends left and right, and that eventually, I'll have to move back home and accept reality. Oh August! Please do not make haste!
A - Seeing three movies, in the theatres, over the course of 5 days. Haven't done that in a long while.
T - The Film Faculty doesn't care about you, or your films. Accept it, and you might do well. Forget it, and it'll break your heart.
So yeah, three movies. Here they are!
The Spiderwick Chronicles - Decent, fun, family entertainment. Scarier than I had imagined, but overall, something nice for the 8 year olds of the world to enjoy. I saw it cause my screenwriting prof saw it with his young'uns, and liked it. I liked it too.
Dan in Real Life - Yep, I went and saw it. Funny, really funny. Schmaltzy, of course, but genuinely entertaining. Steve Carell is pretty great, and I really do love Juliette Binoche. Vive la France!
Vantage Point - Meh. I cannot say that I wasn't entertained, because I was, BUT! they use a cinematic conceit more suited for television to tell their story. Let me explain: we all know the premise from the trailers which have played ad nauseum for the better part of 8 months (8 strangers, 8 points of view, one truth, blah blah). Well, every time the point of view switches, we get this lovely white fade out, and then we are subjected to a rewinding of the events we previously saw, and then a lovely clock, a la 24 shows up in the bottom left hand of the screen, telling us what time it is. It was nice, the first time, but the filmmakers decided, as I previously stated, to do it every time we switched perspectives! Thankfully, we only have to suffer through this brief lapse of judgement four times, but man alive did it get old fast. Still, all preposterousness aside, the film was a nice thriller, with a kinda surprising twist. I felt that, for the most part, this story would have been great as a 6 episode miniseries, where each episode was one perspective. Then, we could have gotten to know our characters more, and thus making it less one-dimensional. Oh, and also the film features the most AWKWARD bit of exposition I've seen in a long time, save for that news reporter bit in War of the Worlds. I shudder when I think about it. A nice rental on a lazy Saturday evening. Nothing more. I only paid $5.50, so I'm not complaining.
The Oscars were last night, and they were actually fun. I watched them live for the first time in a while, which wasn't as painful as it usually is. The speeches were nice and short, and there were some nice surprises, especially Marion Cotillard's much deserved win for La Vie en Rose. All those women were worthy of the prize, but she stood out to me big time. Oh, and Once winning best song, and seeing Colin Farrell get choked up presenting it was a nice tender moment. Oh, and don't forget Jon Stewart's lovely gesture of bringing dear sweet Marketa back on stage to give a very moving speech after Bill Conti (orchestra guy) oh so rudely interrupted her. Talk about classy. I don't know what it is about that film, but it raises my spirits in ways I don't think any other film has. As much as I loved No Country, I want more positive, hopeful cinema. It's why I dug Juno so much, I think: it took teenage pregnancy and didn't make it about parenting issues, or anything overly serious. Instead, it made us laugh, and it made the character's arc more about finding her identity as a teenager than her identity as a mother (which is often how those movies play out). It made me smile in the end, which was a welcome change. And no, Tash, that wasn't a jab at you and your blog. Really...
And, in other news, my senior project made it into the third round of production (yay!). No real surprise there, as I know that there's been little concern about it since the beginning (keepin' it simple!). But, not all is well in Zion. For you see, during our little meeting with the big wigs of the Media Arts department, I had a dark epiphany: There are two individuals on that committee would couldn't care less whether or not I made a film. I won't name names for privacy sake, but anyone familiar with our department should known darn well who they are. In fact, even those not familiar at all with our department should know one of them, but in a VERY different context. ANYway, the fact of the matter is, despite these person's place on the Project Review Committee, it is disturbingly clear after our last encounter that their interest in students and projects is at about 10%, which is probably a generous amount, but they do show up to these pitches, so I guess that accounts for something. I'm just fed up with it. I'm fed up with the lack of support. Instead of support, we have to jump over a billion hurdles, and then climb a few walls. THEN, we have to white water raft down a river with Kevin Bacon, gun firmly planted on our temples, all while singing the university's fight song (which no self-respecting Media Arts student knows, which makes this uber impossible). Yeah, it's that ridiculous. Misunderstandings, lack of communication, and a general lack of interest are all adding up to equal serious frustration on my part, while they couldn't care less. Really. It's sad, isn't it? Shouldn't they be supporting us? The people who pay their salaries? Isn't that what they should but don't do as professors? Seriously! It makes no sense to me sometimes.
A'ight, rant over. It really gets me going when I think about it.
Dang it. I'm exhausted. I'm sure I had more to say, but it all escapes me. Oh, let me just say this before I close: I am in love with Tina Fey. Absolutely in love with her. In fact, I'm so in love with her, I don't even care that she's supporting Hillary. The very fact that Tina Fey is living and breathing, and currently writing super awesome episodes of 30 Rock makes me giddy. She hosted Saturday Night Live this past weekend, and it was actually pretty grand. Tina was at her usually awesomeness, in spite of some pretty bad sketches. Other great moments were Bill Hader's spot-on impression of Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood (the Daniel Day-Lewis role), the Celebrity Apprentice spoof, the Annuele drug ad, and the cold open, which had me laughing almost too hard. Oh, and Tina's monologue with Steve Martin, and her Weekend Update bit: Awesome and awesome. And, in spite of himself, I'm much more endeared to Mike Huckabee than I was before after he so wonderfully spoofed himself. Pretty great. I'm stoked for our dear Ms. Ellen Page to host next week. She's a bundle of awesome as well, and probably a much healthier crush, as she's much closer to my age than Tina, and not married with a baby. A cute baby, but a baby nonetheless.... *sigh*...
See y'all later...
L - Brown Brother's Gallery, where I spent a bit of my Friday being an extra for Nick Stenzel's four-one-nine. Sweet place... Gotta love that BL!!!
O - An Oscar, for Diablo Cody, Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova, and Marion Cotillard. You all deserved it! Way to go!
S - Realizing that I'm losing friends left and right, and that eventually, I'll have to move back home and accept reality. Oh August! Please do not make haste!
A - Seeing three movies, in the theatres, over the course of 5 days. Haven't done that in a long while.
T - The Film Faculty doesn't care about you, or your films. Accept it, and you might do well. Forget it, and it'll break your heart.
So yeah, three movies. Here they are!
The Spiderwick Chronicles - Decent, fun, family entertainment. Scarier than I had imagined, but overall, something nice for the 8 year olds of the world to enjoy. I saw it cause my screenwriting prof saw it with his young'uns, and liked it. I liked it too.
Dan in Real Life - Yep, I went and saw it. Funny, really funny. Schmaltzy, of course, but genuinely entertaining. Steve Carell is pretty great, and I really do love Juliette Binoche. Vive la France!
Vantage Point - Meh. I cannot say that I wasn't entertained, because I was, BUT! they use a cinematic conceit more suited for television to tell their story. Let me explain: we all know the premise from the trailers which have played ad nauseum for the better part of 8 months (8 strangers, 8 points of view, one truth, blah blah). Well, every time the point of view switches, we get this lovely white fade out, and then we are subjected to a rewinding of the events we previously saw, and then a lovely clock, a la 24 shows up in the bottom left hand of the screen, telling us what time it is. It was nice, the first time, but the filmmakers decided, as I previously stated, to do it every time we switched perspectives! Thankfully, we only have to suffer through this brief lapse of judgement four times, but man alive did it get old fast. Still, all preposterousness aside, the film was a nice thriller, with a kinda surprising twist. I felt that, for the most part, this story would have been great as a 6 episode miniseries, where each episode was one perspective. Then, we could have gotten to know our characters more, and thus making it less one-dimensional. Oh, and also the film features the most AWKWARD bit of exposition I've seen in a long time, save for that news reporter bit in War of the Worlds. I shudder when I think about it. A nice rental on a lazy Saturday evening. Nothing more. I only paid $5.50, so I'm not complaining.
The Oscars were last night, and they were actually fun. I watched them live for the first time in a while, which wasn't as painful as it usually is. The speeches were nice and short, and there were some nice surprises, especially Marion Cotillard's much deserved win for La Vie en Rose. All those women were worthy of the prize, but she stood out to me big time. Oh, and Once winning best song, and seeing Colin Farrell get choked up presenting it was a nice tender moment. Oh, and don't forget Jon Stewart's lovely gesture of bringing dear sweet Marketa back on stage to give a very moving speech after Bill Conti (orchestra guy) oh so rudely interrupted her. Talk about classy. I don't know what it is about that film, but it raises my spirits in ways I don't think any other film has. As much as I loved No Country, I want more positive, hopeful cinema. It's why I dug Juno so much, I think: it took teenage pregnancy and didn't make it about parenting issues, or anything overly serious. Instead, it made us laugh, and it made the character's arc more about finding her identity as a teenager than her identity as a mother (which is often how those movies play out). It made me smile in the end, which was a welcome change. And no, Tash, that wasn't a jab at you and your blog. Really...
And, in other news, my senior project made it into the third round of production (yay!). No real surprise there, as I know that there's been little concern about it since the beginning (keepin' it simple!). But, not all is well in Zion. For you see, during our little meeting with the big wigs of the Media Arts department, I had a dark epiphany: There are two individuals on that committee would couldn't care less whether or not I made a film. I won't name names for privacy sake, but anyone familiar with our department should known darn well who they are. In fact, even those not familiar at all with our department should know one of them, but in a VERY different context. ANYway, the fact of the matter is, despite these person's place on the Project Review Committee, it is disturbingly clear after our last encounter that their interest in students and projects is at about 10%, which is probably a generous amount, but they do show up to these pitches, so I guess that accounts for something. I'm just fed up with it. I'm fed up with the lack of support. Instead of support, we have to jump over a billion hurdles, and then climb a few walls. THEN, we have to white water raft down a river with Kevin Bacon, gun firmly planted on our temples, all while singing the university's fight song (which no self-respecting Media Arts student knows, which makes this uber impossible). Yeah, it's that ridiculous. Misunderstandings, lack of communication, and a general lack of interest are all adding up to equal serious frustration on my part, while they couldn't care less. Really. It's sad, isn't it? Shouldn't they be supporting us? The people who pay their salaries? Isn't that what they should but don't do as professors? Seriously! It makes no sense to me sometimes.
A'ight, rant over. It really gets me going when I think about it.
Dang it. I'm exhausted. I'm sure I had more to say, but it all escapes me. Oh, let me just say this before I close: I am in love with Tina Fey. Absolutely in love with her. In fact, I'm so in love with her, I don't even care that she's supporting Hillary. The very fact that Tina Fey is living and breathing, and currently writing super awesome episodes of 30 Rock makes me giddy. She hosted Saturday Night Live this past weekend, and it was actually pretty grand. Tina was at her usually awesomeness, in spite of some pretty bad sketches. Other great moments were Bill Hader's spot-on impression of Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood (the Daniel Day-Lewis role), the Celebrity Apprentice spoof, the Annuele drug ad, and the cold open, which had me laughing almost too hard. Oh, and Tina's monologue with Steve Martin, and her Weekend Update bit: Awesome and awesome. And, in spite of himself, I'm much more endeared to Mike Huckabee than I was before after he so wonderfully spoofed himself. Pretty great. I'm stoked for our dear Ms. Ellen Page to host next week. She's a bundle of awesome as well, and probably a much healthier crush, as she's much closer to my age than Tina, and not married with a baby. A cute baby, but a baby nonetheless.... *sigh*...
See y'all later...
Monday, February 18, 2008
Captain Subtext
C - Johanna McCuen, who's collection of Mystery Science Theaters makes me jealous. But, also the mere fact that she's awesome helps to endear her to me on a regular basis.
L - The Fudges. For 7 hours. Boring? Now, why would you say that? It's the Fudges for pete's sake! We had cake! With Nutella frosting! And Arrested Development!
O - An iPod touch. No, I didn't buy one, but I sure have been lusting. Seriously. It's become such a problem, I can almost guarantee you that Kevin Spacey will visit me, and murder me all clever-like...
S - Waking up with a migraine again. I'm not sure what's wrong, but it's frightening me the more I think about it. I haven't had this happen since Paris, so I don't know what's up... I really don't.
A - Finally finishing Cormac McCarthy's The Road, which was equal parts brilliant and sad. It ended better than I expected, but still, a hard one to get through, especially in our day and age.
T - True sadness is achieved whilst eating the last piece of Orange Chicken in the box... *sniff*
I just barely saw two films worthy of note in terms of the year's best: Michael Clayton and The Darjeeling Limited.
Michael Clayton - This was a pretty intense legal thriller. While I knew where it was heading for the most part, the character of Michael Clayton himself made the piece a bit different than what we've seen in the past. Flawed, complex, and brilliantly acted by George Clooney, it's a tour de force character who we are constantly struggling to understand. We're told he's a "Fixer", or as he puts it a "Janitor", and it isn't until the film's end that we really get a sense of what exactly that means. When I saw it's Oscar nod for Best Picture, I was indeed shocked, but after having seen the film, it's not surprising. Is it deserving? Probably not, but it's a great thriller, unlike many supposed thrillers we've seen in the months and even years past. Director/writer Tony Gilroy has a sense for great pacing, and being able to engage us with fantastically rendered characters (he wrote the last two Bourne films). Check this one out.
The Darjeeling Limited - I had heard a lot of bad mouthing in regards to this film, and a lot of it is probably deserved. It is most assuredly esoteric, odd, distancing, and many other adjectives often associated with Wes Anderson films, but it also has a lot of heart, and that's hard to ignore, in this person's opinion. For all of the wide angle shots, and all of the slow mo moments, Anderson, and co-writers Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman manage to actually make us come to love our three leads over time, and not instantly. Lush visuals of a rather colorful India (a perfect fit for Anderson's normal obsession with production design), typical non-sequiturs spouted by ambiguous but charming characters, and an interesting turn of events makes this film a nice entry into Anderson's Canon of Quirk. I liked it, a lot more than I expected to. See it!
I may go check out yet another film tonight, Dan in Real Life. I chanced upon the opening sequence awhile back thanks to one of my professors (WGA member, with a screener), and it intrigued me greatly. It starts in an hour and half or so. We'll see... I still have the migraine from this morning... Ugh... And I thought a little bit of Panda could cure all ails. Not so... *sigh*.
Maybe a second shot at some OC would help........
.......
.....
....
..
.
I joke, really... Honest....
Oh, and let me know what you think of the new title. I'm not completely sold on it, but it's clever. I do so miss the old Haberdashery, but this title fits... What should I do? Keep this one, or go back to the tried and true? Quite the conundrum...
L - The Fudges. For 7 hours. Boring? Now, why would you say that? It's the Fudges for pete's sake! We had cake! With Nutella frosting! And Arrested Development!
O - An iPod touch. No, I didn't buy one, but I sure have been lusting. Seriously. It's become such a problem, I can almost guarantee you that Kevin Spacey will visit me, and murder me all clever-like...
S - Waking up with a migraine again. I'm not sure what's wrong, but it's frightening me the more I think about it. I haven't had this happen since Paris, so I don't know what's up... I really don't.
A - Finally finishing Cormac McCarthy's The Road, which was equal parts brilliant and sad. It ended better than I expected, but still, a hard one to get through, especially in our day and age.
T - True sadness is achieved whilst eating the last piece of Orange Chicken in the box... *sniff*
I just barely saw two films worthy of note in terms of the year's best: Michael Clayton and The Darjeeling Limited.
Michael Clayton - This was a pretty intense legal thriller. While I knew where it was heading for the most part, the character of Michael Clayton himself made the piece a bit different than what we've seen in the past. Flawed, complex, and brilliantly acted by George Clooney, it's a tour de force character who we are constantly struggling to understand. We're told he's a "Fixer", or as he puts it a "Janitor", and it isn't until the film's end that we really get a sense of what exactly that means. When I saw it's Oscar nod for Best Picture, I was indeed shocked, but after having seen the film, it's not surprising. Is it deserving? Probably not, but it's a great thriller, unlike many supposed thrillers we've seen in the months and even years past. Director/writer Tony Gilroy has a sense for great pacing, and being able to engage us with fantastically rendered characters (he wrote the last two Bourne films). Check this one out.
The Darjeeling Limited - I had heard a lot of bad mouthing in regards to this film, and a lot of it is probably deserved. It is most assuredly esoteric, odd, distancing, and many other adjectives often associated with Wes Anderson films, but it also has a lot of heart, and that's hard to ignore, in this person's opinion. For all of the wide angle shots, and all of the slow mo moments, Anderson, and co-writers Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman manage to actually make us come to love our three leads over time, and not instantly. Lush visuals of a rather colorful India (a perfect fit for Anderson's normal obsession with production design), typical non-sequiturs spouted by ambiguous but charming characters, and an interesting turn of events makes this film a nice entry into Anderson's Canon of Quirk. I liked it, a lot more than I expected to. See it!
I may go check out yet another film tonight, Dan in Real Life. I chanced upon the opening sequence awhile back thanks to one of my professors (WGA member, with a screener), and it intrigued me greatly. It starts in an hour and half or so. We'll see... I still have the migraine from this morning... Ugh... And I thought a little bit of Panda could cure all ails. Not so... *sigh*.
Maybe a second shot at some OC would help........
.......
.....
....
..
.
I joke, really... Honest....
Oh, and let me know what you think of the new title. I'm not completely sold on it, but it's clever. I do so miss the old Haberdashery, but this title fits... What should I do? Keep this one, or go back to the tried and true? Quite the conundrum...
Friday, February 15, 2008
The Polyphonic Spree
C - Chloè (mind the accent) Huber, who just turned 21, and whose roommates threw her the most wicked birthday celebration ever.
L - The Sunda Trench, which is where they "found" Oceanic 815. We all know its a lie, people...
O - A bucket of red paint... With a sponge brush and a paint brush...
S - Trying to write 3 scripts at once: two shorts and one feature... Awesome, sure, but stressful sans doute...
A - Sawing a tree in half, in order to cross a large trench, and get the treasure of Barbaros, and save the day...
T - Valentine's Day is for suckers... Nice red, heart-shaped suckers...
Okay, so on Wednesday, my dear friend Chloè Huber had a birthday, and I had the immense privilege of celebrating it with her, complete with cake and well wishes. BUT! The best part, most assuredly, had to be the jumpsuits, goggles, shower caps and the numerous paint buckets that we all carried about, and proceeded to thrown on each other, and the tent in which we were encompassed. It was mighty fantastic. While the fumes were a bit much, and I managed to get paint in my mouth more than a few times, it made for quite the evening. The best part was the look on my roommates faces as Kent and I walked in, paint all over our faces in several different shades. Loads of fun. Thanks Chloè, and Emily, and Chloè's other roommate, whose name escapes me at the moment! Well worth the cold trip through the snow to get there...
One thing I've failed to mention, but I can't help but be completely obsessed with is the return of Lost to the airwaves. Three weeks ago, we were given the much anticipated season premiere, which was good, but not great. Why was it not great? Because the two episodes that have proceeded it have been even better. I'm still reeling from last night's unbelievable revelation that... HA! I'm not going to spoil it. Watch it. If you've given up on the show, all of the episodes from all three seasons are on ABC.com, and they're pretty great. Season 3 is quite possibly the best renaissance of any show I've ever seen, totally giving us everything we've wanted from the show, but were denied in Season 2 (even though I've heard repeatedly that season 2 is MUCH better in consecutive chunks, and not week to week like I watched it). I can't praise the show enough, because it just keeps getting better, even in a season that most shows fail to enthrall. Chalk that one up to Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (or Darlton, as we lovingly call them), whose deft leadership of the show has not wavered, even when their fearless creator and spear-header, J.J. Abrams, barely stops by for a visit anymore (*sniff*). They managed to get ABC to give them an end date for the show (May 2010), and also to allow them to air 16 episodes back to back each season, no reruns. Talk about loyalty to the fans. I love this show. It has yet to disappoint me, even at its worst. Why? Because even at its absolute worse ("Stranger in a Strange Land", Season 3), its still better than 90% of what's on TV. 'Nuff said...
Another thing: For all you Wii-ites out there, do yourself a favor and pick up Zack and Wiki (or Z-Dub as the fans have named it). It is loads of fun, and its a real brain teaser. It's sure to exercise your noggin in ways you couldn't imagine.
Recent Films: Eagle vs. Shark - Not bad. Basically Napoleon Dynamite for the Kiwi-set. Manages a few chuckles, and a heart-felt end, but its nothing more than a sophisticated rip-off. Sad to say. Irony: Jemaine Clement, the "Eagle" of the film's title, and Napoleon's Kiwi cousin, will be starring in Jared Hess's newest film, Gentleman Broncos. Talk about hilarious... I can't wait. I love Flight of the Conchords.
Rocket Science - Another odd duck, from the director of Spellbound, a pretty entertaining doc about the National Spelling Bee. Fantastic performances, but its the dialogue that got me down: too good to be true. It is a heightened world, but some of the characters were a bit too much for me. Overall, a nice film. Weird, but nice.
Seven Samurai - Kurosawa. Classic. Brilliant. Entertaining. Three and half hours. That's all I need to say.
Music: I'm completely in love with Mika and Amy Winehouse right now, two people I've failed to hear much of, due to my lack of radio listening (I'm an NPR nerd, and a classic rock whore). "Lollipop" and "Rehab" are two of the catchiest songs I've heard in a long time. Way cool.
In other news: The strike is over. Woo Hoo! Bring on 30 Rock!!! That's all I have to say on that...
L - The Sunda Trench, which is where they "found" Oceanic 815. We all know its a lie, people...
O - A bucket of red paint... With a sponge brush and a paint brush...
S - Trying to write 3 scripts at once: two shorts and one feature... Awesome, sure, but stressful sans doute...
A - Sawing a tree in half, in order to cross a large trench, and get the treasure of Barbaros, and save the day...
T - Valentine's Day is for suckers... Nice red, heart-shaped suckers...
Okay, so on Wednesday, my dear friend Chloè Huber had a birthday, and I had the immense privilege of celebrating it with her, complete with cake and well wishes. BUT! The best part, most assuredly, had to be the jumpsuits, goggles, shower caps and the numerous paint buckets that we all carried about, and proceeded to thrown on each other, and the tent in which we were encompassed. It was mighty fantastic. While the fumes were a bit much, and I managed to get paint in my mouth more than a few times, it made for quite the evening. The best part was the look on my roommates faces as Kent and I walked in, paint all over our faces in several different shades. Loads of fun. Thanks Chloè, and Emily, and Chloè's other roommate, whose name escapes me at the moment! Well worth the cold trip through the snow to get there...
One thing I've failed to mention, but I can't help but be completely obsessed with is the return of Lost to the airwaves. Three weeks ago, we were given the much anticipated season premiere, which was good, but not great. Why was it not great? Because the two episodes that have proceeded it have been even better. I'm still reeling from last night's unbelievable revelation that... HA! I'm not going to spoil it. Watch it. If you've given up on the show, all of the episodes from all three seasons are on ABC.com, and they're pretty great. Season 3 is quite possibly the best renaissance of any show I've ever seen, totally giving us everything we've wanted from the show, but were denied in Season 2 (even though I've heard repeatedly that season 2 is MUCH better in consecutive chunks, and not week to week like I watched it). I can't praise the show enough, because it just keeps getting better, even in a season that most shows fail to enthrall. Chalk that one up to Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (or Darlton, as we lovingly call them), whose deft leadership of the show has not wavered, even when their fearless creator and spear-header, J.J. Abrams, barely stops by for a visit anymore (*sniff*). They managed to get ABC to give them an end date for the show (May 2010), and also to allow them to air 16 episodes back to back each season, no reruns. Talk about loyalty to the fans. I love this show. It has yet to disappoint me, even at its worst. Why? Because even at its absolute worse ("Stranger in a Strange Land", Season 3), its still better than 90% of what's on TV. 'Nuff said...
Another thing: For all you Wii-ites out there, do yourself a favor and pick up Zack and Wiki (or Z-Dub as the fans have named it). It is loads of fun, and its a real brain teaser. It's sure to exercise your noggin in ways you couldn't imagine.
Recent Films: Eagle vs. Shark - Not bad. Basically Napoleon Dynamite for the Kiwi-set. Manages a few chuckles, and a heart-felt end, but its nothing more than a sophisticated rip-off. Sad to say. Irony: Jemaine Clement, the "Eagle" of the film's title, and Napoleon's Kiwi cousin, will be starring in Jared Hess's newest film, Gentleman Broncos. Talk about hilarious... I can't wait. I love Flight of the Conchords.
Rocket Science - Another odd duck, from the director of Spellbound, a pretty entertaining doc about the National Spelling Bee. Fantastic performances, but its the dialogue that got me down: too good to be true. It is a heightened world, but some of the characters were a bit too much for me. Overall, a nice film. Weird, but nice.
Seven Samurai - Kurosawa. Classic. Brilliant. Entertaining. Three and half hours. That's all I need to say.
Music: I'm completely in love with Mika and Amy Winehouse right now, two people I've failed to hear much of, due to my lack of radio listening (I'm an NPR nerd, and a classic rock whore). "Lollipop" and "Rehab" are two of the catchiest songs I've heard in a long time. Way cool.
In other news: The strike is over. Woo Hoo! Bring on 30 Rock!!! That's all I have to say on that...
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Nudity Clauses
C - Daniel Day-Lewis, who I swear could act his way into Fort Knox. He is phenomenal (I mean, phenomenal), in There Will Be Blood. See it and believe it.
L - BBC America, my new favorite channel... It's like going to England, except that I'm still stuck here...
O - Orange Chicken, which I'm convinced is what God eats everyday... It has to be... It's just that good...
S - Watching Notting Hill, alone, on a Saturday night, and not fretting it. It's a fine film, with fantastic performances... I swear.
A - Taking a leak three times in one hour. Gross, I know, but it was an accomplishment. Why? Cause it was clear! Hooray for Hydration!
T - When times get you down, compromise your morals, and maybe you will be able to dig on many a tract of land, and potentially strike oil, which you will then suck up like a milkshake! I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!
For all four of you that read this, I apologize for the delay in updating. The reason being is that the semester has begun, and I actually did in fact have a post about two weeks ago, but I failed to post it, for whatever reason.
Excuses aside, I'm happy to be back, and with a nifty new logo. I made that sucka almost three months ago, and it didn't work the first time, so I abandoned it. I tried it again on a whim last night, and voilà! It worked! So, enjoy. I intend to fix it a bit in Photoshop or something, give it an edge or whatever.
As I noted above, I saw There Will Be Blood today, and I can only really say "wow", because this film is a superb achievement in filmmaking, and a film that will probably be remembered years down the line as a pinnacle of perfection. I doubt it will win Best Picture this year, because that would just be too perfect.
As for my top ten list, it's still brewing in the brain, because I can't quite decide what will make the top of the list. It's sooooooo close between a few (No Country, Juno, and There Will Be Blood). I think, based solely on my pure exuberance after having seen it, Juno takes it, but seeing There Will Be Blood has shaken that. Well, actually... Here's the list...
1. Juno
1. There Will Be Blood
1. No Country For Old Men
4. Hot Fuzz
4. Once
4. Zodiac
4. Ratatouille
8. Atonement
9. Paris, je t'aime
10. Hairspray
Some honorable mentions: Sweeney Todd, 3:10 To Yuma, The Host, The Bourne Ultimatum, Knocked Up, Enchanted, The Simpsons Movie, Waitress, Bridge To Terabithia...
So, there it is. I think. It's not gospel, nor shall it be canonized, but it should appease the masses, as they say. I pulled a Princeton Review and gave several films the same number... Deal with it. I really honestly cannot choose between them and give them numbers. I debated not giving numbers, but then the list would have been long, and confusing for those people who just cannot live without numbers.
Et, voilà!
L - BBC America, my new favorite channel... It's like going to England, except that I'm still stuck here...
O - Orange Chicken, which I'm convinced is what God eats everyday... It has to be... It's just that good...
S - Watching Notting Hill, alone, on a Saturday night, and not fretting it. It's a fine film, with fantastic performances... I swear.
A - Taking a leak three times in one hour. Gross, I know, but it was an accomplishment. Why? Cause it was clear! Hooray for Hydration!
T - When times get you down, compromise your morals, and maybe you will be able to dig on many a tract of land, and potentially strike oil, which you will then suck up like a milkshake! I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!
For all four of you that read this, I apologize for the delay in updating. The reason being is that the semester has begun, and I actually did in fact have a post about two weeks ago, but I failed to post it, for whatever reason.
Excuses aside, I'm happy to be back, and with a nifty new logo. I made that sucka almost three months ago, and it didn't work the first time, so I abandoned it. I tried it again on a whim last night, and voilà! It worked! So, enjoy. I intend to fix it a bit in Photoshop or something, give it an edge or whatever.
As I noted above, I saw There Will Be Blood today, and I can only really say "wow", because this film is a superb achievement in filmmaking, and a film that will probably be remembered years down the line as a pinnacle of perfection. I doubt it will win Best Picture this year, because that would just be too perfect.
As for my top ten list, it's still brewing in the brain, because I can't quite decide what will make the top of the list. It's sooooooo close between a few (No Country, Juno, and There Will Be Blood). I think, based solely on my pure exuberance after having seen it, Juno takes it, but seeing There Will Be Blood has shaken that. Well, actually... Here's the list...
1. Juno
1. There Will Be Blood
1. No Country For Old Men
4. Hot Fuzz
4. Once
4. Zodiac
4. Ratatouille
8. Atonement
9. Paris, je t'aime
10. Hairspray
Some honorable mentions: Sweeney Todd, 3:10 To Yuma, The Host, The Bourne Ultimatum, Knocked Up, Enchanted, The Simpsons Movie, Waitress, Bridge To Terabithia...
So, there it is. I think. It's not gospel, nor shall it be canonized, but it should appease the masses, as they say. I pulled a Princeton Review and gave several films the same number... Deal with it. I really honestly cannot choose between them and give them numbers. I debated not giving numbers, but then the list would have been long, and confusing for those people who just cannot live without numbers.
Et, voilà!
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