Saturday, January 20, 2007
the undeserving
vacation's over. school started this past tuesday. lets see, this semester won't be much easier than last. the worst part will be waking up at 6 every morning to make class by 8. i can get on a strict regiment pretty easy, so waking up before sunrise for months on end is definitely doable. but if i had it my way i'd sleep in until 10, maybe 11, for the rest of my life. like last semester, i'm only taking three classes. i guess i could take more, but my professors got me really nervous about taking these two classes concurrently. first is data communications 1. the professor is really cool, super smart, and somewhat hard to understand since he is from turkey or something. we should get extra credit for being able to pronounce his name correctly (corapcioglu). luckily jamie is in that class. he'll hopefully help me pass the class just like all my classes last semester. next is telecom systems which is really tight. the course is basically all about how the telephone network works here in the states. that professor is really old and has been in the biz since before the biz even began. i've never really known any older folks who are so technically knowledgeable about anything, so it will be weird hearing him spout off about crazy algorithms and such. then again, haven't really known too many older folks in my life. the class will be hard, but again, my favorite iowan(?) is in that class with me with as well. finally i am taking telecom seminar. nothing really to say about that. well, there is the "spring challenge" that i will be doing in late february. i don't even want to think about that though.
this semester will suck and i can just see now a few nightmarish weeks that lay ahead. but somewhere in the haze, i see beaches. warm sand. and mexicans. because my wife is so amazing at what she does, during this past trip to alabama she got, ahem, an award in recognition of her sales goal achievement, an award for the 2006 top performer sale consultant, a promotion to senior sales consultant, and a little trip in february to cabo. could i ask for a more talented wife? i certainly don't deserve her or the nice trip, but hell i'll take 'em both. poor girl is in seattle right now by the way. so that was a lot of bragging that kind of just went on there, but there's nothing wrong with bragging about your girl right?
my break was nice. all it consisted of really was movies. and more movies. not including the reviews below, i still have 6 other reviews pending. plus i will probably have watched two more this weekend. sigh. tough life i know. i'm trying to get in all my movie watching from everything in '06 so i can get my top ten in order before the oscars. globes were on this past week. freaking babel and dreamgirls won the best pic awards. oh well. hopefully the academy will wise up. i can think of half a dozen movies from last year that could do circles around those two.
no time like the present, to get ripped, apaaaarrrrt. that's about it for me. guitar is going slow as expected. i'm not fast at changing chords, have a tough time memorizing music, and just can't understand how some guitarists can do what they do. i am getting slightly better at reading it i think, although the music i'm reading is like the music i would play in band when i was in middle school (i.e. easy as hell). and finally, my hair is looking more and more stupid each day. i hope to overtake chris depew soon as having the most ridiculous looking grown-out hair in all of the mountain states region.
oh yeah. check out this dood's blog: http://blankwave.vox.com. every few days or so a new song is posted on the blog by him. there is a 96 percent chance that the song and artist will be new to you AND a 98 percent chance that you'll find something you like. it would be impossible not to. this guy knows his shit so well it's scary. it's late, and i've got movies to watch.
Something's Gotta Give (2003): a love story about older folks. nicholson plays his usual awesome (typecast) character. there are good moments from jack and diane, and it's one of keuanu reeves' best performances. all the characters are very believable. i mention believability a lot in my reviews. i think that it is important that what i see on the screen, i can picture happening on this earth we live on. usually the only time i will excuse a movie from that requirement is when the movie was made prior to the 60s. aside from really bad green screen effects in paris, the movie ends well. it probably wouldn't be terribly entertaining for the younger crowd, but it's sweet and i think most 25 and up would enjoy it. see it.
good, B
Swingers (1996): four twenty-something guys try to make it in hollywood and get laid. i like movies that use an answering machine to get a laugh. this machine was pretty funny. awesome performances by vince vaun and ron livingston. and wow does vaun look young in this. the movie is full of his great lines and i want to say it is easily his best performance i've seen. one of my favorite lines from him was, "she smiled at how money i was." the acting and dialogue are both really good. the movie centers around jon favreau who plays this sensitive guy having a hard time getting the girl and yada yada. it was a strange role for him to play which in a sense made it interesting to watch, but maybe that part wasn't right for him. he has many moments or dialogue that i just didn't believe. you had this big buff tough looking brooklyn guy who is whining about everything. didn't make sense. the vegas stuff was funny and realistic. i could do without the big bad voodoo daddy music video inserted into the movie. and the story never really builds up to a good climax. it's decent and is worth a watch.
fair, B-
Freaks (1932): a dark story about what happens in a circus sideshow when a beautiful stuck up trapeze artist shows interest for a three foot midget, further dividing the normal people and the freaks. her scheme is to work with the strong man, hercules, and steal all of the midget's moola and then laugh at him for being short. they do good at really building tension between those that are in the circus because of physical problems they were born with (freaks) and those without (normals). there is a lot of shock value in the cast of the freaks. the midget couple's storyline was strange to watch, but still very interesting and deep. the half man half woman was always very mysterious and lurking around in the shadows, yet they never go into his/her story at all. all of the skeleton/pinhead looking children looked like something from a horror movie. the guy with no torso who crawls around on his hands looks like really good effects were used, but i'm sure it is just the guy doing it himself. the last ten minutes is when the freaks let loose and it is some of the scariest stuff i've ever seen. i would like to see someone try and remake this movie today. it would be cool to see what kind of people they'd find today for the roles. but the modern version would have to keep true to the '32 version in that the moral of the story would be to not mess with people with physical disabilities, otherwise they will kill you. they never show the murders take place, and how that lady ends up a chicken i will never know. in a sense, this movie might be considered a horror movie. you can still see some scariness watching it today, but it's not totally there. i'm sure this was really scaring those few who saw the movie during its release. i didn't like how the movie ends with the midgets. and the lighting used on the cast wasn't the greatest. many times their faces would be nearly whited out. but it's a very deep and unique story and i think everyone should check it out just to say you have. i'll buy it, you see it. and unless you have an online movie pass thingamabob, good luck finding it.
good, B
this semester will suck and i can just see now a few nightmarish weeks that lay ahead. but somewhere in the haze, i see beaches. warm sand. and mexicans. because my wife is so amazing at what she does, during this past trip to alabama she got, ahem, an award in recognition of her sales goal achievement, an award for the 2006 top performer sale consultant, a promotion to senior sales consultant, and a little trip in february to cabo. could i ask for a more talented wife? i certainly don't deserve her or the nice trip, but hell i'll take 'em both. poor girl is in seattle right now by the way. so that was a lot of bragging that kind of just went on there, but there's nothing wrong with bragging about your girl right?
my break was nice. all it consisted of really was movies. and more movies. not including the reviews below, i still have 6 other reviews pending. plus i will probably have watched two more this weekend. sigh. tough life i know. i'm trying to get in all my movie watching from everything in '06 so i can get my top ten in order before the oscars. globes were on this past week. freaking babel and dreamgirls won the best pic awards. oh well. hopefully the academy will wise up. i can think of half a dozen movies from last year that could do circles around those two.
no time like the present, to get ripped, apaaaarrrrt. that's about it for me. guitar is going slow as expected. i'm not fast at changing chords, have a tough time memorizing music, and just can't understand how some guitarists can do what they do. i am getting slightly better at reading it i think, although the music i'm reading is like the music i would play in band when i was in middle school (i.e. easy as hell). and finally, my hair is looking more and more stupid each day. i hope to overtake chris depew soon as having the most ridiculous looking grown-out hair in all of the mountain states region.
oh yeah. check out this dood's blog: http://blankwave.vox.com. every few days or so a new song is posted on the blog by him. there is a 96 percent chance that the song and artist will be new to you AND a 98 percent chance that you'll find something you like. it would be impossible not to. this guy knows his shit so well it's scary. it's late, and i've got movies to watch.
Something's Gotta Give (2003): a love story about older folks. nicholson plays his usual awesome (typecast) character. there are good moments from jack and diane, and it's one of keuanu reeves' best performances. all the characters are very believable. i mention believability a lot in my reviews. i think that it is important that what i see on the screen, i can picture happening on this earth we live on. usually the only time i will excuse a movie from that requirement is when the movie was made prior to the 60s. aside from really bad green screen effects in paris, the movie ends well. it probably wouldn't be terribly entertaining for the younger crowd, but it's sweet and i think most 25 and up would enjoy it. see it.
good, B
Swingers (1996): four twenty-something guys try to make it in hollywood and get laid. i like movies that use an answering machine to get a laugh. this machine was pretty funny. awesome performances by vince vaun and ron livingston. and wow does vaun look young in this. the movie is full of his great lines and i want to say it is easily his best performance i've seen. one of my favorite lines from him was, "she smiled at how money i was." the acting and dialogue are both really good. the movie centers around jon favreau who plays this sensitive guy having a hard time getting the girl and yada yada. it was a strange role for him to play which in a sense made it interesting to watch, but maybe that part wasn't right for him. he has many moments or dialogue that i just didn't believe. you had this big buff tough looking brooklyn guy who is whining about everything. didn't make sense. the vegas stuff was funny and realistic. i could do without the big bad voodoo daddy music video inserted into the movie. and the story never really builds up to a good climax. it's decent and is worth a watch.
fair, B-
Freaks (1932): a dark story about what happens in a circus sideshow when a beautiful stuck up trapeze artist shows interest for a three foot midget, further dividing the normal people and the freaks. her scheme is to work with the strong man, hercules, and steal all of the midget's moola and then laugh at him for being short. they do good at really building tension between those that are in the circus because of physical problems they were born with (freaks) and those without (normals). there is a lot of shock value in the cast of the freaks. the midget couple's storyline was strange to watch, but still very interesting and deep. the half man half woman was always very mysterious and lurking around in the shadows, yet they never go into his/her story at all. all of the skeleton/pinhead looking children looked like something from a horror movie. the guy with no torso who crawls around on his hands looks like really good effects were used, but i'm sure it is just the guy doing it himself. the last ten minutes is when the freaks let loose and it is some of the scariest stuff i've ever seen. i would like to see someone try and remake this movie today. it would be cool to see what kind of people they'd find today for the roles. but the modern version would have to keep true to the '32 version in that the moral of the story would be to not mess with people with physical disabilities, otherwise they will kill you. they never show the murders take place, and how that lady ends up a chicken i will never know. in a sense, this movie might be considered a horror movie. you can still see some scariness watching it today, but it's not totally there. i'm sure this was really scaring those few who saw the movie during its release. i didn't like how the movie ends with the midgets. and the lighting used on the cast wasn't the greatest. many times their faces would be nearly whited out. but it's a very deep and unique story and i think everyone should check it out just to say you have. i'll buy it, you see it. and unless you have an online movie pass thingamabob, good luck finding it.
good, B
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Monday, January 08, 2007
the ex-girlfriend
kim is on a plane for 'bama right now. she's got some biznass to take care of in the dirty south. it's strange because 'bama is south-east of us, but she flew northwest airlines i think. i'm slowly picking up the guitar. i've found out that i am not a natural at playing. but it's really fun. there is a week left to this long vacation. most of the time i'm watching my christmas dvds. highlights include the warriors, miami vice, memento, sopranos, six feet, south park, and jackie brown. pretty nice stuff. pretty nice people to purchase those fine items. how appreciative i am. excitement is setting in for tonight. ohio st v. florida. pizza party. and blockbuster delivered these dvds in world record time. i signed up to their online thing on saturday and dvds lay waiting in my mailbox today. diggin it so far. i love the fact that seinfeld is on before the national championship college football game. classic episode.
Blood Diamond (2006): two men travel on a journey through civil war stricken sierra leone to find a huge diamond. the first five minutes are more gruesome than almost all of apocalypto. but it is so interesting because i assume that the setting and war that is taking place is all accurate. there are some really insanely tense moments. real edge of your seat type stuff. i like how the story of all that was happening with the main african guy was cut along side his family's crap that they were going through. the movie is so violent and so very realistic, and i have to just trust that it is historically accurate. not the plot about the diamond of course. all that takes place in the movie looks so believable on screen. i was a little confused though about who the one army was that looked like u.s. troops, but who were going to start executing to get the diamond. and apparently sierra leone rebels were listening to tupac in '99. and everyone smoked way too much. dicaprio's performance was really dramatic and really good. great locations and effects. i am tired of movies always making the african guy scream and slobber like a savage ape man. maybe that is how they really act over there. my guess is that the director just thinks that their performance is so powerful when they are screaming and spitting everywhere. but even though african guys can pull that off, it's getting old. the movie is not something i would want to see over and over again. if you can stand watching women and children getting mowed down by ak's, then you should really see it.
good, B
Game 6 (2006): an artsy fartsy film about an odd playwright's odd day which happens to coincide with some big game 6 red sox game in the 80s and the opening of his new play. music by yo la tengo. can't go wrong there. i understood the setting, but for the first fifteen minutes i had no clue what was going on. the dialogue was really different and confusing at times. the story was very uninteresting. robert d. jr. and michael keeton always seem to do good in their movies. in this movie, both played crazy people very well. the music ends up being pretty cool YLT instrumental stuff, but it was used sparsely. rhymes with parsley. there were many strange shots used with the camera that just didn't seem to make sense. like the taxi drivers' names. or cooking the eggs. and chewbacca. it just doesn't make sense. and what is the point of the movie? what are we trying to say here? maybe that the curse on the sox is redeemed somehow by breaking his curse of a having a bad day and also his play turning out alright. movies where you have to look to the back cover to get a clue about its meaning usually don't make the cut for me. i'd buy its soundtrack, but wouldn't recommend the movie.
poor effort, D+
Clerks II (2006): it starts off funny. but so much of the movie and the acting is unbelievable. like the way the fast food joint was ran and the lighting inside the place was all bad. and the music was nothing great. the movie did have a ton of one-liners and the "ass-to-mouth" conversation was really funny. i was impressed with the performance of whoever the main girl was. and jay and silent bob were both really funny as usual. they said some really funny stuff. the movie did feel a tad homosexual toward the end between dante and randall. it also lacked something that the first clerks had. can't place my finger on it. amateurishness maybe. worth seeing for a few laughs i guess.
disappointing, C-
Blood Diamond (2006): two men travel on a journey through civil war stricken sierra leone to find a huge diamond. the first five minutes are more gruesome than almost all of apocalypto. but it is so interesting because i assume that the setting and war that is taking place is all accurate. there are some really insanely tense moments. real edge of your seat type stuff. i like how the story of all that was happening with the main african guy was cut along side his family's crap that they were going through. the movie is so violent and so very realistic, and i have to just trust that it is historically accurate. not the plot about the diamond of course. all that takes place in the movie looks so believable on screen. i was a little confused though about who the one army was that looked like u.s. troops, but who were going to start executing to get the diamond. and apparently sierra leone rebels were listening to tupac in '99. and everyone smoked way too much. dicaprio's performance was really dramatic and really good. great locations and effects. i am tired of movies always making the african guy scream and slobber like a savage ape man. maybe that is how they really act over there. my guess is that the director just thinks that their performance is so powerful when they are screaming and spitting everywhere. but even though african guys can pull that off, it's getting old. the movie is not something i would want to see over and over again. if you can stand watching women and children getting mowed down by ak's, then you should really see it.
good, B
Game 6 (2006): an artsy fartsy film about an odd playwright's odd day which happens to coincide with some big game 6 red sox game in the 80s and the opening of his new play. music by yo la tengo. can't go wrong there. i understood the setting, but for the first fifteen minutes i had no clue what was going on. the dialogue was really different and confusing at times. the story was very uninteresting. robert d. jr. and michael keeton always seem to do good in their movies. in this movie, both played crazy people very well. the music ends up being pretty cool YLT instrumental stuff, but it was used sparsely. rhymes with parsley. there were many strange shots used with the camera that just didn't seem to make sense. like the taxi drivers' names. or cooking the eggs. and chewbacca. it just doesn't make sense. and what is the point of the movie? what are we trying to say here? maybe that the curse on the sox is redeemed somehow by breaking his curse of a having a bad day and also his play turning out alright. movies where you have to look to the back cover to get a clue about its meaning usually don't make the cut for me. i'd buy its soundtrack, but wouldn't recommend the movie.
poor effort, D+
Clerks II (2006): it starts off funny. but so much of the movie and the acting is unbelievable. like the way the fast food joint was ran and the lighting inside the place was all bad. and the music was nothing great. the movie did have a ton of one-liners and the "ass-to-mouth" conversation was really funny. i was impressed with the performance of whoever the main girl was. and jay and silent bob were both really funny as usual. they said some really funny stuff. the movie did feel a tad homosexual toward the end between dante and randall. it also lacked something that the first clerks had. can't place my finger on it. amateurishness maybe. worth seeing for a few laughs i guess.
disappointing, C-
Friday, January 05, 2007
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