I just want to play checkers
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:58 pm
Filed under: Art, TV & Movies | Tags: doodles, screen caps
Pocohontar
January 7th, 2010 at 1:08 am
I try to avoid posting things I’ve found on other blogs, but this is too hilarious. (Click for full-size.)
I enjoyed Avatar for its visual effects. Otherwise, I thought the writing was terrible and never ended up liking nor identifying with the protagonist and his blazingly shallow observations. Why the hell did the Navi have any reason to trust Jake Sully, anyway?
Filed under: TV & Movies |
David Lynch is a Cute Old Man
December 17th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
There are a variety of adjectives one can use to describe David Lynch. My sister, for example, believes that he is “creepy.” My dad refers to him as “eccentric.” However, neither of these people are what you can call David Lynch experts. I, on the other hand, sitting atop the pinnacle of expertise of all things Lynchian, believe him to be a Cute Old Man.
Our Cute Old Man, David Lynch, has cultivated his career as an unconventional filmmaker through works such as Twin Peaks, an early 90s serial television drama about a murder in a small town, Eraserhead, a surrealist horror film most noted for its deformed amphibious baby, and Blue Velvet, an updated film noir about an average citizen delving into the seedier side of life. All of these works have one thing in common: they’re fucking weird. But the man is as cute as a southern kitten, I tell you!
Filed under: TV & Movies, Writing | Tags: cute, David Lynch, satire
Moses suposes his toeses are roses
September 29th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Oh dear, it seems that I’m already behind in a few of my classes due to lengthy reading assignments. I forgot how easily they creep up during the first week like when you finally notice a spider crawling up your arm after ignoring the telltale tickling sensation. Except instead of a spider, it’s a big freaking pile of dry analyses and instead of a ticking sensation, it’s a syllabus you shoved at the bottom of your backpack.
Once again, I am suffering a sporadic sleeping schedule. I could be like every other college student and claim insomnia, but I know that’s not hip anymore. Find me an insomniac who exercises proper time management or doesn’t live with a bunch of noisy teenagers, and then we’ll talk about how you’re a big fat liar.
Today I attended my first film class discussion section. We sat around a table and introduced ourselves by stating our favorite movies. I don’t have one, of course, and said that the last thing I rented from Netflix was Dark City. The person sitting next to me said that his favorite movie was Bruce Almighty, so I figured anything that came out of my superior mouth would sound better by comparison. These self-congratulatory sentiments distracted the Smart Part of my brain and I tripped over my words and explained that I liked Dark City because it was “strange and stuff”. Oops. Anyway, the rest of the class was devoted to analyzing the crap out of Singin’ in the Rain because we all know that audiences appreciate its complicated symbolism, provocative love story, and color parallels rather than its happy dance numbers. Buhhhhhh.
Filed under: College, TV & Movies | Tags: classes, insomnia
Dark, air conditioned rooms
August 17th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the movies I’ve seen this summer. Normally, this season marks the annual release of a slew of teen slasher flicks, comedies starring random actors from “The Office”, and others that just don’t stand the test of time, but at the moment I can’t say I’ve regretted seeing any of the following in theaters.
Up
(IMDB profile)
Alright, so this one is old news, but I didn’t have the pleasure of seeing it until mid-June. Pixar movies such as Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and Wall-E are chock-full of cute characters and happy, fuzzy story lines. Up, on the other hand, not only stars an old man, but deals with incredibly adult themes. Within the first 15 minutes it had me crying, and I’m willing to say that it is an excellent movie based solely on the fact that it’s proved to be a powerful tearjerker. While I agree that its conclusion is hopeful, I can’t help dwelling on the poor man’s misfortune in the beginning of the story! Well done, Pixar, well done. Don’t let those Disney bastards take all the credit.
(500) Days of Summer
(IMDB profile)
Knowing that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel star in this film should already cue you in on its obvious indie appeal. That, and its killer soundtrack. I’ll admit that the tagline “This is not a love story” is a bit cheesy and cliche, as is the protagonist’s unfulfilled dream of being an architect, but I can’t help *squeeing* at how ridiculously adorable the movie portrays offbeat romance. In addition, it certainly paints a lovely picture of Los Angeles through unconventional shots of the city that reveal an ignored urban beauty. It’s fairly obvious that Marc Webb’s directing experience lies in music videos, but in this case, the foregrounded soundtrack aids (500)’s equally charming shots.
Ponyo
(IMDB profile)
Gake no ue no Ponyo or just Ponyo is the latest feature directed by Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Monoke have always been favorite movies of mine, so it’s clear that I was excited to see this on the day of its release. I thought the premise was adorable and I especially enjoyed the underwater scenes and ancient fish, however it struck me as somewhat sloppy by Miyazaki standards. It was stylized much differently than his other movies in that its backgrounds were very pronounced, grainy colored pencil illustrations. Unfortunately, I do not think that graininess looks good on the big screen. Moreover, the English dubbing was pretty atrocious, but I tried to suspend my judgment best I could seeing as that’s not Miyazaki’s fault. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching Ponyo and let its fanciful (albeit simple) storyline entertain the kid in me.
District 9
(IMDB profile)
District 9 was the inspiration for this post because I believe that it demonstrated how cinéma-vérité should be executed. The shaky camera was hardly vomit-inducing and much easier to see it handled by someone who wasn’t an obnoxious teenager (I’m looking at you, Cloverfield…) I thought Sharlto Copley’s character was extremely convincing and multi-dimensional unlike typical heros/villains. (It was an impressive performance for his first acting gig!) The movie runs for almost two hours, but the plot progresses rather quickly and I feel that most of the action sequences had a precise purpose. My father commented that it had very obvious parallels to the conflicts of South Africa, but I’m choosing to ignore them for the sake of the movie’s ability to stand on its own. I feel that District 9 lived up to its sensational viral marketing and I’m glad I had the chance to see it as a screening!
I hope that these past few months are an indicator of what’s due for the rest of 2009 in the entertainment world because “sunk cost” is surely a concept nobody wants to be familiar with in this economy.
Filed under: TV & Movies | Tags: summer movies, Up