Gigi (1958): ends up being a really bad hallmark movie. one of the first songs in the movie is, 'thank heaven for little girls' which incidentally is the theme song for a number of my friends. they have terrible green screen effects. i swear i've seen better green screen prior to '58. another song is called, 'its a bore' which sums up all of gigi. i'm not making up these song titles either. the movie went completely overboard with colors. i know its a musical set in france but this was extreme. i hated the guy staring at the camera who narrates the film and sings to us. both the storyline and acting are not believable. there is a reason why there wasn't a single acting nomination, even though this won best pic. it was a nice touch to end the movie back on the old guy singing to us about little girls again. the movie was awful and not worth seeing. and like i think i said about her in an american in paris, the french girl is fugly.
Gentleman's Agreement (1947): they start off with some terrible wastes of green screen or whatever color it was in the black and white days. almost like just taking and cutting film and overlaying on top of other film. anyways, it got really boring. la-dee-da, so people treat jews bad. try being black for six months or mexican. these people get crapped on but there isn't a movie like this for them. the movie white chicks might have been the closest. i didn't like the acting much. if this movie won best pic that year, i would have hated to have seen the ones that didn't win. must have been a crappy year. i actually have a complaint about the lighting also, being too unrealistic and sucky. and the guy didn't really have to try and find reasons to tell people he is jewish. he could have just walked around saying 'oh vey!' good point though made about the fact that we call jews 'jews' like its a race or something. i counted and they smoked sex thousand and twelve cigarettes. the chick in the movie is the most romantic talking girl ever! the lead guy is a big, whiney, grumpy child (sound familiar?). they make the wife of him look terrible and she was one of the nicest people in the movie. its way too idealistic. only see the movie if you are a jew.
WWI and WW2 didn't really involve us like it did other country's. it was really britain's, france's, and germany's war. we of course played a huge part of it, but we just sent over massive amounts of troops. aside from pearl harbor, we were not being attacked like the other countries. the way we feel about russia's involvements in the war is probably what the global opinion of the US's involvement is. so when we think of the wars, i bet we don't look at it like brits do. but for all these years, i really would think the world's thoughts on the wars were the same as the US's. of course these were our biggest wars, so on a US scale they should be up there. however globally, our involvement was less than others.
for the past few weeks i've been having movie nights with myself. i basically stay up on the days where i can sleep in, and watch movies until sometime between 3 and 6. its 2 right now meaning i'll be able to at least finish the hour of the one i'm watching now. this will only last until classes start next week for summer. this summer is not going to be pretty. five weeks of classes each day of the week. i added a ton more shifts to my schedule at work and also gave my 'notice' for august 21. i'm tired of the rain and clouds, not because i don't love rain and clouds, but because the time for that should have been at the beginning of this month. now should be the time of nice weather transitioning into shatty heat. something is going to have to be skipped over once this rain goes and no one has the good luck that it will shave a few boiling days off the calendar. my bet is that since this is the time for good, the rain is taking that time away and the sun is just itching to evap that little rain up and keep us a desert.
i've gotten 2 A-'s and 1 A. i feel retarded because on one hand, i'm pretty disappointed with the A-'s because so far those two have actually brought down my gpa. but of course i'm being an idiot because A-'s are of course wonderful to receive and i know that many people work their tail feathers off and still can't get A-'s. i should be happy about it all. those A's would have been nice though.
i bought some 'tom approved' jeans today that i must say are mighty fine. a new pen is what i want. the one that i believe clive owen has in closer. its strange to think that after so many years, california is not where i consider myself from. i don't recall how long its been that colorado has been my baby. in fact, now that i look back on that dusty, smelly town i came from, i'm not sure i would want to represent it anyways. i'm not knocking my fres peeps, but you all know how it is.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Friday, April 29, 2005
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
not worth reading
A Place in the Sun (1951): beautifully shot. they aren't subtle in trying to show and not tell their story. this was back in the day when liz taylor was actually good looking. the main character is such the typecast role for james dean. he totally should have played the part rather than this other guy. james and liz were good together in giant; would have been nice to see them again. its really cool because as characters figure stuff out in their head during the movie, the viewer also is figuring it all out in real time with the person. there is a ton of foreshadowing. if you know nothing about this movie and you start watching it, you'd think you are just watching another old love story, but then you start to think about half way through that its kind of like a thriller. then by the end it evolves completely into a thriller type. and i totally think that liz would have been my nat had i lived during the 50's. if a movie ever made you have to really think, this is it. and in many ways this movie really hits home. as you watch it, you begin to see possibilities of what will happen in the future, such as you can see that the trial of the century is upon them all. its a very sad love story and features the greatest prosecution case in the history of law. the ending is very nice and again, you really have to wonder about what the guy really deserves in the end. buy it.
The Broadway Melody (1928): i'm expecting a lot because of the cover. it seems like they are totally showing off that they can do sound now because they go way overboard with the sound effects. if anyone made a movie determined to only win awards for sound and music, this is it. it really makes me anxious to see the jazz singer. you can tell that they were still working out the quirks from the silent days. this is very much in the transition between silent and talkie. the plot is very weak and makes for a boring movie. also ends on kind of a bad note. don't see.
Cavalcade (1933): boring. they are showing this musical on stage and i have no clue what it has to do with anything in the movie. usually there is only one comic relief character per movie, but his has like six people all trying to be funny in each scene. it gets very ridiculous. basically, you are watching a really rich family's life as they are directly affected by every major event throughout the beginning of the twentieth century (including the titanic). the fx aren't good, but i will say they are unique and clever. this movie has the craziest war montage i've ever seen, but you can tell they didn't know how to end it. its an okay movie, definitely interesting, but not worth seeing.
by the way, having watched a man for all seasons, i've now seen every best picture winner back to 1958.
askakop
me: you know those retards who drive with headphones on? is that legal?
askakop: there is nothing in the code book that says you can't do that, however if they get in an accident, that will be a factor used against them to determine fault.
got an A- in cj ethics. not the happiest about it, but i'll take it. could have gotten a lot worse in that class. the only final i have left is contracts on thursday night. i'm so far behind on this blog. i'm actually writing stuff that i should have written like over a week ago. i have three looong movie reviews to put up, my religion, the look of the pope, international war courts, theme music, sin city, and more. so i'm going to try my hardest to get all this crap up sometime this week and weekend. sorry if this post sucks and you've had to force yourself to read long reviews on crappy old movies. just think though, i had to sit through them.
The Broadway Melody (1928): i'm expecting a lot because of the cover. it seems like they are totally showing off that they can do sound now because they go way overboard with the sound effects. if anyone made a movie determined to only win awards for sound and music, this is it. it really makes me anxious to see the jazz singer. you can tell that they were still working out the quirks from the silent days. this is very much in the transition between silent and talkie. the plot is very weak and makes for a boring movie. also ends on kind of a bad note. don't see.
Cavalcade (1933): boring. they are showing this musical on stage and i have no clue what it has to do with anything in the movie. usually there is only one comic relief character per movie, but his has like six people all trying to be funny in each scene. it gets very ridiculous. basically, you are watching a really rich family's life as they are directly affected by every major event throughout the beginning of the twentieth century (including the titanic). the fx aren't good, but i will say they are unique and clever. this movie has the craziest war montage i've ever seen, but you can tell they didn't know how to end it. its an okay movie, definitely interesting, but not worth seeing.
by the way, having watched a man for all seasons, i've now seen every best picture winner back to 1958.
askakop
me: you know those retards who drive with headphones on? is that legal?
askakop: there is nothing in the code book that says you can't do that, however if they get in an accident, that will be a factor used against them to determine fault.
got an A- in cj ethics. not the happiest about it, but i'll take it. could have gotten a lot worse in that class. the only final i have left is contracts on thursday night. i'm so far behind on this blog. i'm actually writing stuff that i should have written like over a week ago. i have three looong movie reviews to put up, my religion, the look of the pope, international war courts, theme music, sin city, and more. so i'm going to try my hardest to get all this crap up sometime this week and weekend. sorry if this post sucks and you've had to force yourself to read long reviews on crappy old movies. just think though, i had to sit through them.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
hello stranger
Closer (2004): good tone set to the movie by their wit, emotions, etc. great, great music. the characters are extremely odd and most would think that they really don't resemble you and i. i'd argue differently though and say that they are really hot looking average people. i did find it interesting that they chose two guy brits and two chick yanks. i would have liked to of read the infamous book they kept talking about. i thought jude was really a prick in the film, which seems to be his typecast role as of late. the story is very complicated because it runs really deep with emotions flying in every which way. for some reason, julia really reminded me at times of karen. please don't ask why cuz i don't remember now. nat port is perfection. of course i'm biased but i truly think she stole the show on this one. absolute perfection on film and the greatest actress in 30+ years. clive was also really awesome. he should absolutely be the next bond if anyone cares about what i think. the flash-backs and flash-forwards really make you think, but its nothing that the average person can't figure out. you will be appalled by one of two things in this movie. 1. the movie is about the harsh realities of love and i mean harsh. it can be hard to sit through at times. 2. the movie contains lots of harsh language. if you've got a weak stomach for the sopranos, this might not be for you. those that fall into number two will be blinded by the language and fail to see the great beauty of a film this actually is. buy it.
A Man for All Seasons (1966): the cover looks dreadfully dull. this was made relatively close to tom jones so i wonder if some old english phase was going around the movies at the time. at first you really have no idea what the crap is going on. the music is outstanding, but the movie is very much an "acting movie," where you're sure to get nominated for every acting award (this having nominations for 3 of the 4). i think it ended up being slightly better than its cover. there is a big mirror of christ's life. there were amazing costumes. the whole movie felt like it was made in the 80's during that phase of huge sweeping and exotic epic dramas at the time. this is very much a compliment meaning it was thirty years ahead of its time. its worth seeing because you also get a really cool glimpse into the catholic church which times nicely with the pope dying and all.
the starting line’s 'given a chance' comes on my comp and immediately started kinda dancing in my chair. then i realized that i should have been a girl because i really dance like a girl pretty good. that’s not to say i can’t dance good like a girl. it’s like i’m maybe a 6 or 7 when it comes to being a good guy dancer, but like a 8 or 9 when it comes to being a good girl dancer. and i’m not talking about doing crazy sexual booty dancing. i’m saying like club dancing. don’t take any of this and assume i’ve got some gay tendencies in me cuz i don’t and i’ll kill your family if you think otherwise.
i said something today along the lines of “i’m so awkward” and could not for the life of me remember what it was from, then it hit me. it’s chris from family guy. i think he says it to a girl or something then runs off.
my sister’s prom was tonight so we headed to their place for some good times with the whole thing. the cute little couple looked good and i’ll make sure to have pics up soon.
sunday morning call is so beautiful.
A Man for All Seasons (1966): the cover looks dreadfully dull. this was made relatively close to tom jones so i wonder if some old english phase was going around the movies at the time. at first you really have no idea what the crap is going on. the music is outstanding, but the movie is very much an "acting movie," where you're sure to get nominated for every acting award (this having nominations for 3 of the 4). i think it ended up being slightly better than its cover. there is a big mirror of christ's life. there were amazing costumes. the whole movie felt like it was made in the 80's during that phase of huge sweeping and exotic epic dramas at the time. this is very much a compliment meaning it was thirty years ahead of its time. its worth seeing because you also get a really cool glimpse into the catholic church which times nicely with the pope dying and all.
the starting line’s 'given a chance' comes on my comp and immediately started kinda dancing in my chair. then i realized that i should have been a girl because i really dance like a girl pretty good. that’s not to say i can’t dance good like a girl. it’s like i’m maybe a 6 or 7 when it comes to being a good guy dancer, but like a 8 or 9 when it comes to being a good girl dancer. and i’m not talking about doing crazy sexual booty dancing. i’m saying like club dancing. don’t take any of this and assume i’ve got some gay tendencies in me cuz i don’t and i’ll kill your family if you think otherwise.
i said something today along the lines of “i’m so awkward” and could not for the life of me remember what it was from, then it hit me. it’s chris from family guy. i think he says it to a girl or something then runs off.
my sister’s prom was tonight so we headed to their place for some good times with the whole thing. the cute little couple looked good and i’ll make sure to have pics up soon.
sunday morning call is so beautiful.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
it's a day in the autumn
Wings (1927): there are amazing special effects even for today. there was a huge freaking cast. almost like they shot this during the war and much of it was actual footage. and there are a ton of really gruesome scenes. i assume this is all accurate being produced only a few years after the war's end. there are insane plane shots and dog fights, but each time a plane is shot down, its fall and crash down to earth is always way too dramatic. a little while into the movie the stupid organ, which plays for the entire 150 minutes, gets so annoying. it is a silent film, so you have be able to trudge through that. but it is totally worth it and i really think you should all look for this movie out there. it is somewhat entertaining, but i really think you should see it based on its historical value. you learn about WWI and the movies of the twenties. this was the year of the first talkie too, meaning this is probably at the height of the silent picture phase. this movie had to have been a massive undertaking, comparable to how LOTR was today. and finally, it was winner of the best picture award from the acadamy. worth seeing.
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930): i can tell this movie is not about the acting because the acting credits don't come on until all the other technical credits have been shown. its hard at first to believe it and fully be in the movie because its a bunch of american actors, playing germans, and not using any accents. there is a bit of overacting from some of the characters. and as i watched, i kept forgetting it was the germans i was watching. thought the movie was about a bunch of american kids. you definitely see some pretty disturbing images of war. this is like the saving private ryan of its time and for WWI. makes me wonder if people will ever make any good movies about the gulf war, and not including the made for CBS sunday night movies or pearl harbor with benny a. there have been a lot of movies made about pretty much every american war. so now the challenge is on for hollywood to make pressing a button on a boat in the middle of the ocean and killing hundreds of people thousands of miles away. that's not to discredit the troops on the ground. please you can't tell me that those missiles didn't kill a huge percentage of the total dead. war just isn't like it used to be. has terribly long scenes, but there are parts with the constant sound of bombs for minutes at a time which makes for a real creepy feeling not found in most war movies. i kept losing track of who everyone was. it was a little weak on the plot and was very anti-germany the little "disclaimer" at the beginning doesn't make it any better. maybe what happened in the movie is all factual, but not a single good thing happens to the main characters. good ending, worth seeing.
well ladies and gents, i'm gonna give it to you straight. friday i had a second interview with that internship from a while back, but this time to intern in the fall. interview went well, they called me back about 30 minutes later and offered it to me, i said yes, and here stand i. so this fall semester i will be interning in washington d.c. for senator bob bennett (r-utah). i am so stinkin thrilled about it all. well, i still don't think it has hit me yet. as plans take shape i'll keep it updated here. as of now, kim would stay in utah, i will hopefully be getting a place out there that the university of utah owns with like three other guys, i get paid more than i'm making now, i would leave late august and return the first week of december, and i will probably be getting 8 credits for school out of the deal. those are the basics. anything can change at this point, including the fact i'm actually going. thanks to everyone for all the support by the way they pushed me on. special thanks to marsha haynes from uvsc!!
i came up with this very clever idea yesterday. lets assume that the sopranos is filming right now for their last season (i do not know if they are or not, but lets assume). they are all really churchy (fake or not) and all about italy and stuff, so i wonder if they will touch on the fact that the pope died. it is obviously something that in real life, the characters would all be very distraught over it for weeks. its just something that i can really picture the writers putting in. but then again, by the time that season actually comes out (fall '06), no one will want to watch stuff about the pope again. it will be old news by then. its already old news. and also, correct me if i'm wrong, but kim and i realized that they never mentioned the wtc after it had happened. time will tell.
took a final yesterday for ethical issues in criminal justice, which i realized was the highest course level i've ever taken at 4200. of course this summer i think i'm gonna shatter that record with some other stupid class. as far as my grade goes, i might get an A out of it. i didn't do so well on prior exams, so maybe a B+ or an A-, but an A is still a possibility. next up to bat is legal ethics which will be in the testing center later this week. i think i'm studying for it today but we'll see. i'll give you my thoughts on that after its exam.
i came across this little article about this artifact being sent back to its origin. anyways the article is so amazing to read because its about a history that i had never heard of and i guarantee that none of you have either. so everyone should read this because it is really cool and you will feel like you haven't completely wasted your day but you actually learned something. so, read it.
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930): i can tell this movie is not about the acting because the acting credits don't come on until all the other technical credits have been shown. its hard at first to believe it and fully be in the movie because its a bunch of american actors, playing germans, and not using any accents. there is a bit of overacting from some of the characters. and as i watched, i kept forgetting it was the germans i was watching. thought the movie was about a bunch of american kids. you definitely see some pretty disturbing images of war. this is like the saving private ryan of its time and for WWI. makes me wonder if people will ever make any good movies about the gulf war, and not including the made for CBS sunday night movies or pearl harbor with benny a. there have been a lot of movies made about pretty much every american war. so now the challenge is on for hollywood to make pressing a button on a boat in the middle of the ocean and killing hundreds of people thousands of miles away. that's not to discredit the troops on the ground. please you can't tell me that those missiles didn't kill a huge percentage of the total dead. war just isn't like it used to be. has terribly long scenes, but there are parts with the constant sound of bombs for minutes at a time which makes for a real creepy feeling not found in most war movies. i kept losing track of who everyone was. it was a little weak on the plot and was very anti-germany the little "disclaimer" at the beginning doesn't make it any better. maybe what happened in the movie is all factual, but not a single good thing happens to the main characters. good ending, worth seeing.
well ladies and gents, i'm gonna give it to you straight. friday i had a second interview with that internship from a while back, but this time to intern in the fall. interview went well, they called me back about 30 minutes later and offered it to me, i said yes, and here stand i. so this fall semester i will be interning in washington d.c. for senator bob bennett (r-utah). i am so stinkin thrilled about it all. well, i still don't think it has hit me yet. as plans take shape i'll keep it updated here. as of now, kim would stay in utah, i will hopefully be getting a place out there that the university of utah owns with like three other guys, i get paid more than i'm making now, i would leave late august and return the first week of december, and i will probably be getting 8 credits for school out of the deal. those are the basics. anything can change at this point, including the fact i'm actually going. thanks to everyone for all the support by the way they pushed me on. special thanks to marsha haynes from uvsc!!
i came up with this very clever idea yesterday. lets assume that the sopranos is filming right now for their last season (i do not know if they are or not, but lets assume). they are all really churchy (fake or not) and all about italy and stuff, so i wonder if they will touch on the fact that the pope died. it is obviously something that in real life, the characters would all be very distraught over it for weeks. its just something that i can really picture the writers putting in. but then again, by the time that season actually comes out (fall '06), no one will want to watch stuff about the pope again. it will be old news by then. its already old news. and also, correct me if i'm wrong, but kim and i realized that they never mentioned the wtc after it had happened. time will tell.
took a final yesterday for ethical issues in criminal justice, which i realized was the highest course level i've ever taken at 4200. of course this summer i think i'm gonna shatter that record with some other stupid class. as far as my grade goes, i might get an A out of it. i didn't do so well on prior exams, so maybe a B+ or an A-, but an A is still a possibility. next up to bat is legal ethics which will be in the testing center later this week. i think i'm studying for it today but we'll see. i'll give you my thoughts on that after its exam.
i came across this little article about this artifact being sent back to its origin. anyways the article is so amazing to read because its about a history that i had never heard of and i guarantee that none of you have either. so everyone should read this because it is really cool and you will feel like you haven't completely wasted your day but you actually learned something. so, read it.
Monday, April 18, 2005
spring is here again
okay, here goes. i was in the car listening to my 1 of 2 actually decent radio stations (and the other being NPR). they were playing their usual awesome rockin when suddenly nirvana’s in bloom came on and i began to think about a certain person i know because for a perioud of time he lived straight out of bellingham, washington, which is roughly 90 miles from seattle, during an explosive time in music history for certain group of people. for example, i suppose you could call the boy band thing a blip in the music history, but did it affect one certain group over another? and i’m not talking about if it affected an entire generation. for example, growing up in your teens while living in liverpool during the mid sixies is kinda what i see my bro, as having been in washington during the time of "all eyes on seattle" because every freaking top song on the radio and mtv is a band from there, and every new band after them sounds exactly like them. that makes him kind of as someone who will go through life being able to say, “i lived through something extraordinary.” kind of like if you were in WWI or II, i saw it happen in dallas that sunny november day, i was in the WTC the day of. now in no way am i putting a comparison between seattle and all the ones above, but what i’m saying is that they are kind of in a class of their own. i am a firm believer that music, with a huge population of the world (unsure if more or less than majority), shapes their lives completely, in style of clothes, walk, talk, look, morals, likes, dislikes, etc. do you think hicks would be hicks without kuntry musik? its certainly not living in texas that does because i know there are plenty of suburban hicks not living in texas or the country or the south, or the midwest. so the kuntry influences the suburamite wife, which makes her make him listen to it, which he finds kinda catchy, which makes him watch CMT, which makes him start to like nascar, which makes him hang out with the rednecks buddies at the office, which makes him go to a truck show when they come to the city, which makes him go to a rodeo, which makes him a stinky cowbowy. see what music does to a person? and of course it is an extreme exaggeration, but you can’t tell me that at some point in your life, music hasn’t pretty much completely shaped you. so because the huge impact music has on a person’s life, i feel that if you are living in a city where something happens that shapes music in such a way the all of the population is affected and it changes the way music is forever played and just changes the people, then that belongs in the history books as people who lives through something really amazing (good or bad) in history. And no, not just the history of pop culture. then i starting on about i would love to ask my brother about what it was like and if he misses it and so on. as nirvana contined to play along, i began to wonder off topic and just started thinking about the beatles anthology that came out like 10 years ago or something and how i had always wanted it ever since they played it all on tv for like 6 nights in a row or something crazy like that. then started thinking about how it would be cool to own all the histories of the big music things that i’ve been talking about on dvd. get something about living in new orleans during her day, or even something like vienna with beethoven? why stop there though? what about other huge events in human history? i would love to own dvds about the big things in life; stuff with meaning. even if that means going out and buying those dumb time warner time life national geographic videos, then that’s what that means. of course you’ll want to know why i want this craziness, but if you know me at all this won’t come as a shock. creating the utlimate dvd collection (to me of course) is something that i’m basically striving for in life right now. and i’m a huge fan of history and film and facts and numbers and all the other crap that bores so many out there aside from dads in their late 40s to early 50s. on my computer i have toooons of historical footage i’ve found from time to time. and i loooove showing people all this crap and telling the ear off of kim about all this crap and i know i’m such a loser for it. what i realized is that its time for another list!!!! after i have made my ultamite dvd collection for theatatrical movies, i will move on to another list, that being dvds about the big events of history. obviously, being that there is like 70 more dvds on my list today, i won’t be getting to that time, for a long time. but what i’m hoping for is that by the time that comes, i’ll be a tad older and really, really into this crap. i finally pulled into campus and kurt was coming to his end, then it was kind of funny because weezer’s say it ain’t so then came on. and just in case you are wondering, no, I don’t think that living in l.a. during the mid nineties when this geek/college/garage/rock/post-alternative thing was going on. i praise weezer, but i realize they aren’t they greatest band of all time. then i parked, walked to class, hopped on the comp, and typed away. not sure what the point of all this is or why i feel like I have to take an hour of my life to write it all. i guess kim could thank my brother for the fact that i’m now going to probably spend hundreds of dollars in the future on more useless crap (dvds).
please remember that this is just one of a zillion other opinions out there. this isn’t set in stone. if its was i’d be king. a lot of you are going to disagree with me about believing nirvana should get a mention in the history of us here beings, but get over it.
two people this time did their homework in stats; myself and this other guy who has been thrusting his fist in the air and yelling YEEEEeeeesss everytime the teachers goes over one he got right!!! that’s good and bad i guess. means that i’m gonna have to sit here and waste my time while he goes over every problem for these morons but it also means that i’ll be able to write all this without missing anything new in class.
so while the teacher does it for everyone, there is the guy next to me on a laptop and i heard his laptop make the sound when a little error message screen pops up. then i saw him just throw his hands up and yell, “son of a bitch!!”. he seems to be playing mike tyson’s punchout on his laptop now. then on my left is this wife helping her husband finish his homework. the professor made it well known earlier this semester that they don’t cheat because they got different scores on an exam once. well its pretty cute stuff going on next to me because she is getting frustrated because she is already done. she just took over his computer and mouse and is just doing it and showing him now. (that will all sound really sexual if you read it again starting from “well its pretty . . . “ she has now just been doing his homework for about 30 minutes now. she’s a very good wife. i have a very good wife.
please remember that this is just one of a zillion other opinions out there. this isn’t set in stone. if its was i’d be king. a lot of you are going to disagree with me about believing nirvana should get a mention in the history of us here beings, but get over it.
two people this time did their homework in stats; myself and this other guy who has been thrusting his fist in the air and yelling YEEEEeeeesss everytime the teachers goes over one he got right!!! that’s good and bad i guess. means that i’m gonna have to sit here and waste my time while he goes over every problem for these morons but it also means that i’ll be able to write all this without missing anything new in class.
so while the teacher does it for everyone, there is the guy next to me on a laptop and i heard his laptop make the sound when a little error message screen pops up. then i saw him just throw his hands up and yell, “son of a bitch!!”. he seems to be playing mike tyson’s punchout on his laptop now. then on my left is this wife helping her husband finish his homework. the professor made it well known earlier this semester that they don’t cheat because they got different scores on an exam once. well its pretty cute stuff going on next to me because she is getting frustrated because she is already done. she just took over his computer and mouse and is just doing it and showing him now. (that will all sound really sexual if you read it again starting from “well its pretty . . . “ she has now just been doing his homework for about 30 minutes now. she’s a very good wife. i have a very good wife.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
adam carolla or norm macdonald for family guy?
The Life of Emile Zola (1937): boring. one of those movies you'll probably see if you have to get a law degree, but not because you want to (kinda like 12 angry men). lots of looooong courtroom scenes. the period that the film is set in is really dumb. don't see.
The Lost Weekend (1945): zzzzzz. its just about being an alcoholic and some guy trying to kick the habit. the music is all way too big for this movie. its a very feel good movie, but not at all worth seeing.
An American in Paris (1951): gene kelly is the most amazing dancer and singer. he would have made a great cavalier color guard member. the songs are all just kind of average and gene kelly's main love interest is kind of below average. and what kind of painter walks around paris in tap shoes? this movie really should have been set on the stage rather than screen. it also has the world's longest, craziest dream sequence ever shot on film. i wasn't sure what the whole 20 minutes of it was about. the costumes all make me sick, despite winning an oscar for them. the ending was way too easy and didn't take into account the other chick that wanted him. she probably ended up jumping from the eiffel tower because he was such a prick to her. and i got a little laugh about the "made in hollywood" credit at the end after all these huge elaborate sets and backdrops of paris. don't see.
death death death. such a crazy thing. officer got shot tonight out in orem handling some domestic dispute while i was here working. he'll be okay which is good but its still pretty crazy. i often times think about different times in my life to die. for instance, the time when i'm at my lowest point in life, am down on my luck with absolutely nothing going for me would be a good time to die. last night as i was running i realized that it would not be a good time to get mugged and die, but would be probably the most dramatic time in my life to die. with everything going on in my life now and secrets unfolding left and right, it would certainly be a death fitting for a great movie. as you can see, i didn't get mugged.
i might have some big news to announce soon. key word is might of course. i'll be dropping a hint over in my link box thing within the next few days, which as you can see is now up and fully functional. please check out some of the links. i'd hate to think of me wasting my beautiful sunday afternoon trying to fix it just so you can skip over all my movie reviews and see if i've said anything worthwhile today.
i have to say that i feel very caught up with school. not that i've got good grades this semester, but at least i'm not behind. now all i really have are finals; two being this week and two the next. then off to more classes for the summer. i'll be taking bankruptcy law, computerized legal research, race & minority relations, and comparative criminal justice systems. i might add some more if i need them, but hopefully not. who knows, might also throw in an internship somewhere in the mix.
The Lost Weekend (1945): zzzzzz. its just about being an alcoholic and some guy trying to kick the habit. the music is all way too big for this movie. its a very feel good movie, but not at all worth seeing.
An American in Paris (1951): gene kelly is the most amazing dancer and singer. he would have made a great cavalier color guard member. the songs are all just kind of average and gene kelly's main love interest is kind of below average. and what kind of painter walks around paris in tap shoes? this movie really should have been set on the stage rather than screen. it also has the world's longest, craziest dream sequence ever shot on film. i wasn't sure what the whole 20 minutes of it was about. the costumes all make me sick, despite winning an oscar for them. the ending was way too easy and didn't take into account the other chick that wanted him. she probably ended up jumping from the eiffel tower because he was such a prick to her. and i got a little laugh about the "made in hollywood" credit at the end after all these huge elaborate sets and backdrops of paris. don't see.
death death death. such a crazy thing. officer got shot tonight out in orem handling some domestic dispute while i was here working. he'll be okay which is good but its still pretty crazy. i often times think about different times in my life to die. for instance, the time when i'm at my lowest point in life, am down on my luck with absolutely nothing going for me would be a good time to die. last night as i was running i realized that it would not be a good time to get mugged and die, but would be probably the most dramatic time in my life to die. with everything going on in my life now and secrets unfolding left and right, it would certainly be a death fitting for a great movie. as you can see, i didn't get mugged.
i might have some big news to announce soon. key word is might of course. i'll be dropping a hint over in my link box thing within the next few days, which as you can see is now up and fully functional. please check out some of the links. i'd hate to think of me wasting my beautiful sunday afternoon trying to fix it just so you can skip over all my movie reviews and see if i've said anything worthwhile today.
i have to say that i feel very caught up with school. not that i've got good grades this semester, but at least i'm not behind. now all i really have are finals; two being this week and two the next. then off to more classes for the summer. i'll be taking bankruptcy law, computerized legal research, race & minority relations, and comparative criminal justice systems. i might add some more if i need them, but hopefully not. who knows, might also throw in an internship somewhere in the mix.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
thank you for saying thank you
Marty (1955): it is a really odd story for its time. they tried hard to be different in their angles of shooting, kind of like what you'd see today from six feet under or any pt anderson movie. sometimes you gotta wonder about what people are thinking with their target audiences. this movie is geared towards, i'd say 30 to 40 year olds. is that maybe a sign of the times for those days? lots of great moments of showing and not telling, and the actors really getting into character without any dialogue. the movie ends rather abruptly with no climax whatsoever. its also not very entertaining either. don't see.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935): proves my point again about the stunt work at the time of these movies. our grandparents were freaking nuts man. the movie would be good for analyzing the way a person reacts to stress and pressure until they eventually just crack and go all anarchy. actually, i can think of about three other little term papers you could write about and probably get published. either way, good for a psychology class, but entertainment wise it sucks. probably was a huge endeavor in '35 though. huge themes about redemption, retribution, forgiveness, and every philosophical/ethical issue out there. the story branches toward the end into three different directions, each pretty dang interesting. then, i'm sure it was action driven whereas today it has to be purely plot driven. worth seeing nonetheless.
Mrs. Miniver (1942): it was interesting to see what life was life for the upper middle class during the 30's. there was a pretty eerie part because you never actually saw the raids or bombs hitting, but just the peeps' expressions waiting to see if their own place gets hit. i really enjoy movies that start with an event and ends on the same event. (happened in upside of anger too) so as far as what i really thought of it: booooring and not very entertaining. don't see.
askakop
me: in the movie SWAT, that guy got pulled over and arrested because the owner of the vehicle had a warrant out for him. can they do that?
cop: i remember that part in the movie. well if you can't verify the identity of the driver and they are claiming that they aren't the owner of the vehicle, then you have all right to place them under arrest until you can verify who they are.
a big thanks to askakop for participating. or not participating since i don't think he knows i'm writing this. so i'm on a schedule now for the rest of the week trying to get all my crap done for school. found myself in a position where i had more to do than time to do it in. so thanks to the lovely kim for being my consultant on that one. i'm pissed beyond belief that my stupid link box crap hasn't been working (on my end at least). i have no idea what the problem is because the freaking website is just a shitty programmer's user manual. so now i have to get back to my schedule. down with laws of contracts.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935): proves my point again about the stunt work at the time of these movies. our grandparents were freaking nuts man. the movie would be good for analyzing the way a person reacts to stress and pressure until they eventually just crack and go all anarchy. actually, i can think of about three other little term papers you could write about and probably get published. either way, good for a psychology class, but entertainment wise it sucks. probably was a huge endeavor in '35 though. huge themes about redemption, retribution, forgiveness, and every philosophical/ethical issue out there. the story branches toward the end into three different directions, each pretty dang interesting. then, i'm sure it was action driven whereas today it has to be purely plot driven. worth seeing nonetheless.
Mrs. Miniver (1942): it was interesting to see what life was life for the upper middle class during the 30's. there was a pretty eerie part because you never actually saw the raids or bombs hitting, but just the peeps' expressions waiting to see if their own place gets hit. i really enjoy movies that start with an event and ends on the same event. (happened in upside of anger too) so as far as what i really thought of it: booooring and not very entertaining. don't see.
askakop
me: in the movie SWAT, that guy got pulled over and arrested because the owner of the vehicle had a warrant out for him. can they do that?
cop: i remember that part in the movie. well if you can't verify the identity of the driver and they are claiming that they aren't the owner of the vehicle, then you have all right to place them under arrest until you can verify who they are.
a big thanks to askakop for participating. or not participating since i don't think he knows i'm writing this. so i'm on a schedule now for the rest of the week trying to get all my crap done for school. found myself in a position where i had more to do than time to do it in. so thanks to the lovely kim for being my consultant on that one. i'm pissed beyond belief that my stupid link box crap hasn't been working (on my end at least). i have no idea what the problem is because the freaking website is just a shitty programmer's user manual. so now i have to get back to my schedule. down with laws of contracts.
Monday, April 11, 2005
"funny quote from one of the movies below"
Harold & Kumar Go to While Castle (2004): starts off with a pretty dumb and uncreative opener. the movie is pretty much half baked meets dude where's my car. it becomes easy to pick out parts in the movie with who everyone is. i'm harold and ryan is kumar without a doubt. but mind you, i do believe that each of us have stereotypes about us, so these parts for us i think are the stereotypical characters of us. oh, and jeramie is the hippie businessman. and i should just note that some guy in the movie used the term "tard" which is what i've used for years now thank you very much. the movie was hilarious though. i found, what seemed like, many homage’s to deliverance. towards the end, the plot because so unrealistic and gets way too corny. but there are a million amazing moments that make up for its corniness. neil patrick harris stole the show by the way. worth seeing for him alone. there are a few predictable moments, absolutely terrible special effects (so bad that i couldn't even bear to watch), and was hysterically funny for the first thirty minutes, then kinda dumb the rest (much like high school high). a rare comedy though actually worth buying. and i want to start an extreme club now. those guys rock.
Lolita (1962): peter sellers is so freaking funny. i can't believe how sexual of a movie it is. it was obviously way ahead of its time. doesn't have the best acting or cinematography (good, but not the best), but the story is so unique and the greatest ever. it is interesting to look at this movie in the eyes of someone living today vs. someone living in '62 when the movie came out. just imagine how people then must have felt. again, its one of the most sexual flicks i've ever seen (strange that i thought that for the professional too), but there is no nudity and you hardly ever see stuff go on between lolita and humbert. it all comes down to one thing: kubrick is a genius. finally, a huge, sweeping score puts a great touch on it. buy it.
The Upside of Anger (2005): i guess what i liked about this movie is how real it seemed. if anyone has had his share of crappy family moments in life then its me. they conversations and ways they would act towards each other was so believable (for the most part at least). i also think that i was able to relate to every character in the movie which was kind of odd. it’s a quality film for the whole teen and up family. so tack on another baseball movie for kevin costner and tack on another dvd for me to buy. oh wait. my only real complaint is that the four daughters are all way too hot. they could have toned it down a tad during casting. it was just a little distracting through the movie. final, final note...there is a crazy surprise ending that will have you thinking about for days. worth it just for that.
was gonna wear my volcom hat this morning but something told me not to so i wore my black quiksilver one instead. turned out being a good morning decision because i saw a guy walking by me today at school wearing my volcom hat. hurray for intuition!!!
i hate people who blast that popular green day song from their car. none of these people actually own the album. while listening to their adult john mayer playing "rock" station, green day comes on and everyone likes green day this year so its so cool for me to blast it because i'm totally down with green day. i hate them. the people. not green day.
when people think of quality musical icons in our history i think a select few will always pop up. such as hendrix, cobain, morrison, marley, beatles, stones, elvis, etc. (this is not a final list, so no one criticize me putting this list on. i realize that this list may include more or less. and there are many other peeps out there deserving of the list that aren't huge mainstream acts like those above, like the new york dolls or a ton of other genres. but just go with me on the list above.) well my question is about the musical times we live today. ten years from now, will we look back on today, or basically any point in time between maybe 1996 and today, and say, "wow, that band is immortal and will live on forever because of their greatness." and again, i'm not talking about bands that will make history like backstreet boys and nsync for starting the brief, but popular boy band revolution. i'm talking about bands or singers who have such a high quality of musicianship and creativity that they change the scope of the industry. they put a huge ripple that will never be forgotten. these would be the most influential groups out there. has there been anyone like that from the late nineties up till today? i don't have an answer, i guess i'm just putting the question out there.
i'm gonna be starting a new and hopefully long lasting addition to the blog. not sure what i'll call it, but basically i'm gonna ask a cop at my work a question about the law. i'll post my question and his answer on the blog and basically we'll go from there. doesn't sound very interesting, but then again, the current state of the union of this here place isn't very interesting. we'll see how it goes. i'm sure i'll forget about all of this by tomorrow anyways.
i really haven't talked much about the pope on here, so i guess here are my thoughts. i'm not going to say the pope was a wonderful person and did so much for peace and blah blah blah. we've been getting enough of that crap on the tv so go there if you want to hear it. what i will say is that i am all for events in history that brings the world together in a peaceful fashion. the olympics, or paying respects to the passing of life, or certain endeavors, including war. its good to see that. so for that reason, the pope john paul II was a good man.
one of the things that its made me realize is how different the world is from 1978 till now. the media has ballooned into something that most 30 years ago could not even fathom. i wonder how big of an event it was in '78 compared to how big it is now. you don't really learn growing up about the world event of the pope dying in '78. what's going on now seems like such a huge event that it will be spoken of as such for years to come. the reason for all of this i believe is the media and that just goes to practically prove that the media has an effect on people. for example, prior to him dying, i honestly could care less about him. i'm not saying i didn't think he was a good man, but i think a dying good man is the same as the next dying good man. but the second the news took hold of the coverage of his death i became interested and started to feel so close with the whole situation. this, all being contrary to my thoughts a few weeks prior. which all leads me to this: we are all who we are because of things that have influenced us over the years, which may or may not be the media. but how much would i lean in one direction or another living my whole life with it and without media's presence?
Oasis' cover of Heroes is heaven.
Lolita (1962): peter sellers is so freaking funny. i can't believe how sexual of a movie it is. it was obviously way ahead of its time. doesn't have the best acting or cinematography (good, but not the best), but the story is so unique and the greatest ever. it is interesting to look at this movie in the eyes of someone living today vs. someone living in '62 when the movie came out. just imagine how people then must have felt. again, its one of the most sexual flicks i've ever seen (strange that i thought that for the professional too), but there is no nudity and you hardly ever see stuff go on between lolita and humbert. it all comes down to one thing: kubrick is a genius. finally, a huge, sweeping score puts a great touch on it. buy it.
The Upside of Anger (2005): i guess what i liked about this movie is how real it seemed. if anyone has had his share of crappy family moments in life then its me. they conversations and ways they would act towards each other was so believable (for the most part at least). i also think that i was able to relate to every character in the movie which was kind of odd. it’s a quality film for the whole teen and up family. so tack on another baseball movie for kevin costner and tack on another dvd for me to buy. oh wait. my only real complaint is that the four daughters are all way too hot. they could have toned it down a tad during casting. it was just a little distracting through the movie. final, final note...there is a crazy surprise ending that will have you thinking about for days. worth it just for that.
was gonna wear my volcom hat this morning but something told me not to so i wore my black quiksilver one instead. turned out being a good morning decision because i saw a guy walking by me today at school wearing my volcom hat. hurray for intuition!!!
i hate people who blast that popular green day song from their car. none of these people actually own the album. while listening to their adult john mayer playing "rock" station, green day comes on and everyone likes green day this year so its so cool for me to blast it because i'm totally down with green day. i hate them. the people. not green day.
when people think of quality musical icons in our history i think a select few will always pop up. such as hendrix, cobain, morrison, marley, beatles, stones, elvis, etc. (this is not a final list, so no one criticize me putting this list on. i realize that this list may include more or less. and there are many other peeps out there deserving of the list that aren't huge mainstream acts like those above, like the new york dolls or a ton of other genres. but just go with me on the list above.) well my question is about the musical times we live today. ten years from now, will we look back on today, or basically any point in time between maybe 1996 and today, and say, "wow, that band is immortal and will live on forever because of their greatness." and again, i'm not talking about bands that will make history like backstreet boys and nsync for starting the brief, but popular boy band revolution. i'm talking about bands or singers who have such a high quality of musicianship and creativity that they change the scope of the industry. they put a huge ripple that will never be forgotten. these would be the most influential groups out there. has there been anyone like that from the late nineties up till today? i don't have an answer, i guess i'm just putting the question out there.
i'm gonna be starting a new and hopefully long lasting addition to the blog. not sure what i'll call it, but basically i'm gonna ask a cop at my work a question about the law. i'll post my question and his answer on the blog and basically we'll go from there. doesn't sound very interesting, but then again, the current state of the union of this here place isn't very interesting. we'll see how it goes. i'm sure i'll forget about all of this by tomorrow anyways.
i really haven't talked much about the pope on here, so i guess here are my thoughts. i'm not going to say the pope was a wonderful person and did so much for peace and blah blah blah. we've been getting enough of that crap on the tv so go there if you want to hear it. what i will say is that i am all for events in history that brings the world together in a peaceful fashion. the olympics, or paying respects to the passing of life, or certain endeavors, including war. its good to see that. so for that reason, the pope john paul II was a good man.
one of the things that its made me realize is how different the world is from 1978 till now. the media has ballooned into something that most 30 years ago could not even fathom. i wonder how big of an event it was in '78 compared to how big it is now. you don't really learn growing up about the world event of the pope dying in '78. what's going on now seems like such a huge event that it will be spoken of as such for years to come. the reason for all of this i believe is the media and that just goes to practically prove that the media has an effect on people. for example, prior to him dying, i honestly could care less about him. i'm not saying i didn't think he was a good man, but i think a dying good man is the same as the next dying good man. but the second the news took hold of the coverage of his death i became interested and started to feel so close with the whole situation. this, all being contrary to my thoughts a few weeks prior. which all leads me to this: we are all who we are because of things that have influenced us over the years, which may or may not be the media. but how much would i lean in one direction or another living my whole life with it and without media's presence?
Oasis' cover of Heroes is heaven.
would notre dame stop at 4 in '49? i think not
Mr. 3000 (2004): this movie wasn't so great. the makeup effects to make bernie look older were terrible and you could see the lines from where they applied it. the love scenes with bernie were about as bad as watching clint eastwood love scenes. keep the love scenes for the pretty people only. terrible songs they played. the entire movie was very clichéd and predictable. you can tell that the director added useless pieces of plot and phrases to the script just so they could have memorable lines for the trailer. it was basically your stupid average sports movie, with all the same tv shows in the movie talking about the movie, like larry king, jay leno, best damn sports show, etc). nothing made this movie stand out over all other sports comedy movies. there is nothing original about the movie. and by the time of the last game, i could predict every pitch's outcome. the cardboard cutouts in the upper decks of the stadiums are terrible obvious and the live actual crowd is completely unrealistic. have you actually been to a baseball game? people generally just kinda sit around and get drunk at the games and aren't screaming like mad for the players. finally, all the little pieces at the end to tie up the whole movie dragged on and on for like 15 minutes. they should have just ended it much sooner. don't ask me why the trailer made me think that this movie would be a good one. don't see.
When Will I Be Loved (2004): the opening metaphors were way to obvious. this movie just tries too hard to be all artsy and independent. it was a terribly cheap way to try and open your little artsy, risqué movie with neve cambell "so seductive" by being naked for the first part, but not actually showing anything. are they trying to pull a boogie nights and reveal her at the end, because that would be sooo artsy and independent. this movie is a bad B movie and proves that just because its indie doesn't make it good. the mike tyson cameo is the only good thing about the movie. it actually might be worth watching just to get about a month supply of tyson movie one-liners to quote to all your friends. oooo, and look at them, they are soooo trendy because they used beethoven for all the songs and looooong cuts which makes for lots of totally cool improv from these incredibly artsy actors which makes the movie soooo cool. not really sure what the point of the movie was, but the movie is sooo trendy that they probably left it open for interpretation. and did i mention how bad the acting really is? and for once i have to complain about how back the sound effects are. two people were getting it on but it sounded like they were doing it in a wood box or something. and watch them end the movie from a shot of her expression and freeze that shot and end it on that because that's sooo retro and cool. don't see.
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004): slow at first. there are a ton of pretty shots of south america but i've seen better movies that have a huge focus on landscapes. i wonder if they had easy rider in mind during production, considering the same theme of going on a spiritual journey on a motorcycle. the spanish language can be very beautiful at times in the movie. they certainly should make a sequel his life after these younger years. it was cool though to see the roots of such a celebrated man in history. reminds me of the first couple of hours of the movie gandhi. there is a perfect example of character development that should be expected out of every movie. the cinematography was great and each cut was perfect. the cast is full of beautiful people. if someone decides to come along and make a che sequel, i'll buy this movie. for now, just see it. by the way, a perfect ending.
just a word to everyone, this blog is half my life and half movies. sometimes you get more of one and not the other depending on the day. today happens to be a day for movies. couple things worth mentioning before i have to go home and sleep. mam and sis got baptized with the mormon church yesterday. it was really cool being there for them. i think my mam is gonna be really happy now having this in her life. and looks like mr. melchior did it again. 4th state championship for his drum line in 4 years time. that's my boy!
When Will I Be Loved (2004): the opening metaphors were way to obvious. this movie just tries too hard to be all artsy and independent. it was a terribly cheap way to try and open your little artsy, risqué movie with neve cambell "so seductive" by being naked for the first part, but not actually showing anything. are they trying to pull a boogie nights and reveal her at the end, because that would be sooo artsy and independent. this movie is a bad B movie and proves that just because its indie doesn't make it good. the mike tyson cameo is the only good thing about the movie. it actually might be worth watching just to get about a month supply of tyson movie one-liners to quote to all your friends. oooo, and look at them, they are soooo trendy because they used beethoven for all the songs and looooong cuts which makes for lots of totally cool improv from these incredibly artsy actors which makes the movie soooo cool. not really sure what the point of the movie was, but the movie is sooo trendy that they probably left it open for interpretation. and did i mention how bad the acting really is? and for once i have to complain about how back the sound effects are. two people were getting it on but it sounded like they were doing it in a wood box or something. and watch them end the movie from a shot of her expression and freeze that shot and end it on that because that's sooo retro and cool. don't see.
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004): slow at first. there are a ton of pretty shots of south america but i've seen better movies that have a huge focus on landscapes. i wonder if they had easy rider in mind during production, considering the same theme of going on a spiritual journey on a motorcycle. the spanish language can be very beautiful at times in the movie. they certainly should make a sequel his life after these younger years. it was cool though to see the roots of such a celebrated man in history. reminds me of the first couple of hours of the movie gandhi. there is a perfect example of character development that should be expected out of every movie. the cinematography was great and each cut was perfect. the cast is full of beautiful people. if someone decides to come along and make a che sequel, i'll buy this movie. for now, just see it. by the way, a perfect ending.
just a word to everyone, this blog is half my life and half movies. sometimes you get more of one and not the other depending on the day. today happens to be a day for movies. couple things worth mentioning before i have to go home and sleep. mam and sis got baptized with the mormon church yesterday. it was really cool being there for them. i think my mam is gonna be really happy now having this in her life. and looks like mr. melchior did it again. 4th state championship for his drum line in 4 years time. that's my boy!
Thursday, April 07, 2005
i'm going to dismal land!!!
Hang ‘Em High (1968): this movie had so much potential going for it at the start. of course it was just another western about revenge, which we have all seen a million times before, but that doesn’t stop us from loving them. eastwood plays the same character as in all his westerns and i was thrilled at first to find another western jewel. however, it started getting real cheesy, real fast. being his first american western, they had to go and throw in some stupid love story with him. right off the bat, no one wants to see clint eastwood making out with some chick during a love scene. its just not natural. then the ending just blew because they wanted to make you think by leaving the story hanging. we want the traditional western ending where the good guy and bad guy have the long stand off and the good guy wins. that’s all i’m asking for. the music was excellent and the whole movie really reminded me of kill bill volume 2. over all it was good, but there is no comparison to his other work. don’t see.
The Last Emperor (1987): the good news: having seen this movie, i have now seen every academy award best picture winner back to 1966. pretty cool huh? well i think so. the movie is very beautiful in its settings and the characters all played out very well. its hard to really figure out the true nature of the emperor though. one scene he could be the worst person in the world and the next he is somewhat normal. the movie really drags and it feels like there is never any huge climactic events that go on. as far as the plot goes, think of the truman show in early 20th century china. weird mix i know, but worth seeing i guess. but just barely.
Network (1976): this is such an odd movie. i had so many feelings throughout the movie that i don’t even know how to rate this. the acting by each individual character was spectacular. very stage-like acting. but then again, some of the acting was so unbelievable. the different techniques they used for storytelling was perfect, however, i found it hard to care about something as trivial in my life as the bureaucracy of network television. i just didn’t seem to find any interest in the business, despite their best efforts to make the television industry seem interesting. movie wise, this is as good as it gets, but the subject matter stank. this is about as subjective as my little reviews can get, so just a friendly reminder, this blog is not the word of god speaking. just little old ethan giving his thoughts. so you may all like this movie and you should probably see it, but for me, its not worth seeing again.
you get 25 extra credit points for figuring out what the link o’ the day is and how it works. its not there now, but i'll put it on later today. not sure how practical this is and i don’t think i’ll be using it on a daily basis, but its still cool. and don’t ask how i found this.
i’m pissed off that i left my movie at home today so i have nothing to do at work now. tomorrow i have a feeling it is going to be a great day. i want to go see a matinee tomorrow and just relax. we’ll see though. usually plans like that never work out.
quote of the day on
me: they are gonna do the castle all pink like a birthday cake
you: well it should be done by now so i guess ill go check that out. i just want to see what they did to space mountain but thats not open till summer. so pretty much i will check out the castle then go to the other park and drink my 8 dollar beer and eat corn dogs in the smoking area while i think about how much i hate my life.
i couldn’t have said it better.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
investing in one, takes away from another.
Rebel Without a Cause (1955): nothing too spectacular about this movie. lots of memorable movie moments, but none of them struck a note with me like they probably did at the time. basically, it just shows how ridiculous kids were in the 50's (not saying any generation of kids were not ridiculous, but all are just for different reasons). dean was amazing and mastered the art of making the audience believe in his "badass" self, but also that he is struggling in life and is really just a boy who's more unstable than not. movie ended on a very sad note which was cool. the movie probably shocked the conscious of many adults at the time just as Kids did in the 90's. for a great look at the times and the perfection of james dean, see it.
Doctor Zhivago (1965): a truly epic masterpiece, so complex yet real, that you'll want to go out and buy volumes of russian revolution history. okay, well maybe only i want to, but you will still love this movie. there are so many characters and intertwining that the fact the movie is 3 hours long won't phase you one bit. think of this movie as the pianist meets magnolia, all set against the backdrop of those crazy ruskies. it is beautifully shot like what you think of when you imagine the sound of music. i really think that this is the best "epic" movie i've ever seen next to gone with the wind. it has every genre rolled into one and really leaves you craving more and more well after the movie has ended. from the first note of the overture, you will be sucked into to this masterpiece. buy it.
Pillow Talk (1959): hard to watch rock hudson being such a pimp to the ladies and at certain times during the movie "pretending" to be gay. if only people knew at the time this movie came out, his career would be worse than my acting career. the movie was decent i guess. not much laughter came out of me. and how is it that a girl, who despises hudson throughout the entire movie, falls for him after realizing he has lied to her about who he really is. after re-reading that last sentence i realize that it makes no sense, but don't worry cuz i'm not going to ask you to see this movie anyways. her final conclusion to love him and be with him was just too unrealistic. any girl with any brain would have dropped the guy in a heartbeat. its better than most terrible romantic comedies today, but still bad. doris day is not pretty, rock hudson is gay, dialogue that and singing that goes on in their heads is stupid, and the opening credits make me want to puke. sets up the movie nicely. don't see.
went to vegas for the weekend to see my bro. pretty uneventful i guess. lost some money (no more vacation for us. oops.) and stayed up way too late. but glad to be home now. talked to my doc this morning and he thinks i have something. don't want to really talk about it cuz i feel pretty dumb having now been labeled this. i think my pills are really kicking in because i've been pretty happy lately. i hate the fact that by taking the pills i'm no longer the real me. this happy ethan is not the real ethan. but my doc and i talked about it and i feel a little better.
my mom and sis are scheduled to get baptized this saturday. i'm so excited for that to happen believe it or not. they seem really happy with the church and its good to see people happy. right now in my life is more stressful than probably any other time in my life prior. i've got so much on my plate right now that i don't know how i will be able to attend to it all. but of course i'm still good and irresponsible and have to watch 1-2 movies a day. but check out my list to watch on the links to the right and you'll see that the list is actually decreasing!! in my stats class again and its been 36 minutes since class started and we still haven't started lecturing. i hate this class. oooo. and i'm so excited because i ordered two wonderful dvds last night. keep an eye on my list of dvds i own to see what i get and when i get it. i'm thrilled though.
Doctor Zhivago (1965): a truly epic masterpiece, so complex yet real, that you'll want to go out and buy volumes of russian revolution history. okay, well maybe only i want to, but you will still love this movie. there are so many characters and intertwining that the fact the movie is 3 hours long won't phase you one bit. think of this movie as the pianist meets magnolia, all set against the backdrop of those crazy ruskies. it is beautifully shot like what you think of when you imagine the sound of music. i really think that this is the best "epic" movie i've ever seen next to gone with the wind. it has every genre rolled into one and really leaves you craving more and more well after the movie has ended. from the first note of the overture, you will be sucked into to this masterpiece. buy it.
Pillow Talk (1959): hard to watch rock hudson being such a pimp to the ladies and at certain times during the movie "pretending" to be gay. if only people knew at the time this movie came out, his career would be worse than my acting career. the movie was decent i guess. not much laughter came out of me. and how is it that a girl, who despises hudson throughout the entire movie, falls for him after realizing he has lied to her about who he really is. after re-reading that last sentence i realize that it makes no sense, but don't worry cuz i'm not going to ask you to see this movie anyways. her final conclusion to love him and be with him was just too unrealistic. any girl with any brain would have dropped the guy in a heartbeat. its better than most terrible romantic comedies today, but still bad. doris day is not pretty, rock hudson is gay, dialogue that and singing that goes on in their heads is stupid, and the opening credits make me want to puke. sets up the movie nicely. don't see.
went to vegas for the weekend to see my bro. pretty uneventful i guess. lost some money (no more vacation for us. oops.) and stayed up way too late. but glad to be home now. talked to my doc this morning and he thinks i have something. don't want to really talk about it cuz i feel pretty dumb having now been labeled this. i think my pills are really kicking in because i've been pretty happy lately. i hate the fact that by taking the pills i'm no longer the real me. this happy ethan is not the real ethan. but my doc and i talked about it and i feel a little better.
my mom and sis are scheduled to get baptized this saturday. i'm so excited for that to happen believe it or not. they seem really happy with the church and its good to see people happy. right now in my life is more stressful than probably any other time in my life prior. i've got so much on my plate right now that i don't know how i will be able to attend to it all. but of course i'm still good and irresponsible and have to watch 1-2 movies a day. but check out my list to watch on the links to the right and you'll see that the list is actually decreasing!! in my stats class again and its been 36 minutes since class started and we still haven't started lecturing. i hate this class. oooo. and i'm so excited because i ordered two wonderful dvds last night. keep an eye on my list of dvds i own to see what i get and when i get it. i'm thrilled though.
Friday, April 01, 2005
more bantha fodder for the soul
The Sting (1973): such a clever little movie that seemed to pave the way for the likes of ocean’s 11, boondock saints, etc. the acting was all very well done, music was perfect, and just goes to show that entertaining movies did exist prior to the 1990’s. minor plot holes, but the payoff at the end makes it all worth it. buy it.
Patton (1970): next to glory, probably the best american war movie i’ve ever seen. but they did wonders by not making the movie about the war, but was brilliantly focused only on patton’s day, with WW2 in the backdrop. this movie is amazing in that it makes you remember and/or see that once upon a time, war was glorious, and dying or killing an honorable way to live. sure this may sound ridiculous, and that’s what most people in the movie think when they hear patton talk like this. watching it, i was even shocked at some of the things he’d say. but over time, you start to realize how true much of what he was saying is. and it doesn’t help when we live during a time where troops die daily for reasons unknown. the action is all there and the drama and everything else you’d want from a genuine war movie. just like, sad to say, jamie foxx was supposedly born to play ray charles, scott was predisposed to put on the uniform of patton. he was perfect. and when he won his best actor academy award for this role, here is what he said upon refusing the award: “Life isn’t a race. And because it’s not a race I don’t consider myself in competition with my fellow actors for awards or recognition. That is why I have rejected the Oscar and nomination for playing Patton.” how can you argue with that? what a guy. anyways, go buy it.
The Philadelphia Story (1940): kinda boring i’d say. good acting though. jimmy stewart was brilliant. hepburn shined in the best moments on screen i’ve ever seen of her. and cary grant was the same pretty boy as in every movie. but you start to lose sight of the movie and quit caring. stuff starts getting predictable. and i actually laughed out loud for a few of the jokes by stewart, which is surprising because rarely will a comedic movie today actually fulfill its purpose and make me laugh out loud. don’t see though. in the end its still kinda boring.
kim's car is back in the shop for something. kinda sucks being on one car again. i don't know how we used to do it. so peeps are saying that my blog is getting blah. i think that could be because everything is kind of blah lately in my life. not that's its bad, just kinda routine. plus i've been stressing like mad about this internship thing. i'm so lost on what to do right now. here are some options, or at least hopeful options: utah state attorney general's office, utah county public defender's office, fourth district court of utah, salt lake city justice court, senator bennett's office in dc, senator hatch's office in dc, santaquinn justice court, hot dog on a stick, or my current job. but which do i interview for, or accept, or turn down, or even try for? its a big timing game right now that sucks. but at least the semester's end is in sight now. i'm coming down the homestretch so i better start kicking into high gear.
=w=eezer world is getting back into high gear also. their single is out, which isn't that great i know, but if you think about it, neither was hashpipe or island in the sun. their good stuff is usually found in the rest of the album or b-sides, and not the actual singles. album will be dropping in may so i'm way stoked. anyways, i have more movies to watch and more naps to take on this glorious day. so, in keeping spirit of the blahness that is my blog, goodbye.
Patton (1970): next to glory, probably the best american war movie i’ve ever seen. but they did wonders by not making the movie about the war, but was brilliantly focused only on patton’s day, with WW2 in the backdrop. this movie is amazing in that it makes you remember and/or see that once upon a time, war was glorious, and dying or killing an honorable way to live. sure this may sound ridiculous, and that’s what most people in the movie think when they hear patton talk like this. watching it, i was even shocked at some of the things he’d say. but over time, you start to realize how true much of what he was saying is. and it doesn’t help when we live during a time where troops die daily for reasons unknown. the action is all there and the drama and everything else you’d want from a genuine war movie. just like, sad to say, jamie foxx was supposedly born to play ray charles, scott was predisposed to put on the uniform of patton. he was perfect. and when he won his best actor academy award for this role, here is what he said upon refusing the award: “Life isn’t a race. And because it’s not a race I don’t consider myself in competition with my fellow actors for awards or recognition. That is why I have rejected the Oscar and nomination for playing Patton.” how can you argue with that? what a guy. anyways, go buy it.
The Philadelphia Story (1940): kinda boring i’d say. good acting though. jimmy stewart was brilliant. hepburn shined in the best moments on screen i’ve ever seen of her. and cary grant was the same pretty boy as in every movie. but you start to lose sight of the movie and quit caring. stuff starts getting predictable. and i actually laughed out loud for a few of the jokes by stewart, which is surprising because rarely will a comedic movie today actually fulfill its purpose and make me laugh out loud. don’t see though. in the end its still kinda boring.
kim's car is back in the shop for something. kinda sucks being on one car again. i don't know how we used to do it. so peeps are saying that my blog is getting blah. i think that could be because everything is kind of blah lately in my life. not that's its bad, just kinda routine. plus i've been stressing like mad about this internship thing. i'm so lost on what to do right now. here are some options, or at least hopeful options: utah state attorney general's office, utah county public defender's office, fourth district court of utah, salt lake city justice court, senator bennett's office in dc, senator hatch's office in dc, santaquinn justice court, hot dog on a stick, or my current job. but which do i interview for, or accept, or turn down, or even try for? its a big timing game right now that sucks. but at least the semester's end is in sight now. i'm coming down the homestretch so i better start kicking into high gear.
=w=eezer world is getting back into high gear also. their single is out, which isn't that great i know, but if you think about it, neither was hashpipe or island in the sun. their good stuff is usually found in the rest of the album or b-sides, and not the actual singles. album will be dropping in may so i'm way stoked. anyways, i have more movies to watch and more naps to take on this glorious day. so, in keeping spirit of the blahness that is my blog, goodbye.
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