Jen's Musings on Film and Television

In Case Anyone is Unaware...

2010-06-05T00:41:00.002-05:00

I am blogging for my IPP at a new website now, so for anyone who hasn't already, please update your bookmarks:

www.200movies1woman.com

Thanks!

I'm Running...

2010-05-19T22:27:00.003-05:00

Run Lola Run, 1998, Germany

Twenty minutes is really not a long time. It often feels like forever to me, especially when I'm feeling anxious about something, but in the grand scheme of things, it's just a few grains of sand in the hourglass known as life.

Lola has twenty minutes to find 100,000 DM, and deliver it to her boyfriend in order to save his life. Twenty minutes to run to where he's located, get the money (somehow) and deliver it. Not a long time, huh?

The film is not a long one, at 81 minutes. But in that time, three different scenarios are played out, each lasting roughly 20 minutes. They sure managed to cram a lot of story in those 20 minutes. Before watching the movie, I was aware that it consisted of three different scenarios, and I was also aware that the film was parodied in an episode of The Simpsons called "Trilogy of Error". In fact, that may have been how I first heard of the movie. I'm vaguely recalling a conversation I had with my Dad way back when the episode first aired, where he told me that it was based on a movie called Run Lola Run.

The purpose of the three scenarios is to show how mere seconds impact events in the rest of your life. Minutes, seconds, can end a life or save a life. I haven't spent much time thinking about it, but I sure am now. Everyone has those days where they get a phone call they've been waiting for all day when they're in the washroom and can't take the call. In the film, one single event at the beginning of each scenario determined whether Lola was delayed by seconds, or faster by seconds, and those seconds matter.

I loved the movie. It was exciting, and made me feel...energized. I was familiar with Tom Tykwer from Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, but this is by far the better film. The edits, the soundtrack, the acting, and the story all fit together. Speaking of the soundtrack...it was fantastic. I'm not sure I've ever heard a soundtrack quite like it, but I loved it!

I've got this song stuck in my head as a result of the movie:

In other news, I can't help but wonder what watching 200 movies will do to my figure. I do enjoy a snack while I'm watching a movie, and since I'll be watching roughly one a day, that's a lot of junk food! Perhaps I should make it a goal to adopt better snacking habits over the duration of my IPP?

Does anyone have any healthy snack recommendations? Remember: I am a pathetically bad cook.

"Robert Downey Jr is the Only Man Cocky Enough to Play Iron Man"

2010-05-16T22:49:00.002-05:00

My friend Tiffany said the above line. This means...I've just gotten home from Iron Man 2!

Iron Man 2, 2010, USA

Ultimately, I enjoyed it. It was a fun summer movie. But it wasn't as good as the first one was, which is not unexpected. To me, it felt like they tried to cram far too much story into too short a time. This meant that certain plot lines were neglected, or given a less than satisfactory conclusion. This is a common problem with sequels: they try too hard to live up the original, so they try to cram in every "cool" storyline possible, in order to impress the fans. It doesn't work! I think the movie would have been better if pieces were trimmed a little. Perhaps Scarlett Johanson's part, which felt like a bit of a waste to me. I thought Mickey Rourke was awesome, but very under-utilized. I wanted to see a lot more of his character.

Don Cheadle replaced Terrance Howard as James "Rhodey" Rhodes in the sequel. Cheadle did an adequate job, but I think the role belongs to Howard. He felt more convincing to me, and it's a shame that he was replaced. I know he has a reputation for being hard to work with, but he was just brilliant in the role.

And as Tiffany said...there's only one man who could play Iron Man, and that is the magnificent Robert Downey Jr. I never really noticed him until I saw Iron Man, but oh did I ever notice him after that movie. Since then, I've seen a few more of his movies (though not nearly enough of them), and I think he's got a real talent. Plus he oozes charisma.

Definitely go see the movie in theatres. It's so much fun, and enjoying an air conditioned theatre is a perfect way to spend a summer evening!

It's Funny how Fallin' Feels like Flyin' for a Little While

2010-05-16T17:04:00.003-05:00

My Dad rented Crazy Heart last night, so I decided to give it a watch today. I’d wanted to see it in theatres, but I didn’t really have anyone to go with, and even if I did, I didn’t have any time to go. Two things in the movie stood out for me: Jeff Bridges, and the soundtrack.

I enjoy Jeff Bridges. It’s funny: I enjoy his work, and he has a very recognizable face, but I can never remember his name. While on my way to Chicago, we watched Iron Man on the bus, and I sat there, driving myself crazy trying to remember what his name was. I could list off a bunch of movies he’d been in (most notably, The Big Lebowski), but I couldn’t for the life of me, remember his name. I was thinking something like Jim Scott, but I knew that was wrong. Whenever I can’t remember something like that, it tends to reenter my head the moment I go off to look it up. That’s when I shout the name, or the fact, or whatever it is out in glee, confusing and scaring all those around me.

Unfortunately, I was on a bus and had no way of looking up his name. It was days before I remembered his name, and I may have actually found a way to look it up. I don’t remember, but I think I did scare someone when I remembered it and shouted it out. I can never seem to remember his name. I’m the same way with Holly Hunter.

So Jeff Bridges made the movie for me. Without him, it would have been a very simple, very straightforward story. His performance was layered, and he created a character that was at times heartbreaking and pathetic. It was a well deserved Oscar.

The soundtrack really impressed me as well. I’m generally not a big fan of country music, but Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell were great singers, and really made it work. I can’t help but wonder if my Dad’ll buy the soundtrack – I hope he does so I can borrow it and put it on my iPod. My Dad likes Jeff Bridges, and the music in the film is probably the type that he enjoys. He has the soundtrack of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and often listens to it in the car. I’ve heard it about a million times. I actually really like the soundtrack…but I’ve never seen the movie! I’m hoping to see it over the course of this project, but I wonder how strange it will be to see it for the first time, and be able to sing along to half the songs?

I’m going to be going out to see Iron Man 2 this evening, so I am hoping to write another entry when I get home about that movie as well! It has been a movie I’ve been looking forward to since the sequel was announced.

This song was my favourite off the soundtrack, at least after a single viewing of the film:

And so I Begin

2010-05-15T11:37:00.005-05:00

Casablanca - 1944, USA

Recommended by: Amanda and Desiree

A couple people have asked what my first movie would be for this project of mine. I always sort of assumed it would be Requiem for a Dream, since it is the first movie I put on my list.

But as I sat here at my computer last night, I felt restless, and felt like I needed to start on this project of mine. And I felt like watching Casablanca. I wanted to watch a love story, and more importantly, I wanted to watch a tragic love story. Ultimately, this was a movie about sacrifice. Rick loved Ilsa. Ilsa loved Rick. Maybe they would have been happy together…maybe they wouldn’t have. But they’ll never get a chance to find out, because both of them made sacrifices that were, perhaps, for the best. In Paris, Ilsa didn’t leave with Rick because she received word that her husband, Victor was alive and hiding in Paris. At the end, Rick refused to leave with Ilsa because he told her, in the iconic line, that she would regret it if she stayed, "maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life." And Victor sacrificed too. He begged Rick to take Ilsa to America because he loved her so much, he just wanted her to be safe, even if she was with another man.

During my first year of University, I wrote a paper on film censorship for my Academic Writing class. I focused on the Hays Code, which set the “moral” standards that films had to maintain. This code was in effect until 1968, when the MPAA rating system was put into effect. One of the principles stated that “the sanctity of marriage and the home had to be upheld”. So, according to this code, Ilsa could never end up with Rick. I must wonder: would the ending change today? I hope not. I love the tragedy of it, and the sacrifice involved from all parties. Plus she married Victor before she met Rick, so surely she must love him?

I read in the Wikipedia article that the film was colourized in the 80’s. What a crime. When I was watching the movie, my Mom teased me, and remarked that I needed to “adjust the TV” because it wasn’t in colour. But while I was watching the movie, I found myself admiring the cinematography, and the striking contrast between the black and the white. It was gorgeous. There are screenshots from the colourized version on Wikipedia, and it takes away so much, in my opinion.

So why hadn’t I seen it before? I’ve seen very few “classic” films. An ongoing theme of this project will be me rectifying all of my “cinematic embarrassments”. I’ve seen a good number of films from about 2003 onwards, but there are many important and respected movies from before that time that I’ve just never seen. Part of it is the fact that I love going to the theatre, and often, if I don’t see a movie in the theatre, it’s months or even years before I catch it. I love the experience of sitting in a dark theatre, watching a movie on a big screen, and experiencing it with a group of people. Last year, I saw something like 50 movies in the theatre. This year, I haven’t gone nearly that often. I probably won’t go all that often, but I fully intend on seeing a few movies at the theatre. I will just need to prioritize them.

So movie number 1 is down. 199 more to go. I’m feeling pumped, and ready to watch more!

Doing the Tourist Thing in Chicago

2010-05-12T22:06:00.009-05:00

I thought I'd devote this entry to the day I went to the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower).

That morning we arrived at the Art Institute in the rain. I'd been really looking forward to visiting it, because I've only ever been to the Winnipeg Art Gallery, which is great, but much smaller. I'm far from an art expert, but I enjoy looking at it, and admiring the talent involved in creating an art piece. I also find the creativity fascinating. Many of the art pieces were very simple - I could have made them, but it was so interesting to see what one considers art. My favourite art style is impressionism, so it was wonderful to go through that section of the museum. Unfortunately, I could not spend as much time there as I'd have liked, because it was nearing lunch time, and I was starving. My favourites were the Van Gogh pieces, because he's my favourite painter. I completely fell in love with Monet while I was there - I wasn't familiar with his work, but the Art Institute had a lot of it, and I loved it!

I also enjoyed looking at all of the artifacts on display. Yes, in their time they were nothing more than everyday objects, but to us they're fascinating. I'm also a bit of a history nerd, so I always get a kick out of artifacts. I loved thinking about what modern objects would be placed in a museum 400 years from now. Perhaps an iPod would be placed behind glass? That begs a question: would Steve Jobs be named as the "artist"?

After lunch, we decided to visit the Willis Tower. The weather had cleared up, and it was warm and sunny, so we thought it'd be perfect for taking pictures. We got on an elevator after watching a movie about the tower, and taking photos with the wall paintings of Michael Jordan, Oprah and Barack Obama. It was a 60 second elevator ride to the 103rd floor, and our ears popped the whole way.

I'm generally pretty good with heights. I'm okay with tall buildings, and being up high - even looking down from the window in a tall building. Therefore, I was completely okay on the Skydeck. My tolerance was severely tested by the glass balconies. I got brave enough to stand in one, but feeling the wind shake beneath me, and seeing all the way down shook me up a bit. I stayed there long enough for a few photos, and got right out of there. My friend Amanda is much braver than I, and actually lay face down in the box when she visited the tower!

Brietta and I were able to sit down in the glass balcony.

The view was absolutely gorgeous. We really lucked out, because we picked the perfect day to go up. Here are some of the photos I took:

Of course, as a film fan, I got a real kick out of this wall of the Skydeck.

Movies in Chicago

2010-05-10T19:02:00.006-05:00

I came home from my trip last night. This will be the first of what will probably be several blog entries about the trip, since I just can't get it all in one entry! I thought I'd talk about my movie experiences while on the trip.

I had decided to bring my portable DVD player, and a number of movies on the off chance anyone wanted to watch a movie on the bus or in the hotel room. It turns out there were TVs and a DVD player on the bus, so we watched a whole bunch of movies on the way there and back. I like to think I did a pretty decent job picking out what movies to bring. I brought: Shaun of the Dead, Serenity, The Shawshank Redemption, Anchorman, V for Vendetta, Iron Man, and Monsters, Inc. We ended up watching all of them except for V for Vendetta. If you're planning a trip and bringing DVDs, bring a variety, so there is something for everyone. For the most part, I kept it to pretty light-hearted movies. And of course, ones without subtitles, which are difficult to read on any small screen.

I'd decided to go see Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back with Jason and Kenton as well. I wanted to see it on the "big screen", since I'd only ever seen it on VHS. Actually, I think I'd only seen it twice in its entirety, when I was about ten years old. Back then, I had a huge crush on Luke Skywalker, and watched it those two times over the weekend we'd rented it. I thought it'd be a pretty neat experience to watch it in a theatre, and it was! The picture and sound were amazing.

Kenton looks giddy as can be!

I thought it was awesome to compare the thoughts I'd had as a child with my thoughts now. Back then, the Luke stuff was obviously my favourite, but now, I found the Yoda/Luke stuff to be a little dull. The stuff with Han Solo, Leia, and the rest was much more interesting. I also didn't catch a lot of the humour within the movie as a child. Kenton mentioned at one point that he thought that Han was really the hero of Episode V, and I'd never thought about it like that before. But I do agree with him: Luke is off doing his own thing for much of the movie, so Han steps it up and becomes the hero.

We saw the movie at the Field Museum. I only had about an hour to look around the museum before the movie started, so I only got to see the lobby, and the Egypt exhibit. The museum looked amazing, and I definitely want to return someday to see the rest.

I also went on a mob tour Thursday morning. One of the locations our tour guide took us to was the Biograph theatre, which was the location of John Dillinger's death. Last year, Dillinger's story was told in the film Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp. I could only get a photo from the bus I'm afraid, but it was still pretty neat to see.

We agreed to meet at the theatre, right, Mr. Depp?

One of the tour guides looked and sounded like David Morse.

I'm not sure if I saw any movies actually being filmed, but I saw shooting locations from The Dark Knight, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Public Enemies and The Untouchables.

Keep reading for more Chicago experiences!

I am off to Chicago!

2010-05-02T20:11:00.006-05:00

Bright and early tomorrow morning, I will be boarding a bus headed to Chicago, along with my fellow CreComm students. I'm really looking forward to the trip. However, I will not be bringing my lap top with me, and my access to a computer will likely be limited. This means that for at least 6 days, I will be unable to update my blog. I will try to get an entry in as soon as possible after I return.

I've never been to Chicago, nor have I ever gone on a trip without my family, so this will be a trip full of firsts for me!

And here is the final scene from my favourite set-in-Chicago television show: ER:

ER was a great show. I didn't start watching it regularly until about three years before it ended, but that didn't matter. I really got into it. I've been watching the early seasons on DVD, but I'm pretty bad at watching TV on DVD, so I'm near the end of season four right now, and have been for about a year now. I have season five here at home, but I don't see myself getting to it until next summer, because of my IPP. I enjoyed the later seasons, but they're nothing compared to the early episodes.

On the last day we're there, I will be taking in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. I've never seen it in theatres, so it will be interesting to watch on the big screen. Plus, it has been a few years since I've seen it in its entirety. Sure, I've caught bits and pieces on TV, but it's been awhile since I've sat down and watched the whole thing.

I'll see you all when I get back!

An Overactive Imagination

2010-04-30T00:20:00.003-05:00

I think I watched too much Matilda as a child. I loved the movie. I recall it being one of the ones I'd rent over and over again. I haven't watched it in full in a number of years, and wouldn't mind revisiting it one day.

Anyways, in the movie, the title character, Matilda, develops telekinetic powers to combat her mean parents and evil principal. I have a strange irrational fear that stems from my painfully overactive imagination: I am afraid that anything I imagine or think about will come true. I also immediately envision anything anyone tells me. I often get myself very worked up after I have nightmares involving something happening to someone I care about.

But in many ways, this overactive imagination of mine is a good thing. I tend to live in the clouds a little bit. I've always been like that. When I was 13, and really starting to get into movies, I fantasized about being "discovered", and becoming a famous Hollywood actress. I would star in the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel as Johnny Depp's sidekick. Depp would take me under his wing, and I'd spend vacations in France going to the beach with him and his family. I'd win an Oscar for my amazing performance, and I'd tearfully thank Depp for being my role model and my inspiration. I even had the entire plot line for the sequel plotted out. In my version, Mel Gibson played Bootstrap Bill. This was before his anti-semitic rant. As you all notice, I say nothing about a romantic relationship with Mr. Depp. I never really fantasized about that. Again, due to my overactive imagination, I thought that if I fantasized about that, something would happen between him and Vanessa Paradis, and he seemed like a pretty happy guy to me. I was perfectly happy being his sidekick.

As you all know, the sequels came and went. I did not star in them. I didn't even cameo in them. So...if my imagination is so powerful...why am I not in France right now drinking expensive wine with Johnny Depp?

Downfall

2010-04-26T22:17:00.003-05:00

I watched Downfall this afternoon. It is a German film about the last days of Hitler and the Third Reich. I'd been wanting to watch the movie for a number of years, and when I saw that it was on TV last night, I decided to tape it. I figured taping it was best, since it was three and a half hours on TV, and I just don't have that great an attention span. Since the movie was subtitled, paying attention was necessary.

Despite having it on tape, where I could fast forward through commercials, I still had difficulty paying attention. It's not because I disliked the film (in fact, I loved it!), but it was because of the subject matter. I'm a huge history nerd. In University, I took a number of European history courses, primarily because I love World War II history. I find it fascinating. The film uses actual footage from an interview with Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's secretaries, and a main character in the film. Of course, I had to look her up. I read a number of Wikipedia pages pertaining to historical figures from the film, and events that occurred within the film.

I was watching the movie upstairs, so I had to pause the movie and get my lap top when I realized that I just had to read about Bruno Ganz, who plays Hitler in the movie. Then I realized that reading Wikipedia while watching a subtitled movie just didn't work well. So I kept having to pause the movie. That's alright, because I learned a lot from Wikipedia, and I had nothing else to do this afternoon anyway, so I could take my time watching the movie.

Yes, the movie was a long one, but it didn't feel long. As I've emphasized, the subject matter is fascinating to me, and it is presented well. The acting is fantastic. I'd actually been reading about the film a few days before during a spare moment at school, so I'm really glad it was on TV this weekend. I'd actually planned on adding it to my list of 200 movies to watch, but I'm just as happy to have gotten the opportunity to watch it earlier. The only issue I had was with the number of characters. I had trouble keeping track of the names of most of them, so I had to identify them by their faces and actions. But that wasn't a big deal at all.

If you haven't seen Downfall yet, check it out. It's excellent.

Summertime in the Theatre

2010-04-25T00:36:00.003-05:00

Okay, so it's not quite summer yet, but it sure feels like it. On Friday night, I met up with some friends to go see Kick-Ass. It was fairly quiet in the theatre, which was surprising, since I thought it'd be packed.

This semester, I haven't gone to see many movies. I've missed it. It was strange entering Silvercity Polo Park for the first time in at least three months. For one, I noticed that they'd raised the prices since I'd last been there. Secondly, they got rid of New York Fries, and replaced it with Pizza Pizza, and some other chain I'd never heard of. I wasn't impressed. I generally got a poutine and a drink, especially when I went to movies around dinner time. My joke was that without my weekly business, New York Fries went under. I'll need to make a note to see more movies.

Kick-Ass was an alright movie. It was quite hilarious at times, and often very shocking and disturbing. Chloe Moretz, who played Hit-Girl, really stole the show. Hard to believe she's only 13 years old with that kind of talent. She looks very young, however. I wouldn't have put her older than 10 or 11 in the movie.

I feel very out of the loop when it comes to the movies being released. I don't really know what's coming out this summer. I've been so busy that I haven't really had the time to keep on top of it. But now that school is over, I'll be able to really follow that, and hopefully I'll get out to see more movies!

Music Videos

2010-04-20T23:21:00.002-05:00

After posting my montage, I've found myself thinking about music videos lately. I'm not a big music person (lack of musical education, I don't know what's "good"), but I do often find myself opening up YouTube in search of a song or two to play while I do my homework. Sometimes I end up watching the music videos.

Music videos are like a little movie. They often tell a story, related to the "story" within a song. These are the ones I like the best. My favourite songs are sad songs, so adding sad imagery that follows the story of the song is very moving to me. While studying today, I started playing my current favourite song "Sometime Around Midnight" by the Airborne Toxic Event. This song has two music videos: the older one directed by Jason Wishnow. The second one was filmed after the song gained popularity, and was directed by D.J. Caruso. He's known for directing the movies Disturbia and Eagle Eye.

I just had a very bizarre experience. I'd planned to write about how the first video is miles above the second one, in terms of emotion and power, but I watched both videos...and the first one didn't quite move me. Sure, I felt something, but there were no tears. I watched the second one, and it moved me much more than the first. Maybe it's because I've played the song about six times in a row by now. Or maybe it's because of the awesome story behind the song. Video #1 tells the story of the song. Video #2 tells the story of how the song was written.

Since I have a tendency to write when I am hurting - poetry, fiction, diary entries, et cetera, maybe video #2 resonates with me more now that I'm not "living" the song in a way I once was. Here's both of them:

Video #1:

Which one do you prefer? Which one do you feel best captures the "tone" of the song. I still think I prefer the first video.

I've Made my First Film

2010-04-18T15:25:00.003-05:00

Well, montage to be exact about it. For TV class, we were given an assignment to shoot and edit a montage set to music. I picked music from my favourite movie, Edward Scissorhands, "Ice Dance" by composer Danny Elfman.

I had it easy because from the moment I'd heard about the project, I'd decided that was the music I was going to use. I was going to shoot it in the Winter, and there was going to be a scene of the "lovers" dancing in the snow. Now, when I shot my footage, the snow was melting, but I still got my little dance bit in at the climax of the music. I have to give my most sincere thanks to my amazing actors, Tammy, and her husband, Murray. They really made it great.

I recognize that I am not strong at shooting or editing. It's because I'm not a particularly visual person. I like to think that I am a pretty good writer; give me a keyboard or a pen and paper, and I'll write and write, but if I have to make an image look clear, focused and "artistic", then I struggle. I've accepted that I'll never be a great visual artist, and that I will always have to work harder at InDesign/Photoshop and Final Cut Pro than others may have to. Doing this montage was very difficult for me. It doesn't help that I am also not great at mastering programs like Final Cut Pro. But ultimately, I did the best I could, and I am really proud of my work.

I think I'll leave the filmmaking to the masters, like Tim Burton. As a child, I always wished I was able to draw, or do anything similar, but as an adult, I am so proud of my writing ability, and wouldn't trade it for anything.

I Like Superhero Movies

2010-04-14T17:54:00.004-05:00

And I'm proud to admit it. One of my most anticipated movies of the year is Iron Man 2. I saw Iron Man in theatres opening weekend, and immediately wanted to watch it again. I saw it twice in theatres. Later that summer, The Dark Knight came out in theatres, and it was the best superhero movie I'd ever seen. It was dark, depressing, and the final monologue had me in tears. As the lights came up, and my cousin and brother saw me weeping, they both shouted "You're crying?!", and a number of people turned around to watch me sob into my napkins. It was embarrassing. But that was in Calgary, so no harm done.

The Dark Knight was an exception to my general belief that superhero films are a sort of escapism. You sit back, don't think about realism, and watch the good guys beat the bad guys. They're fun. Generally, I trust that when I am watching a superhero movie, I'll leave the theatre all "pumped up" with a smile on my face.

I remember when Spider-Man came out. I never watched the cartoons growing up, since I thought they were "dumb" and "boring", so my Dad had to drag me to the movie. "You'll like it!", he said. I watched it, and had a good time with it...but I couldn't ADMIT that I liked it! So it was a few years before I could admit to myself that I enjoyed the superhero genre. This was after buying the first two X-Men movies on DVD (I told myself it was just because I liked Hugh Jackman). But when you start watching all of them in theatres, even the really bad ones, it's time to admit you have a problem.

But it's not really a problem, because superhero movies are lots of fun. I like to fantasize about a world where I'd have some sort of neat super power. Yes, people who have powers are always persecuted it seems, but that's because society is afraid of people who are different, and are afraid of people with cooler powers than them. I'd love to be able to fly or teleport, or shape shift.

But even if I couldn't have special powers, I'd settle for a really awesome suit made of metal.

Kids

2010-04-10T16:22:00.003-05:00

Aggie was kind enough to lend me her copy of Kids, and I got around to watching it last night. I was particularly curious about it, because I recall a friend on a forum I post at writing about their hatred for this movie. I'd looked it up back then and it sounded interesting to me.

As I watched it, I braced myself for something tragic and depressing. And on one had, I did get that. The movie is shot documentary-style, and looks at the lives of the characters over the course of a single day in New York. The characters are all young teenagers, 15, 16, even 13 years old. They experiment with drugs, talk frankly about sex, and drink, among other things. I often have a difficult time relating to films where the young characters are so out of control. My teenage years were very different. They were by no means easy years (in fact, they were probably the hardest of my short life), but I never drank or did drugs or behaved the way these characters did in the film. So I wonder just how accurate the picture painted was. Do teenagers really act like this? Maybe because I was so innocent in that way, it just felt very over the top to me.

One issue I did have with the film is the fact that I couldn't feel anything for any of the characters. It was very sad and shocking subject matter, but I didn't feel emotionally attached to a single character. It was very strange to watch a film so tragic, but feel nothing. At the end of it, I thought the feeling was similar to watching a car accident: you know it's terrible, but sometimes you have a hard time feeling anything, especially if you don't see anyone who is injured. But at the same time, you can't look away.

I thought it was an interesting film, though. I did like the documentary-style of it, and I like that it portrayed a single day in the life of all of the characters. Thanks Aggie!

I Collect Things

2010-04-08T21:12:00.007-05:00

I like to collect things. I chalk it up to being a naturally sentimental person, and many of the things I collect have strong memories attached to them. I took some pictures of the things I collect, and thought I'd share them.

Beanie Babies
(my shelf is so big, I had to do it in two photos!)

I haven't added to this collection in a number of years, but I like to keep them on display. As a child, I spent about six years collecting Beanie Babies with the help of my Mom. She'd go out and buy a bunch of them whenever new ones came out, and I'd pay her back or she'd give them to me as gifts. I'm not sure which, if any are worth anything anymore, but I don't know if I'd sell them anyway. They are such a big part of my childhood, so there's that nostalgia value to them.

Ticket Stubs

These are just a few of the ticket stubs I have. I keep them all in a photo album, mostly because I don't have anywhere better to keep them. The album is getting full though, so I'll need to buy another soon. I started collecting them when I was 13...at first because I was too lazy to throw out my stubs, but then I realized I was getting a sizable collection, and decided to stick with it. Since then, I've saved almost every stub, from movies, concerts, sporting events, plays, etc. Usually I'll group them together in no particular order, but the really "special" ones, from events I want to remember get their own sleeve, along with any other stubs that I feel are relevant.

DVDs

Some of those are video games, but most of them are my DVDs. I remember receiving my very first DVD on my 14th birthday: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Since then, I've built up a collection of about 120 DVDs - mostly movies, but there is also some TV on DVD in there. I used to buy a movie or two a month, but since CreComm that habit has stopped.

Books

Most of these are mine, but a few belong to my Dad. These are only a few of the books I own: I have many more up in my room. In fact, this shelf used to be for my Dad's books, but I've since taken it over. I started buying books after I graduated high school, since I found that I no longer had easy access to books. Yes, there's a library near my house, but I've found that I really like owning books. It feels good to go into a book store, spend two hours looking around, and drop $150 on a bunch of different books. But I don't do that anymore, again, because of CreComm. I don't really have time to read, so I've got a bunch of unread books sitting in my room.

What do you collect? Post pictures!

Guilty Pleasures

2010-04-06T14:22:00.003-05:00

Y'know, those movies you know you shouldn't love, but love anyway. The ones you feel you have to "make excuses for". I've got a couple of them, and I'm not going to feel guilty about them! I'm here to confess some of my favourite "guilty pleasures".

Van Helsing

I don't like Stephen Sommers as a director. I haven't liked anything else he's done, but I adored Van Helsing. I saw it in theatres when I was 14, and just starting to get into posting on forums online. I remember proudly proclaiming my love for the movie, and having a well respected poster respond with something like "well, you like what you like. We all have different tastes." Hey, at least I wasn't flamed, right?

I love this movie so much, I bought the "Ultimate Edition" of the DVD. It came with a bunch of extra features, and some of the classic monster movies the film is based on (I haven't watched the other movies yet! I will though!). I still watch it at least once a year. I justify my love for it because it's just such a fun popcorn movie, plus Hugh Jackman and David Wenham seem to have a lot of fun with it. I was always disappointed they never did a sequel to it.

Happy Gilmore

This is one of the movies I have to watch anytime I see it on TV. Adam Sandler is not great, but he does have his bright moments, and this is one of them (Punch-Drunk Love and 50 First Dates are other bright moments). The premise is just so...ridiculous but it works for me. A wannabe hockey player realizing he can play golf? It just works. Plus any movie with a Bob Barker cameo has to be fun.

When I was 16 and in Drama class in high school, I performed the opening monologue from this movie for my final monologue (equivalent to a final exam). I think I walked onstage with a little hockey stick, and pretended to skate around while I did the monologue. Surprisingly, I got a good grade on it.

The Astronaut's Wife

I fully recognize that this is not a great movie. It's not even a "fun" movie. I watched this movie a few years ago, because I really love Johnny Depp, and was curious about it. I was fully aware of how bad it was supposed to be, but justified it by thinking that at the very least, there'd be a bit of eye candy. Yes, it's far from Depp's best performance. The script is terrible. But I still really enjoyed it, and will catch bits of it on the odd time it is on TV.

I'm not sure how widely seen this movie even is. Has anyone else seen it? It's not one I recommend to people, but I am curious about how many people have seen it.

***

Okay, so I confessed. Now it's your turn. What are some of your "guilty pleasures"?

"Yes, Yes...I'll Get to it One Day..."

2010-04-02T21:03:00.003-05:00

This will be an entry full of confessions.

Confession #1: Before today, I had never seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

But I did watch it tonight, and I enjoyed it! I was in the mood for something light and fun, and I sat there the whole time with a big smile on my face. It was a really fun movie, and it has gotten me excited about the Chicago trip next month. I tend to have a bit of a preoccupation with tragic or serious films, so I've missed a lot of the more light-hearted films out there.

When it finished, it left me wondering..."why had I waited 20 years to watch this movie?"

This brings me to confession #2: This is the first John Hughes film I've seen.

I was going through his filmography just now, and I have seen a few that he'd produced and written, but none that he'd directed. I fully realize just how shameful this is. I never watched them as a kid. I saw a lot of movies in the theatre as a kid, and only seemed to want to watch "new" movies when we went to the video store. So as a result, I missed out on a lot of the classics. Even now, I tend to go to the theatre a whole lot, except I haven't been in several weeks. This is probably the longest I've ever gone without seeing a movie in the theatre.

But I've been wanting to check out several of John Hughes' films for a long time. I remember being 15 years old, and sitting in drama class with several of my classmates, who were all talking about The Breakfast Club. We were beginning to write the skit we'd perform on our drama night, and my classmates wanted to include references to it. Since I'd never seen it, I was rather quiet during that time (which was not hard for me, since I was known as the "shy, goody-goody girl" in that class). Even at 15, I knew it was terrible that I hadn't seen it. So why have I gone another five years without seeing it? My only explanation is that there have been so many movies I've wanted to see, that it just got put on the back burner, along with many others.

Another very notable one I haven't seen is The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I just remembered this, because in the climax of that skit, we dance to The Time Warp. Yes, there is a tape somewhere of me dancing. I hope it never gets out, because it would be painful to watch. For this one, the timing has never seemed right. I guess it is a movie I'd want to watch with a group of people, or at least one other person, anyway.

So I guess this is where I ask: does anyone want to watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show with me?

IPP: Accepted (aka: The Future of this Blog)

2010-03-30T21:08:00.003-05:00

In the Creative Communications program, the Independent Professional Project (IPP) is a year-long project done during the second year. In November, I had an epiphany of sorts, and decided that I just had to watch 200 films for my IPP. After all, film is a huge passion of mine, and I've always wanted a reason to watch a huge amount of movies. This way, I won't be able to say "oh, I've been wanting to see it, I'll add it to the list of movies to watch one day."

I've decided to blog about my experience watching 200 films in roughly 8 months. That comes out to about a movie a day. Pretty intense, huh? I'll be reviewing the movies, talking about how this project affects my life, and tell stories about how I became the film fan I am today.

I'm really looking forward to doing this project, and would like to thank my current readers for their support. When I begin this project, I'd also like to ask that you send my blog link to anyone you think would be interested in this project. Spread the word! And if you would like to have any control over the films I watch, comment with a recommendation or two. I am beginning to compile the list of films I will be watching, so I would love to get as many recommendations as possible.

Julie & Julia

2010-03-26T22:30:00.002-05:00

I finally got around to checking out Julie & Julia tonight. I'd done a lot of reading about the film, and Julie Powell's "story", but I hadn't actually seen it, and thought that should be remedied.

Julie & Julia is the story of two women: Julie Powell, who cooked all of the recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and Julia Child, the woman who wrote the cookbook. Julie Powell kept a blog of her experience, which eventually became a book, which eventually became a movie!

I was in the mood for something uplifting and happy, and I chose the perfect movie to watch. By the end of it, I was in such a good mood (it helped that I was already feeling great when I put it in), and felt like I could do anything in the world. It was inspiring.

It did make me wish I knew how to cook. The food shown in the film looked so delicious, and I found myself mourning my lack of cooking ability. As a kid, I actually wanted to be a chef, but I quickly realized that I was not cut out for it for a variety of reasons. I'm far too clumsy, and the fact that I'm STILL afraid of touching raw meat really disqualifies me from the profession. At this point, I'd just like to be able to cook delicious food for the people I care about, and be able to enjoy doing it. Right now all I'm able to do is cook sub-par food for myself.

I admired both Julia Child and Julie Powell. The film portrayed them as two strong women who were determined to reach their goals. That's something I respect a lot. They both had great husbands standing by their side as well. I enjoy it when Hollywood gives us strong female protagonists. I also enjoy it when husbands/boyfriends/life partners are not portrayed as jerks or obstacles, but as real, kind people who are supportive of their loved one. I wouldn't categorize this film as a romance, but the love shared between these women and their partners sure felt romantic to me, and definitely put a huge smile on my face.

This film gave me yet another reminder of Meryl Streep's amazing talent. I'm convinced she can play any character on this planet convincingly. She was great, and deserved the Oscar nomination she received for the role. And just as a note: if you haven't seen Kramer vs. Kramer, do check it out. She was amazing in it, and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Joanna Kramer.

This Week's Lost

2010-03-24T21:59:00.002-05:00

As always, spoilers will be in this entry.

This is the episode we've been waiting seasons for. Richard's episode. Since the "ageless" man was introduced, I've been waiting and waiting to find out his story. Why doesn't he age? Where did he come from? Who does he work for?

Turns out, like many of the Losties, Richard's story is a tragic one. He lost his wife, Isabella, after accidentally killing the doctor he'd gone to for help. The day of his execution, he speaks to a very creepy (and unsympathetic) priest, who tells him that he will be going to hell. However, Richard is sold into slavery, and is bound in chains on the Black Rock.

I'd figured Richard came to the island on the Black Rock after the Man in Black mentioned that he'd still be in chains if not for his help a few episodes back.

After being freed from the chains, the Man in Black tells Richard to kill Jacob, in order to escape "hell". Jacob easily overpowers Richard, and explains that he is NOT dead, and that the Man in Black is the evil one, not him. From my understanding, the island is essentially a prison for the Man in Black. Should he leave the island, it'd be as if pure evil were entering into the rest of the world. Jacob used a wine+bottle+cork metaphor that I liked quite a bit.

Again, here's my understanding of it. The Man in Black was the wine, Jacob was the cork, and the bottle was the island. The Man in Black can't leave the island because of Jacob. Later we see the Man in Black with the bottle. He can't get the cork off. So he smashes the bottle. I took this as a metaphor for destroying the island. Perhaps this is a sign that the Man in Black's true intentions are not just escaping the island as he says, but destroying it?

I also enjoyed finding out why Jacob brings people to the island. He does it to prove that people can do good things without guidance, even if they've done horrible things in their "past lives". The island is a clean slate for them. Jacob is essentially implying that he is something of a God figure for the island, because he brings people to the island, and watches what they do, but without interfering. Clearly he exerts some level of control over their pre-island lives as well, because he has to get them to the island in the first place.

My favourite part of the episode was when Hurley was telling Richard that Isabella was standing right beside him, and he passed her messages along to him. It was very touching. One of the things I've always loved about Lost is the ability it has to make the viewers actually feel something. It's impossible not to get invested in the characters, because it's such a character oriented show.

I also liked that Richard had essentially given up on Jacob, and was turning himself over to the Man in Black when Isabella came to him with the help of Hurley. And it gave the audience confirmation, in many ways, that the Man in Black is the "evil" one. Is Jacob completely "clean" and pure? I don't think so. But I do think that the Man in Black is the villain he's been set up to be. I must say, I would kind of like them to give him a name. But what do you name a character of his magnitude? He's got this almost legendary build up, that any name would seem kind of strange. Maybe it's best they keep it a mystery? Who knows?

Let's get some discussion going. What did you all think of the episode?

Movies I Need to "Revisit"

2010-03-23T17:05:00.004-05:00

I've been a film fan for a number of years now. But in this time, there have been a few movies I've watched before I was really old enough to get anything out of them. As a result, I didn't relate to the characters, or the story, and found myself bored with the movie. But since a few years have gone by, and I've grown up a lot in that time, I often feel like I should revisit the movies I once wrote off as being terrible.

The main one I talk about revisiting is Lost in Translation. I saw this when I was 14 years old. At the time, I'd never experienced the deep loneliness depicted in the film, or understood what it was like to be alone or isolated. I recall enjoying the first half hour because I thought it was funny, but the rest was dry and boring.

As anyone can understand, my life has changed a lot since then. I think after six years, most people's lives change drastically. I think I'd get a lot out of the movie now. It's funny, because from what I remember, there's nothing in the movie that I wouldn't show a 14 year old, but how many people of that age can grasp and enjoy the movie? I like to think I was pretty mature for my age at the time, but I still hadn't had the life experience necessary to find enjoyment in it.

Another one I'd kind of like to revisit is Superbad. I saw it near the end of its theatrical run, after everyone hyped about how amazing it was. The theatre was nearly empty. I find that for many comedies, watching it in a group is what makes the experience enjoyable. Laughter is contagious, right? But nobody was laughing, so I wasn't laughing either. I don't remember much of the movie, I just remember thinking that it wasn't as funny as everyone said it was. I think I'd want to watch it in a fun atmosphere with friends.

But then there are the movies from your childhood that you revisit and end up disliking. My most recent example would be FernGully: The Last Rainforest. I would watch it over and over as a child, because I was a huge animal and nature lover. I decided to watch it again after seeing Avatar and reading the comparisons between the two. You see, I could not remember much of anything from FernGully, aside from the weird bat. I didn't like it. I thought the plot was silly, the characters were thin, and the villain was laughable. I wish I'd just kept it as a childhood memory instead of watching it again, because now those childhood memories are just a little tarnished.

What is a movie you'd like to revisit? Or one you regret revisiting?

Jurassic Park III (Spoilers)

2010-03-19T23:45:00.004-05:00

Note: There will be spoilers for all three Jurassic Park films.

So, after discussing movies I watch over and over, I decided to get into a movie that I don't watch over and over. I actually hadn't seen this movie in full since I saw it in theatres back in 2001. I've owned it for about two years now, and this is the first I've watched it. I got it in the "Adventure Pack" with the other two, which I've seen numerous times since I bought them, but I was never really interested in watching number 3 again.

But after a very long week, I decided I was in the mood to enter a world where people have to run from man-eating dinosaurs. And since I've seen the first two so many times, why not put in number three? You know what? I really enjoyed it. It's definitely not better than the first one, but it's comparable to the second. I've always really loved the velociraptors as villains, since they're portrayed as intelligent (and really scary) creatures. I also enjoyed the inclusion of the pteranodons, which brought the biggest scare of the film.

Funnily enough, as a kid obsessed with dinosaurs, my two favourite dinosaurs were velociraptors and pteranodons. I thought they'd have made cool pets. Which I guess is the reason my parents never showed me Jurassic Park when I was a wee tyke, because it would've traumatized me.

I think part of the reason I enjoy the first two so much is because of Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). He was the best part of the first one. He's upgraded from supporting character to main character for the second one, but I thought he was a completely different character in that one. One could argue that the experience made him a "changed man", but he's significantly less interesting the second time around. I read the second book a few years ago, and from what I remember, it is quite a bit different from the second movie. There are two children in the novel, and neither are related to Malcolm. The filmmakers "merged" the characteristics of the two children together and made the female character Malcolm's daughter. I didn't mind this so much, but if I recall correctly, I preferred the book to the movie. There's no silly dinosaur rampage at the end of the novel.

I've realized that all three movies have some sort of "save the kids/protect the kids" plot line. I hope that if they ever do a 4th film, they'll get away from that idea. Though, I think I would prefer if they let the series rest, due to the fact that Michael Crichton died in 2008. There has been so much talk of a 4th film since the third was released, but nothing has ever come of it, and I don't think anything ever should.

Movies on Repeat

2010-03-16T17:41:00.004-05:00

As many of you know, I collect DVDs. On last count, I had about 120, though that number has gone up since then. I have noticed that, while I own many, I tend to turn to the same favourites time after time. I figure it is probably because they tend to suit my mood and my personality. And because they provide some sort of emotional catharsis. Here's a list:

1. Edward Scissorhands

I watch this one at least twice a year. I love the ending, the performances, and the soundtrack. I think that when you're listing movies that are your "favourites", you have to list ones you can watch over and over again. I've lost count how many times I've seen this movie in the last seven years, but it's a big number.

2. Moulin Rouge

Another one of my favourites. What I love about this one is that my feelings towards the female protagonist, Satine, changes depending on my mood. Sometimes I hate her, and think she's unworthy of Christian...other times I love her. I always see her as a tragic character though. I enjoy musicals, and I've got a lot of the soundtrack on my phone. A few have been unlucky enough to play the soundtrack in the car, and have been victim to the unfortunate sound of me singing. Yes, they survived. But barely. So obviously I love the soundtrack, but I also love the costumes, and the sets. It's a very pretty film.

3. Love Actually

I try my best to save this one for the Christmas season, but I also tend to watch it during the summer. As you can no doubt tell, I'm a sucker for love stories, and this movie is full of them. Husband and wife, father and step-son, manager and artist, unrequited love, developing love, etc. It's (mostly) a feel-good movie, and I'm always left smiling (though my cheeks are stained with tears as well) and feeling better about the world after finishing it.

4. The Notebook

I haven't met many women who dislike this movie. In fact, it seems to be the go-to modern romance film for many women. It's another one that makes me feel better about the world by the end of it. I'm the type of person who tends to prefer sad or bittersweet films to happy films. I always explained it by saying something like "with sad movies, you cry, and for two hours, you're crying for someone you don't know, which takes you away from your own problems in life". I still like that idea of mine, but lately I've been craving happy, fun movies because often I'm so stressed from school, that I just need the mental break that laughter gives me.

5. Shaun of the Dead

This one is slightly different from the others. It's a comedy...about zombies...and also (triples?) as a romance. Most importantly, it's great fun. Everytime I watch it, I discover something new to laugh at, and love introducing new people to it. It's always a joy to see someone laugh and enjoy a movie they haven't seen before. It's probably my favourite comedy. Has anyone not seen it? If so, I say we do a viewing at my place sometime.

6. Beauty and the Beast

I don't actually own this one on DVD. We have an old VHS copy, but I'm not even sure it works. Whenever I want to watch this movie, I turn to YouTube, where I can stream it in several parts. Far from the best way to watch it, but it's easy. I've told myself that I'll buy it on DVD one of these days. Three years ago, I watched it for the first time in about ten years, and fell back in love with it. Since then, I've watched it endless times, with friends, or by myself. It's become my favourite "classic" Disney animated film.

Going Through my Closet

2010-03-14T18:34:00.005-05:00

I got inspiration from Kenton's blog entry. I tend to keep things around much longer than I should, so my closet is always less-than-organized chaos. My whole room is, really, because school keeps me from organizing things properly. It doesn't help that I'm naturally a very sentimental person. For example: I have a photo album where I've kept every movie stub I've gotten from the past 5 years. In this album I also have photos, and other little mementos. I didn't take a photo of the album, because there really isn't anything visually appealing about hundreds of movie stubs.

But the really interesting stuff is in my closet. Here's a peek into a normally closed off part of my life:

Chocolate! I went to a Halloween social last year, and won a chocolate fountain, and a ridiculous amount of chocolate. These are baking wafers I believe, presumably for use with the fountain, but since I've never used the fountain...I haven't really eaten many of the wafers. I'd actually forgotten I had all this, so my jaw dropped when I saw all of it. I had a few pieces and it still tastes good to me, so I should get on eating it. Does anyone want to help me?

One of my many boxes of stuff. In this photo there are:

A yellow t-shirt I received from the Women in Media camp I went to back in 2004 (I think it was 2004...). It was held at the Red River College Princess Street Campus, and the councillors were CreComm students! We filmed a documentary as part of the camp, and it was a great time.

The white t-shirt has a design I screen printed on it back in the 8th grade.

The yellow and orange box contains an assortment of cool rocks and little fossilized sea animals. I was really into dinosaurs as a kid.

A Canadian flag

Various teenie beanie babies

A ceramic shoe (huh?)

A pipe cleaner and bead crab I made as a kid with the help of my aunt.

My childhood blanket. Well, one of them. My original blanket (which looked just like this one) was lost in St. Vital Centre when I was 4 or 5. I think my brother threw it in the garbage and I didn't realize it until I got home. We went back to the mall, but we couldn't find it, so my parents got out the "other half" of the blanket, gave it to me, and the crisis was averted. It just sits on a shelf in my closet, but I can't bring myself to get rid of it. I guess because it was such a huge part of my childhood. I doubt I'll ever find a use for it, as it is too ratty to give to anyone or do anything with, but it can sit in my closet for awhile longer.

IPP Presentations 2010

2010-03-12T18:37:00.002-06:00

I have spent the last three days attending the 2010 IPP Presentations at The Park Theatre. It has been a great experience for me, and it was great to see what I will be doing a year from now.

It was also very overwhelming. The amazing quality of the projects all the second year students presented blew me away. I am honestly not sure how I will ever live up to many of the IPPs that were done. I've been inspired further to do a great job on my own IPP. I've had the idea for a few months now, and I hope it gets through the panel, because I've become so passionate about it already. I loved the emotion I felt through the presentations. Some made me laugh hysterically, while others made me cry. Some did both. I started to imagine what my 'thank you' speech will be like, and for all my fellow first years: put all your 'crying pool' money on me, 'cause I can almost guarantee I'll shed a tear or two during the thank you portion. I'm also imagining what I'll wear when I give my presentation. And I am trying not to imagine falling off the stage in the heels I will likely be wearing. Ladies and gentlemen: you all looked classy and fantastic up on stage!

Another thing I enjoyed was the diversity of the projects. We had charity events, music promotion, musicians, novels, animations, graphic novels, films, radio documentaries, television documentaries, news/sports directing, and that's just off the top of my head. As I said, I've had my idea for awhile, but it was interesting to see what other directions I could go in. Hearing the difficulties some people had filled me with some serious anxiety, though. You all are troopers!

I want to thank my peers in second year for setting the bar so high. We've got a lot of work to do, but you've been an inspiration!

The Movie Free Semester

2010-03-09T13:59:00.004-06:00

I've been feeling guilty lately, because I haven't had time to watch a whole lot of movies lately. This semester has been so busy that I simply haven't had the time. And on the rare occasions that I do have the time, I often find myself wanting to watch something light that I've seen before...so I can do homework while I watch!

This week there are the IPP Presentations at The Park Theatre, which means us first years get a bit of a break. I am hoping to get out and rent The Hurt Locker (this year's Best Picture winner at the Oscars) and Moon this weekend. I would also really like to see Alice in Wonderland, but am still looking for someone to go with. Who would like to see a movie this week, or next? It has been at least a month since I last went to the theatre, and I am not used to going this long without going! I think in many ways, I was spoiled last semester, because I was able to get out to the theatre more often, and got used to going at least once a week.

I'll admit to feeling slightly "lost" during the Oscars this year, because I had not seen all of the nominees. Last year, I believe there was one I hadn't seen, and that was because I was not interested in seeing it. This year, there were so many I had wanted to see, but missed because I simply did not have the time to see them. The fact that there were so many changes to the ceremony also bothered me a little. They didn't perform the best song nominees! I always love seeing them performed, and last year was bad enough when they were all performed together. I wasn't impressed with Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin as hosts either. It would have worked better with one host - instead it just felt awkward to me. There were a few funny bits, but much of it fell flat to me. I had a great time watching the Oscars though; I was tweeting live during it, and had a blast reading and responding to everyone else's tweets. Thanks for the fun, everybody!

Perhaps this "break" will end up being a good thing. Soon I'll be watching about a movie a day, which I am really looking forward to doing. It's almost like going from one extreme to another! But on that topic...I am looking for recommendations for this project. Comment with a few movies you would like me to see. Foreign films and older films are specifically requested!

Movie is Better than the Book?

2010-03-05T22:49:00.004-06:00

I know, I know. How can the movie ever be better than the book?! Tar and feather her! But I have two examples to give, plus my rationale.

Stardust:

I'm often amazed I watched this film, period. I didn't think much of the trailer when I first saw it, but I decided to buy the book since it was cheap, and I'd heard good things about Neil Gaiman. The book wasn't bad, but to me, the audience was very "split". It seemed like it was meant to be a pre-teen novel, but at times, it was graphically violent. Those bits felt very out of place and disrupted the flow of the novel for me. Nevertheless, it was an easy read, and the opportunity to see it in theatres presented itself. And I LOVED it. Granted, a lot was changed (Robert De Niro's character in the book is very different), including the ending, but it was all an improvement. The problems with the "split" audience was fixed, and what we were given was a light-hearted, fun, fantasy film.

I haven't read anything more by Neil Gaiman, though I would really like to. Not that I have much time to read anymore, but over the summer if I have time, I'd like to try another of his novels. Any suggestions?

Forrest Gump:

My Dad gave me his copy of Winston Groom's Forrest Gump a number of years ago. He'd warned me that the movie was an improvement, but I didn't listen (since the movie is NEVER better, or so I thought at the time), and read the book. I didn't like it. I thought it was a little too ridiculous, and struggled to get through it. To be completely fair, I don't remember much of it, probably because I had so much trouble getting through it. But the experience was enough to keep me from rushing out to see the movie. I caught it a year or two later on television, and was hooked. Sure, Forrest's life is still a stretch, but it didn't seem ridiculous to me. Instead I found it to be very touching. Groom's novel, at least to me, made the events of Forrest's life into a joke, so I didn't feel anything at the end of it. Of course, the film is helped by the amazing performances Tom Hanks, Robin Wright Penn, and Gary Sinise give.

And here is an example of the opposite...a film adaptation that fails in every single way.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

I really enjoyed Louis de Bernieres novel. The first hundred pages or so were slow going, but as I read further, I found myself fully absorbed in the story. I couldn't put it down. The characters were complex, the story was rich, and the love story was beautiful. Plus the ending was tragic, but...perfect in every way, even if it was also very "dissatisfying". I've been wanting to reread it for a long time, but, again, no time and if I did have time, I think I'd like to read books I haven't read yet, or at least reread a book that doesn't take a huge time commitment the way this one does. I caught the movie on TV about a year ago. I'd read it was a terrible adaptation, but I had nothing better to do, so I put it on.

It was a disaster. Nicholas Cage and Penelope Cruz were both terribly miscast (especially Cage, just listen to that horrible attempt at an Italian accent), and seemed to stumble across the screen. Charming Corelli seemed awkward and artificial when portrayed by Cage. John Hurt, as Dr. Iannis, was one of the few bright spots in the film.

But here's the kicker: they changed the ending! It wasn't surprising since much of the story prior to the ending had been changed or simplified in some way, but it still got a good eye roll out of me. Do yourselves a favour: read the book, and keep the characters in your mind. Don't see this pathetic adaptation of a beautiful novel.

Hot Tub Time Machine

2010-03-03T22:25:00.005-06:00

This movie was brought to my attention over the weekend, and I just can't get over it. Here is the trailer:

The title of the movie reminds me of Snakes on a Plane. The title says it all. I enjoyed Snakes on a Plane because it was fun. You can't go into a movie with a title like that, and expect anything serious. I saw it in theatres with my parents, and my Mom, who is terrified of snakes, screamed numerous times throughout it, which only added to the "experience". I have it on DVD, and it's one of my favourite "party" movies.

I figure Hot Tub Time Machine will be similar. Light fun that is best enjoyed with a group. I am hoping to catch it in theatres. I haven't gone to see many movies lately, because school has been keeping me busy, but I think I will have to make the time for this one.

I just want to say one thing about the trailer. There's a gag in the trailer involving one of the characters lamenting the fact that he has to "come find" a girl he's dancing with. I hate to say it, but I did sympathize with him. I've had a cellphone for about four years now, and I have a hard time imagining life without one. If I'm meeting someone and I can't find them, I'll send them a text to find out where they are, instead of risking missing them. If I'm running late, I can text the person so they're not wondering where I am. After experiencing life with a cellphone, I'm not sure I could live without one. I'd panic if I was waiting for someone, and they didn't show up when they were supposed to. How am I to contact them to make sure they didn't get lost? What if I am in the wrong meeting place?

I suppose I am a product of my time. I know very few people who don't have cellphones. Even my Dad, who for years swore he'd never get a cellphone, has one.

Olympic Sports (and the Oscars)

2010-02-28T18:15:00.004-06:00

Sports fans, I just want to say this: I don't know how you do it.

I am not a sports fan. In fact, the Winter Olympics are the only sporting event I watch. And even then, I tend to stick to the boblsleigh, luge, and the skiing. But I got sucked into the plight of the men's hockey team, and watched them play Russia. That was an exciting enough game for me. That was nothing compared to today's gold medal game against Team USA. From the start, I had butterflies in my stomach. Then when Team USA scored that goal with only seconds left...I started to get real anxious. Heart in throat, etc. Luckily Sidney Crosby (who, to me, seems almost legendary) got us the game winner in overtime, and we brought gold home...which is just the way it should be.

I realized that I just can't be a sports fan. It gives me too much anxiety. Hockey is the one team sport I can stand to watch, and while I enjoyed myself, I'm kind of happy that it will be four years before I have to deal with that gut feeling! I'll stick to film and television, where there is not as much anxiety involved.

Due in part to the Olympics, I haven't watched many movies lately. I realized that the Oscars are a week from now, and I have yet to see most of the nominees! My goal is to get to The Hurt Locker before Sunday. The Oscars are more my scene. Yes, there is still the anxiety involved (will James Cameron take Best Director? Who will get Best Picture?), but I generally know when the award will be given, and know when the show will end. It just feels like a different type of anxiety and excitement. Plus, I know the names of most people in the room at the Oscars, whereas with sports, I'm lucky if I know the names of two of the players.

I always tell people that the Oscars are my Super bowl. I make my predictions, then on the night of the show, I sit down with a bunch of snacks, and yell at my TV all night. Last year was one of the best shows for me. I'd seen almost all of the nominees, so I didn't feel lost or out of the loop, and I got most of my predictions right (or was pleasantly surprised when I wasn't right)! Hugh Jackman did a great job hosting, and it was generally a fun, and often touching ceremony. This year, I am not as excited because I do feel a little out of the loop. I have not seen most of the nominees, because I've been so busy with school. That being said, a few days ago the excitement started to build up. I will just have to get online and do some research to decide who I think will win. Right now, I figure James Cameron is a lock on Best Director, and probably Best Picture as well...as for the hosts, I am excited to see how Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin do. It has been awhile since they did it with two hosts, so the change in dynamic will be interesting. I know the last time Martin hosted, it was just after the Iraq War began, so the ceremony was more somber, and he didn't really get a chance to "spread his wings" so to speak. This year, he will likely get that chance, which means more opportunities for great comedy!

Plus, every year around this time I start to fantasize about winning an Oscar. I'd like to write the next great film, and get myself nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Then I'd be able to walk the red carpet, and meet all my favourite actors and actresses, and make the standard hurried, panicked speech when I win. Then I'd proceed to cry my make-up off backstage as a result of being so overwhelmed and happy. This past week I've been fantasizing about taking up bobsledding and winning a gold medal for Canada, but now that the Olympics are all but over, I'm back to dreaming about Oscar glory.

One week away! Who else will be watching the Oscars?

This Week on...Lost

2010-02-24T20:38:00.002-06:00

As always, don't read this entry if you have not yet seen the episode and don't want to be spoiled!

It was an interesting episode this week. I enjoyed "crazy Claire", and liked the bit of lying Jin did to save his own hide and to save Kate's. It has left me wondering how one comes down with this "sickness", and what exactly does it do. Does it affect everyone the same way? There seems to be some level of paranoia involved. On the same note, just who or what is Christian Shephard? Claire is friends with the Man in Black, and is also hanging out with her Dad, but my impression was that she was hanging out with the two of them at the same time. I thought that Christian was simply the Man in Black, and that he took over his body...but that may not be the case. It will be interesting to find out more about that.

The flash sideways was pretty neat as well. Jack has a son! I assumed that his mother was Sarah, Jack's ex-wife, but maybe that's not the case! It hasn't been revealed yet. Showing Jack's scar was a way of showing the audience that the two universes seem to be starting to collide or merge in some way. So there is significance to these flashes...we just don't know exactly what yet. This flash sideways made Jack's story come full circle in a way. Jack feared failure because he feared his Dad. David was the same way. But their story ended happier because Dad and son had a heart to heart talk, which brought them closer. Very touching moment.

The bits at the lighthouse were the best moments of the episode. First of all, that lighthouse looked fantastic. I want the Lost creators to build a replica in it in my backyard. It could be like my creepy playhouse. On a more serious note, it revealed something important: Jacob used the lighthouse to watch the candidates. I think Jack was brought there to be shown just that. But when Jacob failed to make an appearance, Jack threw a tantrum and destroyed the glass in the lighthouse. It was never revealed who 108 was, and who I assume is the one who is supposed to be brought to the island. Who do I think it is? One of the following:

Desmond: My favourite character. I've been hoping Desmond makes an appearance this season, especially since Ben swore to kill Penny after Charles Widmore killed his daughter. They need to find a way to integrate that plot line into the plot line of the final season, and this may be the way to do it.

Charles Widmore: He was kicked off the island years ago, and if I remember correctly, he was the former leader of the Others before Ben took over. It has never been established who has the island's best interests at heart (and who is less 'evil'), Ben or Charles. I've flip flopped between them. What if he has to come to the island to get rid of the Man in Black?

I just had a thought: what if it is Desmond, but Charles (and therefore, Penny and their child) tags along? Jacob didn't seem too disappointed that the lighthouse was destroyed, so maybe he knows that the person meant to arrive on the island is not good for the island and/or is not coming alone? Maybe Desmond is meant to come along, but is not coming alone? That Charles is coming, and he's bad for the island? Just a thought I had.

I also briefly thought that maybe it would be Walt, but now I kind of doubt it. I have a feeling that Walt's story is mostly done. But at the same time, part of me feels that Aaron and Walt have a larger purpose than we ever thought. Light versus dark, you know? Maybe I brought this up last week, but what if Aaron was a vessel for Jacob, and Walt, a vessel for the Man in Black?

The Man in Black is headed to the Temple now, which means trouble for everyone there. I get the feeling he may not be able to enter, at least not in "smoky form", because the folks at the Temple seemed to put some sort of protection down, if I remember correctly. Is Sawyer still with the Man in Black? If so, does that mean he will join them on the journey to the Temple? Looking forward to next week!

By the way, the Man in Black needs a name. As cool as the Man in Black sounds, I consistently think of The Princess Bride when I write it!

Leno is not "Back" Just yet...but the Mockery Continues

2010-02-23T17:09:00.004-06:00

Oh Jay Leno, how I despise you. An Olympic promo for The Tonight Show has been released. Here it is:

I must say that I prefer the parody that has been made. It better fits his media persona (though I will admit I didn't actually think it was a parody at first...instead an attempt at self-deprecation). Here it is:

That song just fits with the smug look he has on his face in that promo. It makes me a little sick when I really think about it, but I've gone on and on about the way Conan has been treated. A few people have learned that defending Jay Leno around me is a poor idea. I try to be diplomatic, but I'm still bitter, and yes, the NBC executives carry most of the blame, but Leno could have been a decent human being and retired when he was supposed to. Or, if he didn't want to retire, he could have started over at another network! Here's a brilliant bit David Letterman did about the entire situation, it's not only funny, but completely on the mark:

There are articles online commenting about the quality of his first week of guests. Will the "big" celebrity guests return to The Tonight Show? I think they will eventually, if the audience returns to watch Leno. The Tonight Show is huge, and few people will turn down the opportunity to promote their film/TV show/album, even if they dislike the host. I think the Olympics have been a great thing for NBC, because it has given them an opportunity to sweep this controversy under the carpet. People are so wrapped up with the Olympics that they're not thinking about late night television and Conan O'Brien, and Jay Leno. Maybe people will have forgotten about it by the time he returns?

Many people have spoken about how awesome it would be for David Letterman to have Conan on his show the day Leno returns to The Tonight Show. That'd be a brilliant moment, and would really steal Leno's thunder. I figure NBC won't allow it, according to whatever is in the exit agreement, though. I wonder if they put that sort of thing in Andy Richter's exit agreement, if he had one?

And I can't believe I've never posted it...here is Conan's farewell speech. It was really classy, moving, and inspiring. I watch it regularly, so here it is for those who have not seen it:

And he's right. When I was in high school, I was very cynical, but as time has gone on, that's kind of faded. I treat everyone with respect, and kindness, and slowly, really great things have happened in my life. And life is good, and I know much of it has come as a result of really hard work, but I believe in karma, and think that the way I treat people has to have helped in some small way.

My Thoughts on Titanic

2010-02-21T00:07:00.003-06:00

For what it's worth, there will be spoilers in this entry, though I'm sure everyone knows how the film ends.

I felt compelled to write this after seeing that Titanic was airing on Peachtree TV. I am sitting in my living room watching the last hour right now, at this moment, Cal is about to use a crying child to secure his spot on a lifeboat. "Please, I'm all she has in the world." Clever, yet despicable. I actually own the movie on DVD, so I'm not entirely sure why I have an edited version, with extensive commercial breaks no less, on, but I do have a tendency to do that.

I was obsessed with this movie when I was seven years old. By that time, everyone seemed to have "Titanic-fever", and I just HAD to see it. I read everything I could about the ship itself, the passengers, the iceberg-I was a real Titanic expert as a kid. It seemed like I was one of the last people to actually see the movie, but my Mom took me to see it in theatres, and it was the best movie I'd ever seen. Even as a kid, I knew Jack would die, but I was mesmerized by the love story, the ship, the sinking, the dead bodies...everything! Plus it was the first movie I'd ever seen that showed kissing and nudity (eww...they're kissing! This was in the midst of my 'I'll hug my husband on our wedding day' phase.). It was my favourite movie for years.

I've grown up a lot since then. I've decided that I can probably manage kissing my husband should I ever decide to get married. I've also come to realize that Titanic is a rather silly movie. I still enjoy it, and I'll probably even cry at the end tonight when Jack dies...but I recognize that it is a bit ridiculous. I consider myself a romantic. But this movie stretches my romantic limit. They knew each other for 5 freaking days. I'm sure 3-4 of those days were pretty cool. Yes, having sex in a car must have also been a pretty nice way to pass the time as well. But would you jump out of a life boat onto a sinking ship for a man you knew for five days?

It is established in the film that they loved each other. I haven't decided how I feel about the notion of love at first sight. Sometimes I believe in it, most times I don't. But they loved each other on some level, and it would be hard to leave on a lifeboat, knowing that the person you loved was on the sinking ship. But after five days...would you potentially condemn yourself to death because you didn't want to leave without them? Plus, when you really, truly love someone, you want them to be safe, even if you aren't. Yeah, Jack told Rose she was stupid for jumping out of the boat, but I'd think if the man I loved did something like that, I'd be rather pissed off at them. If I can't be saved, but they can, I'd want them to go without me. Even if they feel guilty, even if they want to stay with me, I'd place their safety and well being first. Plus, I think I'd die of guilt if someone I loved jumped out of a lifeboat after I told them to go to safety, just because they didn't want to go without me.

I've been thinking a lot these past few minutes about the movie. It's about young love. And I think the story is told with a bit of nostalgia to it. We all have that love story that ended for some reason, that we look back on with a hint of nostalgia. In Rose's case, they didn't have the time to argue or break up or go through the "rough patches", because all they had were five days, and Jack died. But Rose moved on, and she had a great life. She told this big love story at the very end of her life, and that seems to make it clear that she didn't dwell on it. I like that, because it showed that she didn't spend the rest of her life thinking about five great days she had with some guy on a ship that sunk.

But despite all the silliness...James Cameron sure knows how to make them. Titanic's special effects were amazing for its time, and Avatar's special effects are revolutionary today. At this point, I'm thinking Cameron will probably win the best director Oscar, and I think he deserves it based on the amazing technology in the film alone. Say what you will about Cameron, but when he makes a movie, he knocks it out of the park. They're epic, and they get the crowds into the seats. So kudos to James Cameron.

Lost Discussion

2010-02-17T18:25:00.003-06:00

Note, as always, this entry contains spoilers for last night's episode. If you haven't watched it and intend on watching it, wait on reading this!

Since the beginning, one of the major themes of Lost has been light versus dark. During this season, that theme has shown up in a much more literal way: Jacob versus the mysterious Man in Black, who is currently taking the form of Locke. We learned last night that there are six characters "vying" for the role of protector of the island-Jacob's role before he was killed by Ben. They are:

4. Locke (deceased)
8. Hurley
15. Sawyer
16. Sayid
23. Jack
42. Either Sun or Jin

Notice the numbers? We may have gotten as much explanation of the significance of the numbers as we'll get. I'm hoping to learn more, but am not expecting it.

Sawyer is currently with the Man in Black-in what capacity, we don't yet know. But the blonde boy warned the Man in Black is not to kill any of them. Will Sawyer be talked into murdering the other "possibilities"? That would be an interesting turn of events. Since the beginning, people have theorized that the Losties would end up splitting, and a "war" would be declared between the two groups. There have been times when there has threatened to be a split among them, but they've always managed to get along, despite differences in opinion. Is this going to create the "war" fans always speculated about? Sawyer and the Man in Black versus the rest of the Losties and the Temple people? Maybe. I'm interested in where Sawyer is going as a character. He's developed so much since season one, where he was the lovable, cantankerous jerk. Last season he was a leader, and a family man. But since the bomb went off and he lost Juliet, he's undergone another shift. He's reverted to something closer to what he was in season one, but...darker.

I have a feeling Jack may take on the role of the next Jacob. People have been wanting a Jack/Sawyer showdown for awhile. I think that would be a little cliche though. I don't know who I'm rooting for, but I think it'd be kind of nice if one of the characters that's not as spotlighted got it. Like Hurley. I was originally going to say Sun or Jin-I've always had soft spots for them, but I'd really just like to see them find each other again, and go off into the sunset together. Or maybe it is meant to be Sawyer, and he's going to have to come back to the light side?

I'm glad Kate isn't on that list. She has always really annoyed me. Was she even in the episode last night? I can't remember her making an appearance, which doesn't bother me one bit.

I'm not sure how I feel about the flash-sideways' yet. I always get really confused, and assume that that would have been their lives had the plane not crashed. I was reminded yesterday that what they're showing is in an alternate universe. I guess I am having difficulty getting my head wrapped around it. I liked the one last night because I always thought Helen and Locke made a great couple. Hurley, Ben and Rose made appearances as well, which goes to show that the Losties are still connected, even in this alternate universe. Ben showed up as a schoolteacher! Now imagine him teaching CreComm. Go on, take a moment and do it. I'll wait.

***

Amusing, eh?

Another point of interest was seeing Richard in the jungle. I'm curious to know why he's so scared of the Man in Black. Also curious about Richard's history. I kind of think that he was probably some sort of slave on the Black Rock, escaped and became immortal by bathing in the fountain. Was he involved in Jacob's "rise to power" and the Man in Black's oppression? I am starting to think so. Did we ever get the Richard-centric episode we were promised? I can't quite remember, which means I'll need to revisit last season again.

Batman 3 Plot Rumours

2010-02-15T16:49:00.003-06:00

I heard this on the radio yesterday, but I didn't get around to looking it up until just a few moments ago. This link includes some information--it is unverified, and therefore may not be true, but it is still interesting nonetheless.

I am pretty happy that there will likely be another Batman movie. Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale have done such great things for the franchise, and Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight are my two favourite comic book movies. I'm a sucker for comic book movies; they're generally good fun, but Nolan really took a leap and set a high standard for the other comic book franchises out there. Plus, The Dark Knight ended on such a downer note (at least for me, the first time I saw it in theatres I was crying at the end, and as the lights came up everyone turned to stare at me) that I want to see what happens next. Maybe this next one will end on a slightly happier note? One can hope.

It's just such a shame Heath Ledger died in early 2008. From all that I've heard, Nolan had planned to include the Joker in Batman 3. Ledger was fantastic in the role-at times he genuinely terrified me, and it would have been amazing to see him reprise it. He was one of my favourite actors, and if you haven't seen Brokeback Mountain, check it out immediately.

According to the article linked, it sounds as if they'll be getting Nolan involved in a Superman reboot as well. I don't know how I feel about this. I really liked the last Superman movie, but I'll admit to having never seen the Christopher Reeve Superman movies. I guess most people weren't impressed with it, if they're talking about rebooting the franchise only three and a half years after the original reboot came out. That being said, I strongly prefer Batman to Superman, and that seems to be a common trend among people I speak with. Is there anyone out there who disagrees with me? I love a good discussion on stuff like that. It's similar in vein to my favourite movie discussion question: Han Solo or Indiana Jones? I always say Indiana Jones, but most go with Han Solo.

I'll be interested in what Nolan does with the franchise though, and will definitely check it out in theatres if or when it comes out.

Reading Week!

2010-02-13T16:16:00.004-06:00

The long awaited Reading week has arrived. I am looking forward to a week of rest and relaxation before returning to the grindstone.

Which means...

Movies! Lately I've felt like I have been neglecting to watch as many as I really should be. I've just been so busy, and now that Lost has returned, I have another hour of television to watch every week. Several people have been kind enough to lend movies to me, and I'll be trying to get through them all this week. I find that when faced with leisure time, I give myself goals, but tend to get so wrapped up in "doing nothing", that I don't do as much as I always want to. I am also hoping to get to the theatre at least once or twice, since I have not had the time to do so on any real sort of level since last semester.

Of course, the Winter Olympics are on TV as well. My mom is miffed that so many shows are airing new episodes during this time, since she likes to watch all of the events, particularly the skating, curling and the hockey. I like the Winter Olympics more than the Summer Olympics, but I still do enjoy watching some of the events. Particularly the bobsled, downhill skiing and the luge. Therefore, hearing of the death of Georgian athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili left me shaken up. To me, it sounds like that track is too fast, and too dangerous, at least for the luge and skeleton competitors. I saw the footage on the news, and that shook me up further. It is true that they did warn viewers of the content, but I probably could have gone through life without seeing that. I just hope his family was not there to witness the accident, and does not ever see the footage of it.

Since I don't watch much of the Olympics, I can't say I mind that many of my shows are airing new episodes during this time. I do wonder whether it is a good move on the part of the networks though. The Olympics are a pretty big deal, especially since they only come around once every two years, so there will be a huge ratings drop. Why not air reruns for two weeks?

The Opening Ceremonies were the most watched television event in Canadian history. I didn't watch it myself, save for a few seconds here and there when I was upstairs. I think the games will be good for Canada, and I do like to see people feeling Canadian pride. Though I do wonder, why do the Olympics need to come here for us to feel so patriotic? Why can't we feel this sort of pride all of the time?

But here's a question: Will the record the Opening Ceremonies set be broken during the span of the Winter Olympics? I think it probably will be. Canadians are suckers for hockey, so the gold medal games will bring in huge numbers of viewers. I may even tune in for a couple of minutes during the third period!

Happy Reading week everyone!

Facebook Versus Twitter: A Look at Two Very Different Social Networks

2010-02-09T14:34:00.003-06:00

I use both Facebook and Twitter. A lot. I have noticed that my use of these websites is very different, and most individuals I know who use both use them in very different ways.

I have been on Facebook for about two and a half years now, which I find interesting, since I swore I would never, ever get it while I was in high school. By a couple months into my first year of University, I took the plunge, and have never looked back. I use it to keep in touch with friends I may otherwise never hear anything from. There is a significant downside however: there is a serious lack of privacy. Unless you change your settings, your entire friend list sees every photo you post, every time your relationship status changes and every status update. Therefore, while I am a fairly open person, I definitely do not use Facebook as a place to air out my dirty laundry most of the time. It is one thing to say you’re having a bad day, it’s entirely another to make thinly veiled attacks at individuals who scorn you.

I rarely go on Facebook for news or interesting links. Occasionally I will get a link to a song someone likes, or a blog entry someone wrote, but for the most part, the news I receive pertains directly to the person who posts it. I’ve also noticed that it is a great place to share photos. Have a new baby? Excellent, post photos for all of your friends to see! For me, a good person to “friend” is someone that I know, and am interested in hearing from or about. I do not “friend” strangers, since I do not want someone I do not know reading about my life, even a censored version of it.

Twitter is very different. It is much less complex than Facebook, in the sense that it does a lot less. You can post the equivalent of “status updates” to your followers, direct messages, and retweet interesting comments. I’ve said it before, but I use Twitter a lot to get my news, from the Winnipeg Free Press, and other news sources. Twitter is my “business” social network. I try to keep things fairly school appropriate, and communicate with fellow CreComms on it. Twitter is really good for keeping in touch with CreComm students and instructors: if I have a question, I’ll tweet it and usually I’ll get a timely response. Twitter is what I use to promote my blog much of the time, because my profile is open (meaning anyone can read my tweets if they want), and I figure my followers on Twitter are more likely to read it than my Facebook friends.

I never had any reservations about joining Twitter, which is surprising, since many people I know have or had reservations about it. I simply heard about it, and decided to join when I learned that Frank Warren, the creator of PostSecret, had an account on it. I started following more people, and gradually found a reason to start checking it every day, and the rest is history. As for who is a good person to follow on Twitter, it is simple for me: who will provide content that interests me, or amuses me?

As for a strategic use of Twitter and Facebook for PR, I feel the demographics are fairly different. The best way to use Facebook in a PR strategy will be to create a fan page, group, or event, and try to gain members, fans and attendees. You can also post links on your Facebook, but I find that often times, people ignore those postings, so the best way to reach lots of people is to create a group and promote it in hopes of getting a large number of members. Facebook is good for reaching a large number of people, but they have to have joined your group first, which means you often have to send out invites, and hope people join, and that their friends join based on reading it in their news feed.

Twitter is a little different. What you can do is create an account specific to what you are trying to promote, and start tweeting about the event, film, et cetera. Follow individuals that are relevant to what you are trying to promote. For example, if you are trying to promote a local film, follow local actors or directors, and start a dialogue with them. People will see this, may find what you have to say interesting, and start following you. Use hashtags, and words that people will commonly search, such as the word “film” or “independent”. If people happen to be searching those words about the time you post your tweet, they may find it, go to your profile, and decide you are worth following. But to me, the worst thing to do is create a Twitter account merely to advertise a product. Nobody will follow you back if you don’t have anything interesting to say. Post links to relevant news articles, to the official website, post tweets with a neat fact about what you’re trying to promote. And engage your followers in a dialogue—read their tweets and send them one back! We all like to have our tweets acknowledged, and I would be more receptive to someone’s message if they took the time to read what I have to say first.

Repeat Viewings

2010-02-07T18:10:00.005-06:00

I see a lot of movies at the theatre, so I rarely have time to see a film more than once. But on occasion, I will go see a movie more than once, especially if I liked it and want to introduce someone to it. On the odd occasion, I've gone to see a movie three times in theatres!

I am writing this because I saw Avatar for the third time yesterday. My friend Dawn hadn't seen it, and I figured she would enjoy it, so we met up after she got off work, did some shopping, and went to the 5:00 pm show. What I like about seeing a movie over again, both in theatres, and on DVD, is that you tend to discover something new every time you watch it. Once, I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl on DVD for the hundredth time, and noticed that in one of the scenes, Johnny Depp was holding a banana...for no apparent reason. Little things like that amuse me.

In a movie like Avatar, there is always something new to notice. For example, I never noticed that many of the creatures in Avatar have more than two eyes. I also noticed that they seemed to change the trailers that were shown before the film. That excited me, since it meant I didn't have to sit through another Clash of the Titans preview, or a Prince of Persia: Sands of Time preview. I will probably see Avatar at least once more before it leaves theatres, likely when it comes to Imax. The huge screen size, and the amazing sound will add to the experience, and I won't be able to pass up that opportunity when it presents itself. I can understand why it is now the highest grossing film of all time: it holds up very well to repeat viewings, and it is the type of film you want everyone you know to "experience". It may be long, but the time flies by, even when I know what is going to happen.

But alternatively, there are the occasions where watching a film again ruins it for you. Gladiator is my example of this. I saw it many years ago, and loved it. However, I watched it about a year later in school when I was about 13, and found it to be dull, and rather stupid. Since then, I've caught bits of it on TV, and always end up rolling my eyes and changing the channel. To me, Gladiator is one of those movies you can only watch, and enjoy once.

On that note, before Avatar they showed a trailer for Robin Hood, and is it just me, or does it look like a sequel to Gladiator? Here's the trailer. It doesn't help that I dislike Russell Crowe at the best of times.

One movie I have been meaning to watch again is Lost in Translation. I was 14 when I watched it, and did not think much of it, and I realize now that, that is because I could not relate to it. Now, years later, I think I could get a lot out of it. Have you ever watched a film, hated it, but loved it years later? Or watched one, loved it, then hated it years later?

Confessions of a Lost Fan

2010-02-05T17:55:00.003-06:00

(Note: There will be spoilers for the sixth season premiere of Lost. If you haven't watched it yet, and don't want to be spoiled, don't read this entry!)

As many of you know, I am a huge Lost fan. I have been since the second episode, which I watched after hearing so many good things about the pilot episode. I was 14 years old, and I'd never encountered a television show that was so complex, and with such intriguing and fascinating characters.

Much has changed in my life in the past six years. But one of the "constants" in my life has been Lost (if you're a fan, you'll see what I did there...). Every night it was on (or the night after, if I was working), I'd sit down, and watch it, and more often than not, I was left confused, but that didn't matter. I knew I'd get the "answers" one day. Slowly, we've been finding out more about the world that has been created.

The final season premiered on Tuesday. It felt very bittersweet for me, because this is the very last one. There are only a handful of episodes in which to reveal the answers we've been desperately looking for. What's with Jacob and the man in black? Is Ben the 'villain' or is Charles Widmore...or are they both 'good' characters with a dark side? What was with Libby being at the mental institution with Hurley, giving the boat to Desmond, and whatever else she did? Will our survivors create the alternate world where the plane never crashed? Why does Richard never age, and just how old is he? These are just a few of the many questions that need to be answered.

I am not expecting everything to be answered, of course. I doubt we'll ever know why Aaron "has" to be raised by Claire...a question that goes as far back as the first season. But it would be nice to know the answers to some of the big questions, especially after so many years of loyal viewing.

What am I going to do after the show ends? I have no idea, really. It has been a rough two years on the television front, since many of the show I watched (ER, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pushing Daisies) either ended or were cancelled. I don't watch a whole lot of television, and I suppose that is a good thing as a CreComm student, but it would be nice to have a new show to get really invested in. A show like Lost, where the mere thought of missing an episode fills me with anxiety. Before I got into Lost, I was never passionately into a television show. It helps that Lost devotes itself well to discussion. I've spent countless hours online, and in person, throwing around theories, discussing character motivations, and wondering where the show could possibly go next. However, since everything good seems to get cancelled nowadays, I am really careful about what I get invested in.

I figure, we have a good three months of Lost to enjoy before it ends. The episode on Tuesday really left me scratching my head. With so few episodes left, they sure introduced a whole lot of new things to ponder. I trust the writers, and I'm sure they will tie it all together, but I was left wondering at certain parts whether what they were doing was a "good idea". Most notably were the scenes of the "alternate universe". Someone referred to them somewhere as "flash sideways" and I kind of like that. But my big fear is that the world on the island will cease to exist because the bomb did something, and the show will end with the survivors going about their lives as they would have if the plane hadn't crashed. That would upset me, because it would almost render the entire series moot. I don't think that will be what ends up happening, but I have to wonder when I see them all getting off the plane.

We did get an interesting insight into what their lives would be like if the plane hadn't crashed, and I have to say...for many of them, their life on the island was a huge improvement. Some days I think I'd like to live on Lost-island. Running away from the smoke monster (now known to be the man in black), pressing a button every 108 minutes, and good old fashioned time travel seems like it would be an interesting change of pace. Or maybe that's just the heavy work week talking!

I remember sitting down to watch it for the first time, and thinking that it was going to be like "Godzilla, but on an island". I was expecting a horror/thriller type of television show, instead of a character driven science fiction drama. I think we all won when my assumption was proven to be incorrect, because how long could a "Godzilla, but on an island" show last?

Some of my Favourite Film Parodies

2010-02-02T17:51:00.003-06:00

...In video format!

I rarely do entries that are primarily videos, but I thought today would be a good day to share with you some of my favourite cleverly edited film parody trailers or videos. As a film fan, I run into these fairly often, and have always admired the skill (and amount of cleverness) required to make these. I would never be able to do such a thing!

Brokeback to the Future

A look at what it would be like if Doc and Marty were secret lovers:

Titanic: Two the Surface

This one is completely ridiculous, but the title outlines the basic premise: what if Jack were thawed and brought back to life?

The Shining Recut

Ever wonder what The Shining would be like as a romantic comedy?

Mary Poppins as a horror film

Enough said:

The PG 300 trailer:

I find this one so "out there", that I can't help but laugh. It definitely does not have the quality of the other ones, but it is amusing enough:

I hope these brighten your day!

Zooey & Adam (Spoilers)

2010-01-30T22:44:00.007-06:00

I just got home from the Cinematheque, where I went to see Zooey & Adam.

I enjoyed it. A lot. One of the first things I noticed while watching the film, was the lack of a score. I can't recall if I have ever seen a film that did not use a score. I am sure I have, but none come to mind right now. But it didn't need it to create emotion. The main actors (Tom Keenan and Daria Puttaert) do a fantastic job themselves. They had great chemistry, and played every scene with a fantastic realness. One scene that really stood out for me was the scene where Zooey told the police officers that she had been raped. She said it very offhandedly, and even laughed a little bit. People might be shocked that she gave her line in that way, but I wasn't. I find that when people talk about traumatic or painful experiences, they often try to sound casual, and even laugh about it. You know, cracking a joke so you don't burst into tears?

Another scene that felt really human to me was when Zooey did burst into tears in the supermarket. I am sure most of us have either had or witnessed moments like that in their lives. When the emotional burden is so heavy that you just have to let it out, even if you're in public. I had a moment like that last spring, so that scene resonated heavily with me.

The way the film progressed actually really surprised me. I had assumed that the film would end with the birth of Carl, and that it would be about her pregnancy. Therefore, I was very surprised when Zooey went into labour so early in the film...for the first few minutes after that scene, I found myself wondering if this was Adam's fantasy of what the future would bring.

I've heard people talk about the movie as if it were just about the rape that occurs at the beginning. It isn't about that. To me, it's about trauma, and about relationships. Zooey and Adam deal with the traumatic event very differently, and serve to contrast each other. These two characters, who love each other very deeply, end up feeling very differently about the event, and the after effects of it. One character refuses to allow themselves to be defined by the trauma, but for the other, it does become the big defining moment of their life. It made me understand just how easy it is for a relationship to be ruined by a trauma. Human beings react differently to bad situations and if you're spouse or loved one has a different way of coping that you do not like, it really can cause damage to a relationship.

I found myself thinking about how one would react when placed in the situation these two characters were placed in. But how can you know how you would react until you're in it? The position they were placed in is not one I'd wish on anyone, but one obviously makes the best of it, and the other tries, but ultimately, fails, to move on from it. Everyone has events that are traumatic to them and that help define them as a person. But I think there are healthy and unhealthy ways of dealing with trauma, and in this film, we saw an extreme example of a very bad way of coping with a traumatic event. I'm curious about how common such an extreme reaction is. There must be fathers out there raising children that may be the product of a sexual assault, and I wonder what that must be like.

I stayed behind after and listened to Sean Garrity and Arthur Schafer, an expert on ethics, speak about the film. I found it fascinating, though it did focus a bit much on abortion which, to me, was such a small part of the film. A member of the audience asked an interesting question, "what if the roles were reversed?" As in, what if Adam had wanted to keep the child, and Zooey had wanted to abort. Schafer did mention a court case where the woman involved wanted an abortion, and the man didn't want her to have one...and the man lost. It's an interesting thing to think about, but I believe that a woman should have the right to choose whether she wants to carry a child to term, regardless of what the contributing party believes. Certainly the father has a right to voice his opinion, but in the end, it is the woman's decision--as it should be.

Am I glad I saw it? Very. It is not an easy film to watch by any measure; and it made me very emotional, but I like movies that are hard to watch. I was in the car with my Mom afterwards and she brought up the fact that film festivals have refused to screen it. I told her that it did have some controversial subject matter, but it generates discussion and it wasn't explicit in anyway. I recognize that I am a fairly open minded person, but I did say that the people who "banned" it had to be a little closed-minded. Garrity explained that they thought the decision Zooey made was not one any woman would make, but he also quoted a statistic that said that 36,000 women in the States get pregnant from a rape, and from those, half carry to term, and most of those women do keep and raise their babies. So perhaps there was a little bit of misunderstanding on the parts of the festival organizers, but I wish they would reconsider the film. It's fantastic and well worth a viewing.

Did You Hear About the Morgans? And Romantic Comedy Talk

2010-01-27T22:27:00.004-06:00

Yes, I saw this film. You can laugh all you want, but I had a really good reason to see it.

I went with my Mom, who really enjoys light hearted comedies, particularly of the romantic sort. When my Dad and I got home, she asked my Dad if they could go to a show tonight, but my Dad had to attend a convocation, so was unable to. I immediately offered to go with her, since I have not had time with just her in quite awhile. I'm really blessed, in that I have a close relationship with both of my parents, and I am not embarrassed to be seen in public, with either of them. She asked me if I would be willing to go see it, and I agreed, because that was the movie she wanted to see. It has been something like six months since she last saw a movie in the theatres, since she has a hard time getting around, so I was happy to take her out. And you know, I even would have gone to see Valentine's Day with her, if it was out and that was what she wanted to see. I'll do a whole lot out of love.

It was not as bad as I thought it would be, but it still was not anything special. We went to the second run theatre, so it only cost something like a dollar fifty for each ticket. So I don't feel like I lost anything by seeing it. I got a giggle or two throughout the movie, but the real satisfaction was hearing my Mom laugh hysterically throughout it--she loves stuff like that. She said she knew she loved the movie when she got out of the theatre and didn't know what time it was, because she hadn't looked at her watch once.

I wrote briefly in my previous entry about my dislike for most romantic comedies that are made now. I feel like they are too predictable and formulaic, and that if you've seen one, you have probably seen them all. Did You Hear About the Morgans is no different. Going into the movie, I knew exactly what would happen, and had the entire plot arc in my mind...and I really was not very far off. Another problem I have with many romantic comedies is that the characters are paper thin. They rely on stereotypes (in this movie, they are: the "charming" British man, the pampered New Yorker, the Republican, the hunters, the redneck, et cetera), because it seems that it would take too much effort to create fully formed, original characters.

I must say though, that I am glad this movie did not turn to the oh, so standard stereotype of the "sexist pig with a heart of gold". I see that in movies (or in trailers of movies) way too often, and it kills me to know that the female protagonist (who is portrayed as a "strong" woman) ends up falling for him in the end. Sexism is desperately uncool, and the thought of a strong, independent woman falling for someone who is perhaps one step away from demanding she camp out in the kitchen makes me sick. Why does Hollywood feel that characters like that are likable, or even charming? Maybe it is just me, but I do not find the idea of being treated as anything less than an equal to be sexy, so I would never find myself rooting for a "happily ever after" with a character like that.

All in all, I am glad I saw the movie, because I know it made my Mom really happy. And I know it could have been a whole lot worse. I just remembered Bride Wars, which came out last year at about this time. I never saw it, but the thought of two grown women turning against each other over something as frivolous as a wedding day and location made me want to weep for what "entertainment" has become in this society.

Some "Bad" Previews I've Seen Recently

2010-01-24T15:30:00.004-06:00

I haven't actually been to the theatre at all this year, which is rather unusual for me. This Friday I'll be going to see Zooey & Adam, however. I did want to bring attention to some really poor trailers I've seen recently (let's face it, I just want to mock something).

Valentine's Day

Here's a checklist:

-Knock off of Love Actually-check
-Padded cast for no real reason, other than being able to say "look at all these FAMOUS people"-check
-Stupid movie about an even stupider holiday-check

When I first saw the trailer, I thought of the deplorable He's Just Not That Into You, which I wrote about here. Clearly, they're aiming at the exact same audience. Here's another thought: Bradley Cooper is a pretty funny guy. Why is he doing movies like these? Give me more of The Hangover and less He's Just Not That Into You, please.

And Hollywood, please churn out some intelligent and witty romantic comedies. Stop making drivel like this.

The A-Team

You will notice that Bradley Cooper is in this one as well. I understand this one a little better, because the guy's career is on fire right now, it's a major blockbuster, and he's probably getting a decent paycheque for it. Same with Liam Neeson. This movie looks like it will be similar to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which I have not seen (and don't intend to, unless I'm making some sort of game of it). I didn't know a lot about The A-Team before I saw the trailer, and my parents told me the basic premise after I told them a movie version was being made. It sounded like campy fun to me, but I find that many TV to movie adaptations fall flat. Generally you have to recast the roles, and most actors can't capture the "magic" of the original actors.

The new Star Trek is an obvious exception though, but it was placed in the expert hands of J.J. Abrams, creator of Lost; the best show on television.

Clash of the Titans

I don't much care for trailers that are merely a display of all of the "action scenes" to be contained within a film. I find this one cuts from clip to clip far too fast, so it's difficult to follow, and I had difficulty concentrating when I first saw it before Avatar. That being said, I might actually see this one. There are a lot of movies out there with terrible trailers that have ended up being fantastic. The cast is what makes it seem a bit more promising to me. I like Liam Neeson, and Sam Worthington probably has a great career ahead of him. I think Avatar will do for him what Titanic did for Leonardo DiCaprio. Worthington was also pretty good in Terminator: Salvation.

And here is one that I shouldn't find enjoyable...but I just can't help myself.

MacGruber (this is the 'Red Band' trailer, therefore it is not safe for work)

It looks enormously stupid, but I'm a sucker for the MacGruber sketches on Saturday Night Live, so I'll be going to see this. At least it'll be rated R, which means they can go farther with the humour than they ever could on the show. I'm not overly familiar with Val Kilmer, but I've liked everything I've seen him in, and he was very funny in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

The movies based off of SNL sketches have had mixed success. Wayne's World is legendary, but there is also It's Pat!, which bombed magnificently at the box office. I have hopes for this one, it looks like it will be dumb fun at the very least.

My Tribute to Conan O'Brien

2010-01-21T19:13:00.003-06:00

Conan and NBC have signed a deal.

I knew this was coming, and I have been more than a little opinionated this past week about this entire situation. I've been taping every episode of The Tonight Show this week, and while it has been consistently hilarious, it has also gotten very bittersweet. I'm going to be watching the episode from last night sometime this evening, and it makes me sad to know that I only have three more episodes of The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien left to watch. I know I've made it clear numerous times just how much I respect Conan, but I just wanted to write a bit of a tribute.

Just before getting into it, I was searching Conan, and Canada, and found this opinion piece, in which Matthew Hays calls for the CBC to hire Conan. It'd never happen, but if it did, I'd be the happiest woman on the planet.

I was 14 years old when I first really "discovered" Conan. He did four shows from Toronto in 2004, and I watched three out of the four. I'd watched a bit of late night television at that time, and a talk show host doing his show from Canada seemed like a big deal to me. I watched--and I laughed. I was still far from a regular viewer though, I'd say that started when I was 17 or so. Even then, as a student, I could only watch his show daily over the summer. While I was in University, Friday nights were the nights I'd sit down and watch Late Night With Conan O'Brien, at least on the nights I was home. Even if I only watched the monologue, I always got a good laugh, and he was my favourite of the late night personalities (far, far above the boring and tired Jay Leno).

I remember being thrilled in 2004 when it was announced he'd be taking over The Tonight Show. This came after he did his shows in Canada, and I was still very impressed with him. That, and I was happy because it meant he was on an hour earlier. On June 1st, I sat eagerly on the couch upstairs and watched the brilliant cold open with glee. He had been off he air for three months, and I was happy that he was finally back on the air. I had a rough summer last year, and I was often feeling a little down on the nights I was at home. Since I never had any reason to wake up early, I'd watch Conan, and he never failed to bring a smile to my face.

When I started school again, obviously I was not always able to stay up and watch the show. I rarely taped it, because I thought he'd be on for years and years, so catching it twice a week would be enough. Had I known NBC would do what they've done, I'd have taped every episode. Some nights, I'd be really stressed out from homework, and I'd tear myself away from the computer at 10:35 to watch The Tonight Show, because it was the best way to unwind for me. I don't know what I'm going to do to unwind after Friday, but I'll find something.

I'm sure Conan will find work on another network, but apparently he won't be able to start up again until after September 1st. Wherever he lands, I'll be sitting on the couch the day he starts, watching. After I graduate, I'm hoping to fly down to the States to catch a taping of whatever his new show is.

Here are some great clips:

Conan in Finland, knocking on Forss Fagerstrom's door. From Late Night

Tom Hanks gets hit by a meteor.

Conan's Na'vi assistant.

One of the many great Norm Macdonald interviews.

And part 2 of that interview.

From behind the scenes: Macdonald ruins the promos.

So here's hoping Leno crashes and burns in the most epic way possible. Surely he won't find success...so many people have made it clear they're on "Team Coco", so why would they choose to appear on Leno's Tonight Show after he helped shove Conan under a bus? I'll maintain what I've said before: I will never watch an episode of The Tonight Show that is hosted by Jay Leno.

Another List: 5 of the Saddest Movies I've Seen

2010-01-18T21:39:00.005-06:00

As many of you know, I've faced a bit of a set back in my life in the past few days. As a result, I'm feeling rather down, but I'm a strong woman, and will bounce back from this. Plus, it has only shown me that what I am doing with my life is absolutely the right thing. I'm right where I want--and need to be.

But since it is on my mind, here are 5 really sad movies that will either bring you right down...or remind you that your life really is not that bad. I always find it cathartic to watch sad movies when I'm down, because for a time I'm crying about something else, instead of whatever is bothering me. Though sometimes, what I really need is a good laugh--but that's for another list.

I will note where there are spoilers.

5. Osama

Trailer.

I saw this years ago, and it has stuck with me ever since. It is the story of a young girl who must disguise herself as a boy in order to work to feed her family in Afghanistan while it was under Taliban rule. It made me think, how many young girls had to do what she did in order to feed their families? The entire situation presented in the film, and the tragic ending make it a downer, but it really puts your life into perspective. We live in a free and democratic country, and hopefully we'll never have to live under oppression. But at the same time, it's depressing that people in this world have to live like that...I just can't imagine it. I suppose that's a very good thing.

4. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (will contain spoilers)

Trailer.

I first saw this in Florida when I was 11 years old. My parents took us to it because they thought it was a light hearted movie about robots. Boy, were they wrong. I was traumatized by the "flesh fair" scene, and found it overly long, and boring. Thankfully, several years later I watched it again and loved it.

I do feel that the movie goes on a bit too long, and should end with David repeating his wish to the Blue Fairy until the end of eternity. But the "real" ending has grown on me somewhat.

This movie is full of tragedy. From Monica abandoning David, to the aforementioned "flesh fair", to the ending, it's essentially a "feel bad" movie throughout. The part that gets me the most is the last twenty minutes, when David is with the robots of the distant future. They take a lock of Monica's hair that Teddy had been keeping, and restore her for a single day. In that day, David colours with her, and falls asleep in her arms. But to me, it's merely an illusion created by these advanced robots, and it's a sort of...false happiness. It just served to remind me of the happiness David was deprived of earlier in his "lifetime".

3. Edward Scissorhands

Trailer.

My favourite movie. This one takes me back to my years as a high school student. Back then (and now, to an extent), I related to Edward. I didn't have scissors for hands, but I might as well have. It's a look at suburban existence, conformity, and rejecting those that are "different".

Johnny Depp is perfect in this film. Edward IS the movie, and it scares me that Tom Cruise was originally considered, but wanted it to have a "happy ending". Thank God he didn't get it, because the message would be ruined if an unnatural happy ending was tacked on. I've seen the movie countless times, and once I counted how many lines Depp uttered...it was something like 30. Therefore, this is a role that required a lot of physical acting, and emotion. He does it magnificently, he becomes Edward, and makes the movie what it is.

2. Atonement

Trailer.

I always tell people that if they want to really cry, they should watch Atonement. It's part love story, part war movie, and part coming of age story. It's a lot of different things, but to me, it works. Primarily, it is the love story between Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and Robbie (James McAvoy), and the fallout caused by an accusation made by Cecilia's sister, Briony (Saoirse Ronan).

It also contains an excellent five minute tracking shot that rivals the one in Children of Men.

1. Grave of the Fireflies

Trailer.

I don't watch a lot of anime, but a few years ago, I was told by numerous people that this was the saddest movie they'd ever seen. I took that as a challenge, and bought it. It's the story of two siblings, Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi) and Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi) in Japan during World War II.

It was just as sad as everyone told me. I watched it two and a half years ago with my boyfriend at the time, and I was inconsolable by the end of it. I still have it, but have been unable to watch it since, not for lack of wanting to, but because it was just so painful. I have been really wanting to see it again lately, so it's just a matter of bracing myself for it, and maybe having an understanding friend watch it with me so I can cry on their shoulder.

***

Writing has always been a very cathartic thing for me. It "centers" me, and being able to keep busy and concentrate on something else, especially something I enjoy so much, is very useful. I also want to take this opportunity to give my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been there for me, by listening, offering their love and support, giving me hugs, texting me to check up on me, and getting me out of the house. It really means the world to me to know that so many people care about me. Thank you.

What's the saddest movie you've ever seen?

In the Chamber 2010

2010-01-15T23:08:00.003-06:00

Today I attended "In the Chamber", where two plays were shown, "Last Man in Krakendorf", and "Last Man in Puntarenas". It was certainly an interesting experience.

I liked "Last Man in Krakendorf" by Gordon Tanner better. It was a very dark monologue performed by a character who is feeling anger about factory farming, and the hog barn fire in a Manitoba community. He spent twenty years of his life working in the farm industry, and was appalled at the way the hogs were treated, and the horrible deaths all 15,000 pigs suffered. It was dark, but often times very funny. That being said, the humour pushes boundaries at time and could potentially be offensive to some.

Tanner, who also performed in the play is filming a sort of plea to an unseen character, and uses a power point presentation during the play. On at least one occasion, he stood very close to the wall it was being projected on, and his face was drowned out. I would have liked to have been able to see his face at that moment, as he was reacting in a fairly emotional way. The power point presentation was a good addition to the play, but the logistics needed to be worked out better so Tanner's face is not washed out at any point.

I liked this play, but it was overly long. A good twenty minutes could have been cut without losing anything. In fact, it would have added impact to the story, since by the end, I felt a bit tired of it, and was ready for it to end.

***

I really disliked Steven Ratzlaff's "Last Man in Puntarenas", however. It was about a man giving a speech at a dinner in his honour. He's celebrating quitting his job in the medical field, and is telling the story of how he got involved in the bureaucratic position he held. Throughout the play, the (unseen) members of his audience leave one by one, because they are alienated by this man's rant. Quite frankly, I felt the same way the invisible audience did. Maybe I just could not relate to him. But mostly, the story felt grating, and by the halfway point, I was checking my watch every five minutes (never a good sign).

I interpreted Ratzlaff's story as being one of refusing to let go. His marriage to his wife ended after the death of their son, who died at 16 months of age. It could have been a really touching story, but I think, again, because of the length of the monologue, it went on much too long, and it became boring. There were some attempts at humour within this play, and the odd time I did chuckle, but it seemed to fall flat most of the time.

***

Monologues can be a great way of performing theatre, but it has to be able to hold the attention of the audience. These two (mostly) one person plays did not have enough material to warrant the 50 minutes each were given, so eventually both become dull and tired. Both would have worked much better as half hour plays.

Welcome to the Dollhouse

2010-01-14T21:46:00.002-06:00

I watched Welcome to the Dollhouse tonight on Kenton's recommendation. It was really great--and very different in the sense that it deals with a pre-teen girls social "difficulties". Most films that tackle the story of the social outcast obviously use high school students. The comedy was very dark (just as I like it), and I laughed, and laughed.

I thought about why that is the case, and have come up with a few thoughts. The first thing that came to my mind is that if a film takes place in a high school, they can cast actors that are either already adults, or near adulthood. Heather Matarazzo, who played the protagonist, Dawn Wiener, would have been about 13 years old at the time of filming. That's really young to be tackling such a complex role, and many young actors would not be able to do such a part justice. Matarazzo was fantastic though, as was the entire young cast. If you're able to cast slightly older actors, and place them in a high school environment (where people are still known to be cruel).

Another thought that came to mind is the thought that most people are not comfortable with the idea of pre-teens rebelling, or experimenting in any sort of way. "Pre-teenhood" is tough in the sense that you're generally seen as a slightly older child (at least, that's how I was seen), and rebellion is not supposed to start occurring until high school. I remember when I was in 8th grade, a couple of my peers were caught smoking a cigarette on school property, though outside of school hours. The principal banned them from all the school dances (oh no!) as a result. Of course I'm not saying that kind of thing should be happening, but it does anyway. People just tend to like to plug their ears and ignore this fact. And since many stories like this one do involve some level of rebellion, filmmakers tend to keep it high school aged.

But I, for one, really appreciated the fact that Todd Solondz set it in a junior high school. Because as I said, it's not a perspective you often see. And it reminded me SO, so much of my middle school experience as the "unpopular girl" (a label that, unfortunately, stuck through high school, as I mentioned in my last post). Even Brandon (Brendan Sexton III) reminded me a little of several of the boys I went to school with way back then. Brandon's sympathetic portrayal made me really think about life back then. You can never really walk in another person's shoes, so you can't always know what causes someone to treat you the way they do. Maybe these boys had a difficult home life? I'll never know, and I don't need to know, but I hope that wherever they are, they're living in a way that allows them to sleep at night.

The dynamic of junior high, and high school is also completely different. I thought the character Mark Wiener (Matthew Faber) said it best: "High school's better than junior high. They'll call you names, but not as much to your face." I really couldn't have said it better myself.

The First Time I Received Recognition for Being a Film Nerd

2010-01-13T17:24:00.005-06:00

I was thinking last night, and remembered a rather amusing story that I thought would be relevant to tell. Just a bit of background:

I started really watching movies when I was 13 years old. That's when I started blogging, and have been doing it off and on ever since. At first, many of the movies I watched were ones that starred Mr. Johnny Depp, but slowly I branched out further. I started posting on a movie forum, Rotten Tomatoes at that time as well. Despite still being a kid, I started watching all these movies...and I loved them! So since then I've watched as many movies as I can, and my love of film really only has grown since then.

This story takes place a few years after I first started really watching movies. I was 16 years old. I had this really awesome Sociology teacher who didn't feel we should be working on the last day before Spring break. So he brought in Scene It?, split us into two teams and started playing.

When I was in high school, I was either ignored by most, or bullied relentlessly. As a result, I was very quiet in social situations (but never hesitated to speak up in class), and knew few people in the class. So people didn't know that I was a film nerd. When we had our turns, my teammates would look stupefied by the question, and I'd lazily give the answer (they were EASY questions to me!), and people started to wonder how I had all this knowledge. We easily doubled the score of the other team, and halfway through my teacher put me on the other team...where I promptly got us in the lead. My teacher had to step in to prevent it becoming a "Sociology class versus Jennifer Hanson" game.

I couldn't help it. Games like that are fairly easy to me. I hadn't even seen all the films we were questioned on. But a prominent screen shot would be included, and since I'd spent 2 and a half years on movie forums by then, I could tell what movie it was by an image or vague description, even if I hadn't seen it. Plus I have a weird sort of memory for trivia, I can remember the smallest details about something or someone if I set my mind to it.

I wish I could say that my performance permanently earned me the respect of my peers, and rose petals were tossed at me whenever I entered classrooms...but that was not the case. Spring break meant everyone promptly forgot about it, and when we got back to class, I resumed the position of the quiet, weird, rather plain girl who was either never noticed or mocked incessantly. But that's okay, because for just one day...I out smarted 24 other people, and felt really good about myself for doing so. I was a very proud nerd that day.

The Latest on the NBC Late Night Drama

2010-01-12T16:29:00.002-06:00

Conan O'Brien has released a statement.

Essentially, he won't be moving to 12:05 am, because it would damage the integrity of The Tonight Show. He also stated that he has not yet received an offer from another network, and doesn't know where to go to next. What a classy guy. Some have said he could stay quiet and take his huge pay cheque but he recognizes that some things are more important than money. By releasing this statement and taking the stance he has, he's telling NBC that he won't tolerate being pushed around. He's also attempting to protect The Tonight Show, which is very admirable. I agree with him when he says that moving it to 12:05 am will be irreparably damaging.

This leaves NBC in a difficult position. Conan has stood his ground (as he should be), and NBC essentially has two options: Jay Leno or Conan. I recognize that I'm biased, but going with anyone but Conan would be unbelievably stupid. Leno is older, had The Tonight Show for 17 years, and is probably fairly close to retirement. NBC needs to have faith in their new host, instead of trying to hold onto the past. Trying to keep Leno by giving him The Jay Leno Show was a huge mistake. Now that it has failed, they have two people to try to satisfy, and try as they might, they won't be able to make both happy, and won't be able to retain both. Even if they do decide to let go of Leno, Conan's confidence in NBC will be shaken. Why should he want to stay on a network that kept the "old guy" around? It's like they were just waiting for Conan to fail, so they kept his predecessor in their back pocket.

I wish Leno had half the class Conan does. Give someone else a chance at hosting, and retire gracefully. Go back to performing stand-up full time. From what I gather, Leno seems to be a workaholic, and his entire "identity" is likely attached to his work. But he can do other work until he is ready to retire. I'll bet he won't even leave the spotlight, even if he is not on television anymore.

I'm not worried about Conan. He's well respected and he'll find work somewhere. But for selfish reasons, I'd be rather upset if he didn't find another television gig. I love watching him. I always told myself that, after I graduate, I'd go to a taping of The Tonight Show. I definitely won't be if he's not the host anymore, but whatever he is doing after I graduate, you can bet I'll be there in the audience at some point.

NBC should be looking at Twitter though. Under the trending topics, this drama has almost all of them. Most specifically have to do with Conan (or "Team Conan"). From what I've read online, most people are supporting Conan. I just can't get over the idiocy of this network. They're living in the past, instead of looking to the future. And Conan didn't get the time he deserved to make his incarnation of The Tonight Show a complete hit. He was set up to fail.

The Simpsons

2010-01-10T18:11:00.005-06:00

Tonight is the 20th anniversary episode of The Simpsons, so I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate a blog entry to it. I have not watched any of the "new" episodes for several years now, but I may tune in tonight to reminisce a bit.

The Simpsons was THE show of my childhood. Every Sunday, my brother, Steven, my Dad and I would gather around the TV to watch it. It didn't matter that I didn't get a lot of the humour back then, I laughed at all the silly stuff Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie did, and marvelled at the fact that, no matter what happened, they were and would always be, a happy family. When my Dad would laugh at the jokes that went over our heads, I'd look at my Dad with a blank stare and he'd try to explain just what was so funny, but it was years until I really "got it". I've seen every episode up until about season 14. Seasons 1-8 are the best, but 9 and 10 are very good as well. After seasons 14, I stopped watching regularly because it had just become a shadow of its former glory, in my opinion.

That hasn't stopped me from watching the "classic" episodes. I have several of the earlier seasons on DVD, and they get near constant viewing from me. I get all of the "adult" jokes now (the day I started to get them as a teenager was the day I felt "grown up"), and take a lot of joy in rediscovering the sometimes very subtle humour of the show. Just over the winter break, I was watching "Mr. Plow" from the 4th season, which I hadn't seen in years. In this episode, Homer buys some very cheap late night advertising to promote his new snow plow business. The commercial was so obviously terrible, (look at the production values!) but that's why it's so funny. It's a send up on awful late night advertising and the people who think they can write and produce their own commercials without any prior experience in doing so. Of course the commercial brings Homer wild success...for the time being.

Another great advertising parody is for the Canyonero, in the season 9 episode, "The Last Temptation of Krust." Here's the audio of the commercial, though it really must be seen with the picture as well, if possible. There's another great song from the season 9 episode "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpsons". It's obviously a parody of Robert Downey Jr's substance abuse problems, but as a kid I didn't know that. Again, it wasn't until I revisited it about two years ago that I figured it out.

Since I've seen the early ones so many times, I have a full arsenal of lines that I pull out fairly often. Sometimes I'm given the same blank stares I used to give my Dad, but occasionally someone will catch what I'm doing and (hopefully) laugh. Just the other day I used "they have the internet on computers now" in a conversation. I was doing a bit of googling and found a list of lines that can be put into every day use produced by A.V. Club. In the interest of full disclosure, I'll admit to using every single one of them at least once in conversation, and some of them are used very regularly.

It may not be as good as it once was, but 20 years is a serious achievement. Congratulations to the creators of The Simpsons for creating a show that's still loved and talked about after all this time.

Balloon Boy Hoax

2010-01-08T18:26:00.002-06:00

We were discussing pseudo-events in PR class, and I thought it would be fun to discuss one of the more recent and well known examples.

I’m sure everyone now knows about the “Balloon Boy” hoax of 2009. On October 15^th, Falcon Heene was reported missing, and it was reported by his parents that he had “floated away” in a weather balloon. Media swarmed to Fort Collins, Colorado to offer live coverage of what would seemingly be a tragic story. Things took a turn for the worse when the balloon landed without little Falcon inside, leaving the world believing that he had fallen out. Luckily, he was found to be safe and hiding in his attic.

The world media was amazed by this story, and obviously there was a lot of coverage of the event. Suspicions arose when Falcon said in an interview that "You had said that we did this for a show." Was this a hoax planned to generate media coverage? Eventually, it was decided that yes, it was.

Richard and Mayumi Heene, Falcon’s parents eventually pleaded guilty to all of the charges laid against them, and both were given jail sentences. Richard Heene wanted publicity to try to sell his reality TV show idea, The Science Detectives. Because of this hoax, no network would dare touch his proposed TV show, and they are not allowed to make any money off of this hoax for four years. This essentially means they won’t make any money off of “Balloon Boy”, since I can’t see many people caring four years from now.

I would say that the Heene’s have only lost money from this hoax, and damaged not only their lives but the lives of their children. They now have lawyer fees, fines, a criminal record, and a loss of potential work to contend with. Their children spent time in the spotlight, which can be considered damaging, especially for Falcon. For the rest of his life, Falcon (an already uncommon name) will always be known as “Balloon Boy”. Creating a pseudo-event based on exploiting a child, and having the world media thinking said child is in danger is a remarkably stupid idea. Of course the media and emergency officials are going to be mad that the child was never actually in danger in the first place. What a waste of their time, and money! The general public are going to be annoyed that they wasted so much time following a story that ended up merely being a poorly orchestrated hoax. Not to mention being angry at the exploitation of a child.

Richard Heene claims that he pleaded guilty to protect Mayumi, who could have been deported if she was convicted of a felony. He says that he really thought Falcon was in danger, which I don't believe for a second. I think he's just looking to stay in the spotlight for as long as he possibly can. By making these outlandish statements, stories will be written about him, and he'll be talked about for another week or two as he starts serving his 90 days in prison.

I think the Heene’s got “addicted” to the idea of fame and fortune. They had appeared on ABC’s Wife Swap twice, were fan favourites on that show, and were seen as being a fairly eccentric family. The longing for more money and more attention created desperation. Maybe they thought nobody would find out it was a hoax, but that’s a rather naïve thought. The media is ruthless, and will almost always find out the truth. That, and you never want to trust a six year old boy to keep a secret.

Updated: Leno and Conan

2010-01-07T20:45:00.003-06:00

This New York Times blog states that Leno would return to late night with a half hour version of his show, essentially moving Conan back a half hour, but leaving him with the hour long Tonight Show. I'd rather Leno disappear completely, but if this is the case, at least The Tonight Show will remain intact. Though it does mean that I'll have to stay up a good half hour later in order to watch it, which is an annoyance, considering I'm in school and all.

I just thought I would provide the update to keep my entries relevant to the current developments. But, here's a link to one of my favourite Conan O'Brien moments ever, 1864 baseball!

Leno's Show is Nearing its End

2010-01-07T17:00:00.007-06:00

...According to CBS news. Generally I'd say 'good riddance' because I've made it clear that I do not care for Jay Leno--he's unfunny, and tired, but as I've written previously, it's likely to affect Conan O'Brien. TMZ, has also reported this story, which is hardly confirmation (I'd still place it in the realm of speculation), but it's not sounding good at all.

However, I'm not sure this will be happening as immediately as it is being reported. After the Olympics is in a month or so. What will NBC do about prime time programming? They'll have five hours a week that is not dedicated to any particular TV show, and you know advertisers won't want to touch that with a ten foot pole. Unless they rush out a new series, or have one waiting on the back burner, it'd be even more foolish of NBC to pull the plug on Leno right now. He's dead weight, but it's better to have dead weight than no weight.

Of course, Conan has had the replacement threats, and rumours swirl around him in the past. Maybe it is all just talk. Since the beginning of this "experiment" there have been these exact same rumours. I believe that NBC pressured Leno into stepping down in order to keep Conan for the long term. Leno is not going to be around forever, and since Conan is younger, and has a younger demographic, in a number of years, they'll have a hot commodity. Clearly I think they already do, but Leno did have bigger ratings...the point I'm making is that perhaps they should have let Leno keep The Tonight Show for a few more years, until he was ready to retire. That way, they wouldn't have had to try this dreadful The Jay Leno Show experiment. It was set up to fail, because when I watch late night television, I'll watch one of the shows, maybe part of a second if there is a particularly good guest. I'm not going to sit down, watch The Jay Leno Show at 9 pm (central time of course), then The Tonight Show at 10:35. It will either be one or the other. Therefore, it was stupid of NBC not to anticipate a ratings drop for The Tonight Show, and crummy ratings for The Jay Leno Show. Many Leno fans would have shows they already watch at 9 pm, so instead, they've stopped watching late night TV, or switched over to David Letterman.

Primogeniture, a poster on a movie/television/Lost website, Icine.org, had the following thoughts:

"If this happens, I will fight someone.

It is difficult to see NBC canceling 'Leno' mid-season, considering the gap that would leave in their primetime schedule. And it remains near unbelievable that the network would fire a 'Tonight Show' host after only half a season on the air. The reason for the switch to Conan was, or should have been, a look to the long-term. You place Conan in that position because he can go for 10, or 15, or even 20 years, something that Leno could not do. Letterman isn't going to be around forever either. To slay Conan's 'Tonight' and return Leno to the show displays the same cunning mental prowess that placed NBC in this predicament to begin with.

In the interest of quality, you know, comedy, and not necessarily business, I only hope that this is simply another one of the litany of firing scares Conan has endured since he entered the business. If not, hopefully he gets 40 million in his pocket and ABC or FOX picks him up before we have time to blink."

I'll maintain what I said a few weeks ago: NBC is going to need a restructuring, and it will probably be happening in the next few years. I have not heard anything more about the Jerry Seinfeld rumours, so that does make me think that this is all just talk. Who could take NBC seriously if they threw away a long term talent like Conan? He'll probably be working longer than Leno will be. And if they do throw him away, he'll be snatched up again immediately.

One thing I do find interesting is that so little is being said about Jimmy Fallon. I haven't watched his show since the first night it aired, but I have heard he's improved since then. As I mentioned in a response to Chris's comment on my prior entry, Fallon's and Conan's demographic is very similar, which also doesn't help ratings.

Of course, to be completely fair, it's easy to be judgmental of a television network while you're sitting on the couch watching TV. I certainly wouldn't ever want to have any part in running a network or making decisions like these, because it must be very stressful. If The Jay Leno Show does go belly up, someone in charge of managing NBC will probably be getting fired as well. It has been rather amazing to watch NBC go from ratings greatness (Seinfeld, Friends, ER), to a floundering mess of a network. They need to get themselves a serious hit, and fast.

Movie Magazines

2010-01-06T17:20:00.003-06:00

Movie and entertainment magazines are fairly commonly seen on the magazine racks. As one of the more common genres, it’s not surprising that there are “free” movie magazines commonly available out there. One that can be found easily in Canadian Cineplex theatres is Famous magazine. Famous also has a version for children, called Famous Kids . It’s free and available in theatres, as well as being available for download on the Cineplex website.

The magazine is also interactive, in that it publishes the opinions of readers every month in a segment called “Famous Last Words.” I was published in this segment once, in fact, in the December 2008 issue. I see publishing this magazine as being a good marketing move for Cineplex, since it offers another draw to the theatre. It’s almost a reward for going to a movie at a Cineplex theatre—you get a free magazine to read before the show starts if you choose to pick it up. Plus it serves as a way for Cineplex to make money, by selling advertising in the magazine.

I’m interested by the move to online content with magazines. Like newspapers, magazines have to keep up with the times, and offer online content, such as breaking news stories, videos, pictures, online only features, etcetera. While Survivor is airing, I visit Entertainment Weekly’s website every week to read Jeff Probst’s Survivor blogs. This is an online only feature, and it draws me to the website, and while I’m there, I’ll read other articles that catch my eye. I rarely, if ever, read Entertainment Weekly in print form, but I’m often at the website. I think in many ways, online readership is just as important as print readership, perhaps even more important. Entertainment Weekly must be making money off of its website, since it has such a complete website, with a ton of content. I’m thinking that the advertisements on the page help generate that revenue.

I am, perhaps, old fashioned enough that I don’t want to see the death of print magazine or even print newspapers. But I do believe, that in order to keep on competing with blogs, Twitter, and news websites, magazines MUST maintain some online content. I do think it is easier for magazines to generate web content than it is for newspapers, as many newspapers are local—meaning they reach a smaller demographic. Magazines are often national, or even international, making readership that much larger. Most magazine websites have “web only” content, but they also have “print only” content, which encourages readers to not only buy the magazine, but to visit the website. Newspapers should be following this example. Create a print version, but also create web only content, that is paid for with the help of advertising. Put the print only content up on the website…but have the reader log in using their subscription information, or charge people a web subscription. I am aware that the Winnipeg Free Press does have a subscription only portions, and an online version of the newspaper that you can subscribe to, which is a step in the right direction. However, progress can be slow, and I do believe magazines have been way ahead in the online game, and for that, I commend them.

Cinema Paradiso

2010-01-04T17:34:00.002-06:00

Note, this entry will have spoilers for both versions of the movie: the original and extended cut.

****

I loved it. On Kenton's recommendation, I bought the original version of the film, which is slightly shorter. I found the relationship between Salvatore (Toto) and Alfredo to be incredibly moving, and I found myself in tears during the final scene. In the original cut, the final scene was rather simple: Alfredo created a montage of all of the love scenes he had to cut, because Toto wanted them as a child. I felt it served as a reminder of his childhood, and all that he had left behind when he left town to create a future for himself. This version felt like a coming of age story, and a story of two individuals who love each other like father and son.

I viewed the extended cut today, and it complicates the original cut considerably. It adds another element to the young love story shared by Toto and Elena, the woman he loved when he was young. In the original cut, she simply disappears, he leaves town, and never settles down. The extended cut brings them back together while Toto is in town for Alfredo's funeral. He sees a young woman that resembles Elena, and through this, manages to be reunited with his long lost love. She reveals that her parents forced her to leave town suddenly, but she went to the Paradiso to say goodbye to Toto, and give him a way to contact her. Alfredo is in the projector room, and convinces her to disappear, and never speak to him again. "Out of the fire of love comes ashes" is what he said. Toto is destined to become a great director, and to be with him will only hold him back. Elena agrees, and leaves, only to write a note that Toto never finds. They make love that night, but nothing more comes of it.

Clearly the extended cut changes things. In this version, Alfredo is not portrayed as favourably, because he had a great hand in keeping Elena and Toto apart. One could argue that perhaps it was for the best, because he became a great director, and thus, a great success in life, but was it worth it for him...spending a life time waiting and wondering about the one woman he could ever truly love? The very ending itself is changed. Sure, what Alfredo created for Toto was still a sign of great love, but it felt almost like a taunt to me as well. I saw pain in Toto's (Jacques Perrin) eyes that I had not seen the day before. Watching scenes of true love on film, while knowing that the man who created this helped keep your true love from you...it just made the ending that much sadder.

Plus, finding out such a secret is a great way to tarnish the memory of the dead. It's a bitter pill to swallow, knowing that the man you thought of as a father convinced the woman you love to go away. I feel like the decision should have been Toto's, and that Alfredo shouldn't have meddled. So I suppose for that reason, I prefer the original version. It keeps the character untarnished. Plus it felt nicer just assuming that Elena was forced to leave by her parents and simply moved on, than knowing that they could have been together, but Alfredo meddled, and Toto never found her note. But at the same time, I really loved the more bittersweet tone that Alfredo's actions gave to the extended cut's ending.

All in all, excellent film!

A List: My Favourite (and Least Favourite) '09 films

2010-01-02T23:45:00.003-06:00

Just a note: I count any movie I saw in theatres (or on DVD that was released in '09) as an '09 movie. My ten favourite, and five least favourite (yes, this means I watch a lot of films):

Favourite:

10. Gran Torino: I was amazed by just how funny this film was. It has been reported that this will be Clint Eastwood's last work as an actor, and it is hard for me to think of a better way to go out. I found this movie didn't get the attention it deserved, especially because it didn't receive a single Oscar nomination. I thought it presented an interesting dynamic: a very prejudiced man being admired by his Hmong neighbours for saving the son of the family. The young actors aren't particularly strong, but the relationship between Walt and Thao (and his family) was moving. How I wish it had gotten more attention.

9. Amreeka: Palestinian mother and son who come to America after receiving green cards. It tells the story of adjustment, and racism with a fairly light touch, and despite a rather weak ending, it remains moving and fun.

8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: I'm a Harry Potter fan. And this was a great adaptation, and a real improvement on the one prior to it, The Order of the Phoenix (though to be fair, that was the weakest of the books). It actually feels like a movie, instead of an adaptation of a book.

7. Milk: The story of late politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay man elected to office in California. Sean Penn does a fantastic job playing Harvey Milk, a character very different from the other characters I've seen him play. I full expected Mickey Rourke to win the Oscar last year, but I was pleasantly surprised when Penn got it. He deserved it. James Franco and Josh Brolin also gave excellent performances, and this was my favourites of the Oscar nominated movies of that year.

6. Star Trek: What I respect about this movie is that it brought a whole new audience to the Star Trek series. Before I saw it, I wouldn't have watched the TV show, but now I probably would if I saw it on. If they come out with a new TV series, I'll be watching it. It's fun, and worked great as a summer movie. I have it on DVD.

5. The Soviet Story: I caught this documentary at the Cinematheque in late August. I didn't know what to expect when my friend told me we were seeing it, but it was one of the most interesting documentaries I've ever seen. It's about Communism, and how Russia and Germany collaborated prior to 1941. I've studied European history in University, including some Russian history, but I didn't know a whole lot that I learned during the film. Some of the footage shown was shocking, but used to good effect.

4. Inglourious Basterds: I'll admit that I have not seen a lot of films by Quentin Tarantino, but I intend to rectify that one day. I'd heard about this project for years, and was not disappointed when I finally saw it. I love World War II history, so obviously WWII films are of great interest to myself, even ones that present an alternate history. I sure hope Christoph Waltz is nominated for an Oscar for his role as Hans Landa, because he played the best villain I've seen all year. And I figure it's probably harder to play an "evil" character than it is to play a hero. I picked it up on DVD today.

3. District 9: I love science fiction. I especially love it when it has a heart as strong as this film did. I was amazed by how much was done on such a low budget--it looked like it should have cost at least three times more than it did. This is the type of movie that NEEDS good special effects to work. If the aliens didn't look convincing, it wouldn't have been moving, and I wouldn't have bought into it as strongly as I did. Some people I talked to thought the CNN style used on occasion in the film was distracting but I think it gave an added boost of realism, when I really think about it. Also picked this one up today.

2. (500) Days of Summer: This was my favourite of the year until I saw my number 1, and it is still the one I can relate to most. I'm sure we've all had a "Summer"; someone you love more than they love you. While seeing it, I found myself laughing and crying, sometimes simultaneously, because it hit so close to home. Joseph Gordon-Levitt really made it for me, he's very heartfelt and a really great actor. I hope he goes far in his career, because I've consistently been impressed with his work. I grabbed this one as well, and can't wait to watch it again.

1. The Road: I've made very clear how much I love this movie by my review of it. The saddest, most depressing movie I've seen all year, and even over a month later, it has stuck with me. Most interesting, is how much the unnamed apocalyptic event didn't matter. I don't wonder what happened, because it's a movie about human nature, about love, and relationships. How does one maintain hope when there is no hope to be had? Do you give up when it is easier to do so than fight? Like Gran Torino, it breaks my heart that it's not getting very much attention. I've recommended it to anyone who asks what to see.

I also picked up Cinema Paradiso today, and am hoping to watch it tomorrow, if not maybe next weekend or during the week in the evening if I get a quiet night. I just want to note that I have not seen the following movies, but would very much like to: The Hurt Locker, Moon, Precious, Nine, The Last Station, A Single Man, Invictus, An Education, or A Serious Man, as well as many others. It seems you never see all the ones you want to.

5 worst:

5. Bruno: I really liked Borat, but Bruno just proved that the concept can only work once. I found it tired, and rather unfunny for the most part. I wasn't expecting much, so I wasn't necessarily disappointed, just rather...bored when I saw it.

4. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans: It's kind of my own fault I didn't enjoy this. I only saw the first Underworld, so I didn't really understand a lot of it. But even then, I thought it was rather stupid anyway. The only really awesome bit is Billy Nighy, who's just an all around cool guy. Michael Sheen was pretty good as well. All in all...pretty mediocre and completely forgettable.

3. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian: My friend and I saw it one day because we were bored and wanted to do something. Complete waste of time, amazingly enough...worse than the first one!

2. The Twilight Saga: New Moon: I was curious about this one, because I saw the first one (and had the book forced on me). It slightly improves on the first one, but it's still trash, and I found many elements of the movie to be quite awful. This is a series directed at tweens, but some of the stuff that is justified disgusts me. Young women are so easily moldable and I think some themes and elements of the series that are seen as being "okay" will give women the wrong impression of what a healthy relationship is. So I found it to be sickening, but slightly amusing because all the tween girls squealed when the men took their shirts off.

1. He's Just Not That Into You: The only entry I saw on DVD, and only because I own it. Yes, I own it. I won it off a radio station over the summer, after swearing I'll never see it, because it looked like pathetic, stereotypical trash. But after winning it, I accepted that the world just wanted me to see the movie, and I watched it, only to confirm my suspicions. I have friends who swear that I am just like Gigi, and afterwards, I wanted to give them a good talking to, because how can I be like a character so stupid? I'll admit that as a single girl, I wasn't all that great with men, and did hold onto hope when hope wasn't there, but I found her character to be abrasive, bland and nothing but a stereotype. Actually, all of the characters were hollow, and I didn't care for any of them.

The only reason I still have it is because my Mom expressed interest in seeing it. Her and my Dad watched it over New Years and neither of them liked it. My Dad summed it up by saying: "it wasn't quite a comedy, it wasn't quite a drama, but it sure was dumb." Now that nobody has any interest in watching it again, I'm hoping to get rid of it. Does anyone want it?

And that was my '09. I think it was a decent year, but other than The Hurt Locker, I haven't been overly interested in many of the movies getting Oscar buzz. But it has still been a good year, with many quality movies being released.

And if you haven't seen The Road, see it at the earliest opportunity. Really. I'm doing all I can to get it seen by people.

I Present to you...my Current Favourite Commercial (and Movie Thoughts)

2009-12-30T22:14:00.004-06:00

And for those who want to see it in its full glory here it is.

This Toyota ad has been playing this month at Cineplex theatres. I don't usually notice the ads they play before movies, but this one really stood out to me. It's moving, uses a great song (which was apparently created for the ad...because many people online can't find a title or an artist), and it's Canadian! I went to see The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, and Sherlock Holmes today with a friend of mine, and raved about the commercial once again to her. I explained exactly why I think it's a good ad. And here's what I said:

It's not your typical car ad, meaning there's no flashy driving, speeding, lights flashing, etc. It's simple, and it leaves you wondering. Why are they showing all of these clips? What is this ad even for? Until the statistic and voiceover came on, I couldn't have even given a guess. I like being kept guessing. One day I want to be able to come up with an ad this good. Of course, the writers were helped by a pretty awesome statistic, something you'd obviously want to be advertising (Toyotas are long lasting, so go buy one!).

Kudos to Saatchi & Saatchi.

I'll write a top movies of 2009 list sometime early in the new year, since I'll be out tomorrow night. However, I saw my last two '09 movies today, and wanted to give some brief thoughts on both.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus: I was supposed to see this last night, but my friend was unable to get a ticket, since I got the last one (curses to cheap movie Tuesday). We decided to go today, were able to get tickets very easily, and thought that maybe we should go see Sherlock Holmes as well. Anyways, this movie certainly left me thinking. Far from a "leave your brain at the door" film; I found myself having to concentrate really hard to follow the plot. Which made me very happy. The late Heath Ledger was excellent, as were Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell, who all took over his role after he died. I enjoyed it very much, though it felt very bittersweet. I love Johnny Depp, and have for years, but I have also loved Heath Ledger for years. As a young teenager, it was my dream to see the two of them act in a film together. That dream came true today, but under the very worst of circumstances. Indeed, they never "acted" together, since Depp was simply taking over the role he was unable to finish.

The visuals were outstanding, and the acting was pretty good all around. I really like Tom Waits, who played Mr. Nick, and Lily Cole was just beautiful. She has the face of a doll:

It's an interesting fantasy movie...go and check it out.

Sherlock Holmes: This was more of a "fun" movie. I certainly didn't really need to think much through it. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law worked very well off of each other. This is my first real experience with anything Sherlock Holmes related (save for having one of the stories read to me as a kid, which I don't remember a thing of), so I can hardly judge how accurate it is to the books. I took it as a film alone as a result, and it kept me entertained. By the way, Eddie Marsan plays Inspector Lestrade in the film, I recognized him, but could not place where I'd seen him. Turns out, he played Scott, in the excellent Happy-Go-Lucky! He did a good job with a fairly small supporting role.

Viewing the French Channel

2009-12-26T21:52:00.002-06:00

I had an interesting experience this evening. I ended up at my good friend's place, and after a marathon of Wii Sports Resort we decided to switch off the video games and watch some television. After channel surfing, we happened upon a screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Only problem is: it was in French, and neither of us speak it. She hadn't seen the movie; she's seen the first Pirates and about half of the second, but we decided to watch a bit of it. I've seen all three numerous times, but it has been about a year, so I was giving her information about the plot from memory. It surprised me just how much detail I was able to give her, and how watching it with my commentary made it almost make sense for her. Ultimately, we tired of putting up with the poor dubbing, and changed the channel.

The experience made me think though. Is there a movie out there that would be great, or even better if you couldn't understand it? If the characters spoke a different language, and you had to decide what was going on through action alone. I can't think of any off the top of my head. There is one that would certainly be very bizarre without the subtitles. It's called Battle Royale. The basic premise is this: a class of high school students are sent to an island, given weapons, and told to kill each other. The last one standing "wins". I saw it after reading the book so it wouldn't be nearly as bizarre to me. I can just imagine it from the perspective of someone watching it un-subtitled, and without any prior knowledge, I think it'd be rather frightening.

Now I'm kind of feeling a Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and a Battle Royale double feature. What a strange combination. If anyone is interested in watching Battle Royale, I'd like to advise that the sequel is not much good. It brings up some very interesting points, but ultimately, it was poorly executed. Not a complete waste of time, but not a film I'd watch again (which is a shame because I got the two of them as a package). The first one is quite good though.

Avatar (and Soundtrack Musings)

2009-12-22T15:56:00.005-06:00

I'm quite ill today, so I'll probably refrain from going into as much detail as I would like to on this topic (or so I say at this time, I may get carried away). Nevertheless, I wanted to get into this topic while it was still fresh in my mind.

First off: Avatar was a decent film. The visuals definitely made it what it was, storywise, it was pretty weak. Like I thought, it was a retelling of Dances With Wolves and The Last Samurai. But visually, it was a masterpiece. I don't think I've ever seen a film look as good as this one did. The 3-D was the best I've seen in a film. The Na'vi looked so real, almost like they could walk off the screen. See it in theatres. Even if you don't "like" the story, it'll be worth it for the visuals alone. I was disappointed by the lack of character development though, and would like to learn more about the world of Pandora. It was just so fascinating, and so beautiful--almost like a character in itself.

Now, a topic most people aren't talking about: the soundtrack. I liked it. However, I recognized several bits of the music from other films. I sat there in the theatre at one particular moment wondering where one piece was from, because I knew it was from a film I'd seen multiple times. Y'know, instead of paying attention to the movie, I was thinking about music. I'd thought far enough that it was probably a violent movie, possibly a war film. Here is the piece of music in mind (I've included it as a link because the title of the piece contains a slight spoiler to the film, and I want to give people the choice whether or not they want to view it based on that fact):

Avatar soundtrack, piece 10 (begins about the 5 minute mark)

It's not the main musical composition of the piece, but still I recognized it! I did research when I got home, and found out that James Horner, the composer, likes to "recycle" his past music and rework it into his soundtracks rather than creating entirely new pieces. Therefore, I did more research, and John Tillnes a man who is obviously much more knowledgeable about music than I, gave me the insight I needed to solve my problem (with some help from the commenters as well). Apparently the repeating music at the end is called a "four-note motif", and it's a common theme of Horner's. After reading the comments, I finally figured it out: Enemy at the Gates! That motif is used quite liberally through out the film during really tense moments, thus making it stick out in my mind. It helps that I've watched the film numerous times. Here's the piece in question (again, linked to because of a slight spoiler):

Enemy at the Gates

Clearly the motif is used at the forefront of this piece, whereas it is a bit more subtle in the Avatar piece.

I found another, with a bit of assistance from a friend as well, the following piece is similar to many pieces of the Glory soundtrack:

Avatar Soundtrack, Piece 6

I've read that there are similarities to the Titanic score, among many others. I didn't catch any other similarities though, because my fascination with movie music is a fairly recent one. Before, I hardly noticed the music, save for a particularly good piece. That, and I haven't watched Titanic in over two and a half years, despite owning it on DVD. It's just too long to watch most of the time, I don't have the attention span for it. Gangs of New York is one of the very few "long" movies I can watch on even a semi-regular basis, because it's one of my favourites. However, I don't believe Kirk has seen Titanic, so that should be remedied at some point.

So how do I feel about Horner "borrowing" from his past sound tracks? It doesn't really bother me that much. He's clearly got a specific style, so if it works for one film, and can work for another...go at it. But it is a problem when the pieces are much too similar. Noticing that four-note motif was clearly distracting for me, but I also recognize that I'm quite nerdy about movies in general. For the casual fan, I doubt they'd notice. I don't think I'd say that I dislike Horner, his music is actually quite moving, but there are other composers out there that I like a whole lot more.

They're Tryna Mess with Conan!

2009-12-18T12:50:00.004-06:00

If the rumours are to be believed anyway.

This upsets me. As everyone knows, Conan is my favourite late night personality, and I watch his show whenever I can. If they are true, it's really not fair to dump him so quickly. The Tonight Show has undergone a large (and positive) change this year, so of course viewership is going to be down. And to put that dunce, Jay Leno, on just before Conan is obviously going to affect the ratings of The Tonight Show, and not in a positive way. Who came up with the "brilliant" idea to get rid of five hours of prime time programming anyway? With Leno spouting his mouth about taking back The Tonight Show if offered to him, of course NBC is going to be tempted. Leno gave them good ratings because his demographic was much older than Conan's. I'm more in Conan's demographic, and I know I can't watch his show all the time because of school obligations and social commitments. That's the norm, plus many people my age don't watch any light night tv.

This reminds me of what I read about his very beginnings on Late Night. I don't actually remember any of this happening since I was a wee tyke, but from what I've read, he was almost fired several times in his first few years. But he started in '93, can't NBC have a little faith in him by now? He's a funny dude, and they should know it.

It's clear that NBC is scrambling because ratings are falling everywhere. I can't see lasting past this season because ratings have been taking a nose dive and it's expensive to produce. Plus the quality of the show is not great. I mourn for the first season when the show was actually....gasp!....good. Now I watch it mostly out of habit, and because I want to know how it ends. They're probably canning Trauma as well, from what I've read, and that's a show that has been getting better and better.

Therefore, if they get rid of Conan, I'll most likely have no reason to watch NBC anymore. Am I the only one who sees the network either doing a large restructuring or going under sometime in the next few years? It is not doing well at all. Maybe one good thing that would happen if Conan gets fired is that at least he's off that sinking ship. Surely another network will snatch him up.

My Feelings on Christmas

2009-12-14T23:16:00.005-06:00

I don't particularly like this time of year. I could even be called a "Grinch" by some, though I don't think I am. I've got a good explanation as to why I don't like this time of year, and I hope you all bear with me while I get into it.

My birthday is a week before Christmas (and my brother's is December 3rd). I hate this fact, because it makes for a very busy December, and I get overwhelmed when I'm too busy. Why can't my birthday be any other time of the year, so that the celebrations are more spread out? Celebrating my birthday is tough for me as well, for the same reasons I'm about to get into.

When I was in high school, I was really depressed. I don't like to get into details, especially in a public setting such as this, but I'm fine now in that department. But the holidays are tough when you're depressed. Imagine having to pretend even harder that things are "okay", not just okay but "awesome" for a whole month? It was always tough for me to do. I wondered why the Christmas "magic" didn't hit me the same way it hit me when I was a kid. I was also an insomniac back then, and I remember one very early Christmas morning where I sat in front of the computer listening to "Happy Christmas (War is Over) " by John Lennon (my favourite Christmas tune) and U2's "Window in the Skies" on repeat because I couldn't sleep and for some reason the voices of Lennon and Bono cheered me up.

Then the December before last and last December were still a little rough. Both times I was dealing with boy issues and obviously such things put a damper in the holiday season. Last Christmas I loved someone very much who I saw for the first time in several months on my birthday. We had decided over the summer to continue whatever our relationship was when he came back to the city in December, but he showed up to my party and made it clear he wasn't interested. It became very clear when he refused to kiss me at the end of the night. I went home, from my own birthday party that night, and cried all night. I had to pretend everything was okay a few days later because it was my friend's party, but after going home the next day, I spent it moping, and had to be pulled out of the house by friends to celebrate our own version of Christmas. But I basically spent all the days leading up to Christmas crying every minute of the day, until I saw this individual and we actually talked about it and he told me he wasn't interested. It still broke my heart, but I'd done so much crying by that point I accepted it....at the time anyway.

Christmas Eve last year was okay because we went to see family. I still spent a lot of time there hoping I'd feel my phone vibrate and that it would be him, deciding he wanted to see me. Christmas Day was also a nice day, but it was all the same thing. My mind was preoccupied by someone who I have long realized wasn't worthy of more than a second thought.

So why do I still dislike Christmas? I have a wonderful boyfriend who loves me dearly and treats me like gold, the best friends on the planet, and an amazing family. Surely I should be out there carolling, and wearing tinsel wrapped around my head? But I can't. The magic has been ruined. I know there's never a good time to hurt, but I think Christmas is the worst time of year to be depressed or get your heart broken. And I've experience two heartbreaks over Christmas, and several years of really terrible sadness before that. I think I stay unenthusiastic over this time of year in order to protect myself. If I'm not excited, I can't be disappointed when it goes wrong. But I think that tactic is a bad one because I think it will be a good Christmas, because things are all set up to go RIGHT and not go wrong. But it's hard to let down that wall, and I've actually been a little sad these past few days, because my birthday and Christmas are coming up, and the painful memories have been rushing back. My birthday party is actually going to be on my birthday again this year, and I'm worried I'll be sad, because of all that happened last year. But I've got great friends coming, and Kirk will be coming so it should go well. :) Maybe then the Christmas spirit will come out.

But right now, I've got John Lennon on repeat, and that's about as full of Christmas spirit as I can get. It's just fine for right now. We put up the decorations earlier this week. I got told by my Mom a few weeks back that I "better not turn into my Dad" (who hates putting up decorations until about December 13th), because I said that Christmas decorations should not be put up until at least December 10th. But I think I've already become my Dad in that regard, like Father, like daughter in yet another way. I don't think he's one to get super enthusiastic about Christmas, but my Mom is. She gets so disappointed on Christmas morning because my brother and I don't react with the glee we used to when we open our gifts. I'm appreciative of course, but very...stoic. I like Christmas dinner, because the food is delicious, and it's just time spent with my family, which is always nice. We usually watch a movie in the evening as well, which doesn't happen often enough.

If you all see me running through malls dressed as an elf, you will know that either I've embraced the Christmas spirit, or I've gone mad. Happy Holidays!

Oh, and to keep it somewhat on topic, what's your favourite Christmas special? And your favourite Christmas movie? For me, I always liked Christopher Christmas Tree as a kid. As for movies, depends on what counts as a Christmas movie. Edward Scissorhands, my favourite movie, takes place during Christmas, but I don't really count it. I do count Love Actually, so I can say that one is probably my favourite. I also enjoy It's a Wonderful Life, and Elf. And while we're at it, favourite Christmas tune?

Alpha Prime One

2009-12-13T15:24:00.003-06:00

It's now Winter break and even though I'm excited about the time off, it's a little bittersweet. I am going to miss everyone in Section 1, and especially our dynamic. We were loud, crazy, and always super fun. I love how supportive we all were of one another, and how close we all became. I've made many very close friendships that mean the world to me. And every day going to school after the first few days, I had a smile on my face because I knew that the day was going to be fun, because everyone makes it fun. You really couldn't be sad for long around everyone because we are such an enthusiastic, barrel of sunshine bunch. Don't all be strangers, everyone!

That being said, I am looking forward to coming back to school to not only see my friends, but to meet new ones too! I can't wait to meet everyone in the new Section 3! And of course, going to more excellent CreComm events with new people, and with old. I just want to say thank you to all of Alpha Prime One for making my CreComm experience as excellent as it has been. You're all wonderful folks.

**

And to keep this blog entry somewhat relevant, I started playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 yesterday. My brother, Steven, came downstairs and watched me while he was playing on the computer, and continually marvelled at just how poor I was at the game. I don't think I quite get it yet, here's a snippet of our conversation:

Me: Hey, when they say get cover, where do I go? Does someone come to give me first aid?
Steven: No, you just go and hide until you're better.
Me: But that's not how war works. You don't just 'get better', I was shot, why am I not dead?
Steven: It's just a game.
Me: ....I just died again...I fell off a cliff.
Steven: I didn't even know you could do that.
Me: I did it three times.
Steven: Man, you suck.

Aww man, I love shooters, but I really am no good at them. I'm better off sticking to Harvest Moon. But back to the game for me I think. It's fun, though I do much prefer the Resident Evil series.

Home Stretch, and Blind Buys

2009-12-10T21:29:00.003-06:00

One last exam tomorrow, and I'll be free for three weeks. I'll be using this time to do the things I haven't had time for: reading, video games (my brother got that new Call of Duty game and I'm itching to try it out), and of course, more movies! I've been pretty lucky when it comes to getting theatre films in: I manage my time pretty good and they're usually date nights for Kirk and I. But that means I don't watch nearly as many at home. I actually have several movies I've "blind bought", but never watched! Here's a list of some of the ones I have, that I've never seen:

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints: I really like Robert Downey Jr, and I bought this a year and a half ago, because it sounded interesting. Unfortunately, I've never watched it, claiming to have never been "in the mood" for it. I'll try to put it in during Winter break.

The Green Mile: I got it in a 2 for 1 deal along with The Shawshank Redemption (which I'd also never seen, but I watched it and it was amazing) and still have not seen it. The long running time has been keeping me from getting on it, but I can see it being a "date night" movie.

Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series: I got this well over a year and a half ago as well, on a recommendation from someone. I have yet to watch a single episode. In my defence, I am notoriously bad for watching tv on DVD. I have been trying to get through all of the early ER seasons for years now, but I go through stages where I'll get through an entire season in two weeks...only to get bored and stop for a year. That's partly why I've never put it in.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete First Season: Take the above excuse, and add onto it the fact that I received it from someone shortly before our relationship ended. That kind of soured it for me, so I honestly can't see myself ever watching it.

Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolf Man: I put these three together because I got them with the "Ultimate Edition" of Van Helsing. Van Helsing is one of my favourite "guilty pleasure" movies, so I just had to have the collector's edition, which came with these three movies. And I've never watched them. I will though, most likely starting with The Wolf Man, since the remake is coming out next year.

Spanglish: This one belongs to my parents, but I've still never seen it. Never had a whole lot of interest in it, but maybe one day I'll put it in.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop: My brother got this one as a gift. Again, could not be less interested in it if I tried, but who knows? Maybe one day...

I'm pretty sure that is all of them....not as bad as I'd thought actually. I collect DVDs (as well as books....and my ticket stubs), and on last count had about 120, and I know I've bought a few more since then. CreComm has kind of killed that habit since I haven't bought a single DVD since before I started school. I have a few on my Christmas list though, so I'm hoping to get a few.

Have you ever "blind bought" a film? It's a bad habit of mine. I usually only do it with films I've read about at length (so I'll be sure I'll like them), or ones that come highly recommended (as with The Shawshank Redemption, heard nothing but glowing things, but knew nothing about the plot until I put it in).

As for Winter break, I am hoping to get a chance to check out Adam Resurrected. I think it sounds really interesting, although a guy I know said it was "ridiculous", but not necessarily in a good way. Jeff Goldblum is awesome, however, so even if it is not very good, it won't be a waste of my time at all. Plus there's going to be a ton of awesome movies coming out, The Lovely Bones, Avatar, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Nine, even Sherlock Holmes looks like a ton of fun, although way over marketed in theatres. Personally, I'm most looking forward to Doctor Parnassus, Heath Ledger's last (incomplete) role. Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell save the day by helping to take on Ledger's role, plus Christopher Plummer, and Tom Waits are in it! Directed by Terry Gilliam (I really need to see Brazil and Twelve Monkeys)! I have high hopes for it.

Drive By Post: Weekend Movie Viewings

2009-12-07T18:56:00.002-06:00

I see a lot of movies, and managed to catch two in theatres this weekend. Here are my brief thoughts (then back to studying).

New Moon: I saw it as a glimpse into the psyche of a modern tween girl. Apparently they like awkward looking, buff, consistently shirtless men. I have moral objections to the Twilight series, but that's for another entry. For now, I'll say the movie wasn't great, but hearing the excited squeals of the tweens in the audience, and the sheer awkwardness of numerous shirtless men on-screen was amusement enough for me. Keep your shirts on boys, a little mystery is good for a woman on occasion.

Fantastic Mr. Fox: This one was fun. It was an adult movie hidden in a kids movie. The animation was fantastic, and it was hilarious. George Clooney especially did a great job voicing his character, Mr. Fox. Another excellent Wes Anderson film.

After studying, I think I'm gonna put in Love, Actually. First Christmas movie of the season!

And now I leave you with more great movie music: The Lonely Shepherd by Gheorghe Zamfir, from Kill Bill.

Thank You to my Readers (and Happy Holidays!)

2009-12-04T09:10:00.003-06:00

It's nearing the end of the semester, and I'd like to take a moment and say a genuine thank you to all of my loyal readers. Here are a few in particular:

Amanda's Mom- Thank you for being so supportive, not only of Amanda, but all of us. It really means a lot to all of us.

Kenton- Your comments are so awesome, thank you very much for reading all my entries! Love your blog too.

Kirk- You're the most supportive boyfriend ever, and it means a lot that you read all of my work. :)

Melanie- You have been an excellent instructor, and I feel I learned a lot. I also enjoy reading your blog, it's very informative.

And for everyone else who reads: Thank you. And happy holidays for everyone, be sure to take it easy (and indulge just a little bit)!

2009 Cannes Lions at the Winnipeg Art Gallery

2009-12-03T21:38:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I went to the 2009 Cannes Lions presentation with Kirk and some of my fellow CreComm classmates. I'd never been before, and it was a great experience.

Here's some background: I've never been a commercial fan. When I watch tv with my Mom, she teases me because I bolt out of the room when they start playing. Therefore, I've never thought it would be something I would enjoy. But after this first term in CreComm, I've started to strongly consider majoring in Ad. I really enjoy it, and think I could be pretty good at it. So I've been trying to make more of an effort to sit through commercials because I may end up writing them for a living. They're not great most of the time, but I can recognize when they're doing an adequate job...and when there's no redeeming quality to them. I've even seen some gems on television, such as the recent Viagra ads that I'm sure we've all seen. They're brilliant.

The Viagra commercials are just a few of the ads presented at the WAG last night. There were many other gems, including a very moving condom commercial from Japan. It managed to get its message across in a nice way, without being overly preachy.

Here is another Canadian commercial for Shreddies cereal. It is in regard to the recent ad campaign concerning the "new" diamond Shreddies. Before CreComm, I under understood this campaign, after all, it's the same cereal, right? But the campaign was light hearted, generated interest, and kids especially might want a box of Shreddies to see the "new" diamond shaped cereal pieces.

So last night convinced me that really great advertising can be funny, and can really move you. What I have sworn not to do is use a bunch of cool shots or images, and make something so long, that it feels like a short film...and not make any mention of what the product being advertised actually is. I feel that is what the Grand Prix did. I thought it was visually quite compelling (though I loathe clowns), but I had no idea what it was advertising! I did a bit of looking around just now, and it is an ad for a Philips 21X9 tv, and the commercial intended to look cinematic, and show what it would look like on this television. Here is a link to the ad being played on the television being advertised, and a description from Philips: commercial. Now that I understand it a bit better, it's not as bad...but I still hate clowns, and I still believe it's a bit too difficult to understand. However, maybe it was just getting late when that ad played last night.

I'm very glad I went, because I saw some commercials from all over the world, and other countries have rather different ways of advertising than Canada and the US does. I didn't much care for the British commercials, because they were quite long, and I felt that they dragged quite a bit. I'm used to my commercials being short and sweet (or at least bearable). I'll definitely be going next year, especially if I end up majoring in Ad.

The Road

2009-11-29T13:03:00.003-06:00

For everyone on Twitter, I promised a review of The Road. I could quite easily do it in six words: Best movie I've seen all year....however I'll get much more in depth.

I love films that make you think. And I love film, literature, etc, that take place in a post-apocalyptic or dystopian society. The Road is post-apocalyptic, and really made me think, because even a day later I'm still mulling it over in my head. It's about two unnamed characters, the man (played by the amazing Viggo Mortensen), and the boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee), travelling across the country to reach "the coast", because the man figures they won't survive another winter where they originally lived. This is roughly ten years after an unnamed event happened, that killed off most humans, animals and plants, so food is very scarce. On their journey, they must try to avoid the "bad guys". There are no more laws, and it's essentially every man for himself.

It's a shocking film, and often very tragic. How do you retain what keeps you human when there are so few humans left? How far do you go to keep yourself and your family alive? When is life still worth living? These questions are asked within the film, and I found myself thinking at length about them as well. Flashbacks to the boy's mother, and the Man's wife (Charlize Theron) help bring these questions to the forefront of the movie.

For the majority of the film, Mortensen and Smit-McPhee are the only characters on screen. They work off of each other very well. What I loved most about the film is how the characters, and your perception of them changed within the two hour time span. They were very convincing as Father and son. The man was so devoted to his son that he would do absolutely anything for him. I admired that dynamic, and was very moved by it. But at the same time, it is something that is very hard for me to imagine. I can't imagine having nothing in the world, but a son or a father. But I think being in such a situation, where you depend on each other so fully would make you extraordinarily close. The Road is being described by many as the "feel bad movie of the year", and I gotta say I agree with that statement. Expect to feel bad, to feel horrified, and to think when you watch it. It's very difficult to watch. I actually find it amusing that the release date is when it is, because this weekend was Thanksgiving in the States. Why would they release such a bleak film Thanksgiving weekend? Surely they could have released it next week. That being said, I hope word of mouth spreads and a lot of people see it. Mortensen definitely deserves an Oscar nomination for his role in the film, and I also think it should be a contender for Best Picture. I was also very impressed with Smit-McPhee. He was quite young when this film was made (and is still quite young). I can't imagine making such an emotionally heavy movie right now, as an adult, let alone when I was 11 years old! They found themselves a gem when he was cast.

Another thing that really impressed me was the imagery. There is very little colour in the movie, most things are shades of grey, or other muted colours. They did a very good job creating a bleak and destroyed world. Everything, from what they wear, to the trees and buildings look the way one would imagine they'd look ten years after a world-ending event. Numerous close-ups are used to show how skinny and dirty the man and the boy are. I read somewhere that some of it was CGI edited to make the colours more muted and bleak, but a lot of it was simply excellent choice in filming locations. Kudos to the film makers.

I wish I'd had time to read the book, by Cormac McCarthy, who also wrote No Country for Old Men, which was adapted into film. I've never read any of his books, but I think I'd start with The Road, because as much as I loved No Country, I liked The Road quite a bit better. Maybe over the summer I'll have more time to read it. I do recall reading the back of the book a few years ago, and thinking it sounded pretty interesting, but for whatever reason I didn't pick it up. I wish I had.

That being said, make sure you have something fun planned after you see the film. Had I just been going home afterwards I probably would have been a little depressed all night. It's emotionally exhausting.

Here's a link to the trailer.

Been a Stressful Week

2009-11-26T21:00:00.003-06:00

This has easily been the most stressful week yet in CreComm. It has been a week full of assignments, and research projects. I've been lucky, because I had my review mostly written last week, but I've still felt the pressure. Twice in the last 24 hours I've found myself on the verge of bursting into tears because I found myself in a spelling dilemma, but one has been dealt with for sure, and the other is most likely okay as well. I'm a worrier by nature, but my reaction was a product of my stress. I'm thankful that tomorrow is Friday, and that I have plans with a friend on Friday, and I'm going out with Kirk on Saturday. That will give me an opportunity to unwind a bit.

I do a lot of my homework at home in the evenings, so on days when I can sleep in a little bit, my favourite way to unwind for the evening is to finish it off with The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. I've spoken before about my great admiration for Conan, and I find that watching his show, and getting a good giggle calms me down and helps put a nice end to my day. Last night I was so stressed when it came on, but I had to tell myself that the situation was out of my hands until I received an email in the morning, and I sat down to watch it...and I felt better by the end of it. :)

I want to share a cool video I found a few days ago. The Muppets do Bohemian Rhapsody. I love Queen, and Bohemian Rhapsody is one of my favourite songs ever, so I got a great laugh out of this!

Twitter

2009-11-25T11:16:00.002-06:00

Today in Melanie's PR class, we learned how to use Twitter. I've been using Twitter for about six months now, as @MissJenh. I started to follow @postsecret but kept with it after I realized just how useful it was. Around the time of the Iranian election was when I started checking it every single day. Twitter was an invaluable resource for the Iranian people at that time, and I found myself worrying when the people I followed stopped updating. Were they arrested? Or even killed? Several accounts stopped updating long ago, and I was told by a friend that, that was because Iran cut off the internet in the country...but I fear something worse happened to them. I know for sure one of the people behind @persiankiwi was arrested, but I believe they were later released. I found they were the best source for news on the protests in Iran. I really got behind their fight, and even changed my time zone to Tehran time (and kept it there until yesterday in fact) to help throw off the Iranian government, who were looking for these brave individuals.

Now I use it to get my news, and to get a good giggle on occasion from @simonpegg and @ThatKevinSmith. I follow folks at the Winnipeg Free Press, but my favourite news source on Twitter is @shortformblog. It gives the news in one sentence format, and provides a link to the actual news story, should you choose to read it in full. It's a great way to get news on the go.

It has only been recently that I've started communicating with people I know "in person" on Twitter. Before that, my own updates were infrequent and I used it to get my news. But now I'm communicating with people I know more and more, so I feel like I am getting more out of Twitter than I was before. I think it is useful for PR folks, and other people in the communication industry, because it allows you to get your message out to a number of people, very quickly. You are not relying on the mass media to get your message out, so you can do it on your own terms, albeit in 140 characters or less. You can provide useful links to your followers about what your organization stands for, and advertise products. I think taking advantage of social networking is essential to getting your organization off the ground. Why would one turn down the chance to spread the word, promote and advertise their organization? I think in this day and age it would be foolish not to take advantage of Twitter.

My Twitter account is used both recreationally and professionally. I follow a large variety of people, and tweet about school stuff, link to things online I find interesting, and stuff about day to day life. Since starting CreComm, I have tried to keep my own personal tweets fairly work safe, meaning free of course language (difficult because I can have quite the sailor mouth and it has been difficult to keep this blog free of curse words), nudity, and the like. I've become fairly devoted, and at least skim through every tweet I receive on my home page, and check it at least once a day.

I hope to see you all on Twitter, and if you have any people you think I should be following...let me know!

You Know You Love Movies too Much When...

2009-11-21T18:29:00.004-06:00

...dinnertime conversations about CreComm turn into conversations about how Jen watches too many movies. Case in point:

Me: You know, I like Journalism, love the course, love writing...but I can't major in it. The industry is too bad, I won't get a job, and I just like eating too much.
Mom: You don't like eating do you?
Me: (as I'm putting a mouthful of food in my mouth) No Mom, I hate it, but I have to do it to, you know, live.
Mom: I thought you would have said you love watching movies too much.

Oh boy. She says this because Kirk and I spent yet another evening at the movies, seeing Pirate Radio. I may review it when I have more time, but I will say that it is not getting the love it deserves. It's one of the funniest films I've seen all year.

Do your family members poke fun at your obsessions frequently? Leave a comment with your response.

Survivor (another other reality television, plus some LOST)

2009-11-19T20:14:00.003-06:00

I feel compelled to write a blog post about my favourite guilty pleasure tv show, Survivor. Since I last posted, the big villain, Russell H has turned into the big hero. He's the main member of the underdog folk in the newly merged Aiga tribe, and while he's still not a "nice" guy, he's just an excellent player. I'm rooting for him, maybe not to win, but it will be a sad day when he leaves. My Mom has made a great point when she says she doesn't want him to win because in the first episode he admitted to being a multimillionaire. She's right. I'd rather one of his allies win for that very reason.

I got to thinking today about how Russell H has become the hero of the season. It's all about the editing. The producers realized they got a winner when they started seeing all the footage of Russell H. So in the early days, most of the time was spent on his tribe, Foa Foa. Therefore, the viewers got to know that tribe better than the Galu tribe. There were actually some members of Galu that did not get any significant interview time until the merge, so I did not actually know their names. How can you root for someone when you don't know anything about how they're playing the game? I think the audience has almost been forced into rooting for the Foa Foa members, including their big hero: Russell H. It's amazing how the "villain" has been shifted into hero status, and the practically unknown Galu folk are kind of the villains. At least, this is how I'm interpreting the game.

Survivor is awesome in that it is always best to start rooting for the underdogs. As a fan since near the beginning, I've watched all (or almost all) of every season, and I know that when you are in an underdog position, you start to scramble. And when the majority alliance gets cocky, that's when the trouble starts. Audiences love an underdog, so most of the time that is who I'm rooting for. My favourite season ever was the Cook Islands season, with Yul, Ozzy, Becky and Sundra. They became a tribe of four, and during the merge, they managed to pick off the majority tribe by continually winning immunity before the merge, and making agreements with the majority tribe members. When you're part of the underdogs, you stick together, and when you find cracks in the majority alliance...you take advantage of them. It was brilliant game play, and Yul, the eventual winner, is among my favourite players ever (along with Ozzy, who got second place that season).

Yes, Survivor is serious business to me. I like it, and The Amazing Race because they don't feel as tacky as some of the reality shows that have been produced (The Swan on FOX comes to mind as an example of a tacky show). Essentially they're games of skill. Survivor has a huge networking and social aspect, which I really respect. I also acknowledge the difficulty of both shows. I'd never go on Survivor (and can't, because I'm Canadian) because I'm out of shape first of all. Secondly, I'm very shy and not particularly good at scrambling to make friends fast. Thirdly, I have a low tolerance for stupid things people pull, and am painfully honest as a result, which can come across poorly if people don't know me well. Lastly, I don't deal with hunger well. I get dizzy and nauseated if I go too long without eating, and I tend to get cranky as well.

However, if I were able to, I'd love to go on The Amazing Race. I wish they took Canadians, because I would find a partner and apply. Not that I would be a particularly good team member. I don't have my full license so I couldn't be the driver, and I don't know left from right so I wouldn't be a particularly good navigator. Couple that with being out of shape, always in need of a snack close by, and my need for lots of sleep...and I'd be the most incompetent team mate ever.

I think I'll stick to the couch with my bowl of ice cream and my glass of water, and shout at the tv when I think someone is doing something stupid.

***

Oh, and in non-reality television news, LOST starts on Tuesday, February 2nd! I can't wait! I've been trying not to read any spoilers about it, because I want to go in surprised for as much of it as possible. It's very much like the last Harry Potter book for me. I spoiled myself for all the other books by reading the end before I got to the end...but I refused to do that with the last one, to the point where I read it in one shot. With the final season, I want to experience as much of it "fresh" as possible, so I'm forcing myself to avoid spoiler sites, and I may not even watch episode previews. That way I can get the full emotional impact of each episode.

Awesome Movie Music

2009-11-15T15:00:00.003-06:00

I enjoy soundtrack music, and often listen to certain pieces while working on homework. I thought today would be a good day to share some of my favourites. I tend to enjoy powerful pieces that play at the climax of the film. Generally they have a slow start and build up into something very powerful.

"In the House - In a Heartbeat" by John Murphy from 28 Days Later

A great example of a powerful piece playing at the climax of a film. I'm listening to this one on repeat as I'm writing this.

"Coronation" by Ilan Eshkeri from Stardust

One of my big beefs is that this movie didn't receive the love it deserved. I blame the poor trailer for that. I bought the book on a whim, thought it was nothing more than mediocre and wasn't even going to see the movie based on the trailer and the book. Turns out the movie was much BETTER than the book (and how often do you see that?!). The excellent soundtrack definitely helps, and this is my favourite piece off of it.

"The Ice Dance" by Danny Elfman from Edward Scissorhands

Not sure if I have mentioned here, but Edward Scissorhands is my favourite movie. And this may possibly be my favourite piece of instrumental music ever. It's enormously tragic, probably because of the scenes where it is played in the film. I cry every time I watch the movie and if I'm in the right mood when I hear this music, I cry as well. Danny Elfman writes fantastic film scores.

"PM's Love Theme" by Craig Armstrong from Love Actually

In the interest of full disclosure, I have all three main "themes" from this film (PM's Love Theme, Portuguese Love Theme and Glasgow Love Theme) on my iPod and listen to them very regularly. This one is my favourite of the three, but the whole soundtrack is fantastic. It's among my favourite Christmas movies, and I can't wait to watch it again this year!

"The Kraken" by Hans Zimmer from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

All three films have great scores done by the great Hans Zimmer. This piece always stood out to me, it's a little long but it very easily changes tone and seems composed well...at least to my very untrained ear.

Hans Zimmer also composed some fantastic music with James Newton Howard for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Here are two more pieces from those two films:

"Molassus" (the Batman theme music):

And "Vespertilio", used in the trailers for The Dark Knight:

Good music sets the tone for the film. Have you ever watched your favourite movies on mute or without the music? It feels "off" doesn't it? Soundtracks should be enjoyable within a film, and great soundtracks should be enjoyable outside a film. Notice I haven't used some of the most famous pieces of music from films--I wanted to showcase some of the less well known pieces that I enjoy.

Happy listening!

Amreeka

2009-11-11T18:11:00.002-06:00

On Monday I unexpectedly ended up seeing the film Amreeka at The Grant Park theatre. I had heard good things about it, and was not disappointed.

It's about a Palestinian woman, Muna, who wins the green card lottery, and takes her son, Fadi to Illinois to live with her sister, Raghda. In America, she struggles to find work, and both her, her son, and her extended family face racism in the face of the Iraq war. The film takes a generally light hearted approach to some very serious subject matter, and it is something I appreciated. I think Hollywood too often portrays Arab individuals as stereotypes, most often as terrorists or suicide bombers. The film makes fun of this stereotype quite often, as the main characters are often accused of being both--and of course they are neither. They are normal people who just moved to a new country and are trying to adjust to a new life. I think Hollywood stereotypes play a huge role in people's perceptions of individuals and we forget that the roles Arab people are given in film is definitely not the role they fit in society, 99.999% of the time. It's hard for Middle Eastern actors to get work as "normal" characters, instead of extremists.

That being said, I just want to give a heads-up to people. The film is in both Arabic and English (though mostly in Arabic). I knew it was a Canadian film, and I assumed that after the characters came to America, the film would switch to English. I am, of course, okay with subtitled films (I stated in a previous entry that I love listening to other languages and picking out English words), but I know not everyone is. But along with the heads up is a bit of a cool fact: the film was partially shot in Winnipeg! I had heard of this before I saw the film, but had forgotten about it until Kirk whispered to me that the high school used in the film was actually the high school he went to! I'm still at the point where I get excited when I see landmarks I recognize on film, so it was really cool to recognize parts of my city.

One thing I didn't like about the film was the ending. It was very abrupt, and when the screen went black, I felt slightly dissatisfied...almost as if it ended mid-sentence. A better ending would have been about two minutes before the actual ending, because it offered better and less awkward closure. However, that's a very minor quibble. I know how difficult it is to end stories, and often you want to get as much in as possible, so you can't decide where you stop the story.

Here's the trailer:

If you get the opportunity, check it out!

Daybreakers

2009-11-08T20:09:00.002-06:00

Kirk and I went to go see The Men Who Stare at Goats on Saturday, and they played this trailer before the movie. We both agreed that it looked interesting, so I thought I would share the trailer with you all:

"True Stories"

2009-11-04T16:51:00.004-06:00

I thought about this "genre", and the following blog post while I was watching Disney's Pocahontas the other day. I was just a wee squirt when the film was released (and even saw it in theatres), but I'm sure much of the promotion was in regard to how it was based on an "amazing" true story. I've long known that Disney took several liberties with her story, and that in fact, Terrence Malick's film The New World is quite a bit more accurate, though it still does take some liberties. Knowing what I do now, is my enjoyment of the film affected?

I was watching the movie on my computer, and because I can't NOT be on the internet when on my computer, I kept pausing the film to look up things about the characters on Wikipedia. Pocahontas was very young when she first encountered John Smith and there was never a romance between the two of them. Smith, it seems, was a troublemaker as well. I read snippets from a fascinating book (only some of it was online) on Sunday, and I wish I could find the link again. In it, the writer speculates that Smith actually raped Pocahontas. Rape was a very serious crime to the Native American people...it was seen as worse than kidnapping. The women were actually taught how to deal with being kidnapped by other tribes, because it was a common thing to do at the time apparently, to spread out family lines. Pocahontas ended up marrying John Rolfe and she had a child named Thomas with him before she died in England in 1617. This link says what the book speculated on about the parentage of Thomas. It's thought that a man named Thomas Dale raped her and fathered her son, especially since her son is not named after his "Father", John Rolfe. Some believe her marriage to Rolfe was simply to keep up appearances, which is sadly like some modern marriages.

Quite different from the Disney version where trees sing, leaves fly, Pocahontas is a gorgeous grown woman and John Smith is a beautiful man with perfect golden locks. I quite enjoy the Disney film, despite all of the knowledge I've collected over the years about the "true story". I think it is because I take it as fiction, and it is a touching little love story. I liked The New World as well, though I would like to watch it again; I thought it was rather slow in parts when I did see it and don't remember it as well as I'd like. Besides, how can you not find "Colours of the Wind" enormously catchy? I've had it on repeat as I'm writing this!

I think you have to take "true stories" with a grain of salt. When I see movies that make that claim, usually I'll do some research after the fact if I found the film compelling enough. Sometimes it is fairly close to the truth, other times it's not even close.

I think a large concern with Pocahontas is that it is a film aimed at a young audience, who may not be able to differentiate between a true story and a very embellished "true story". Obviously the film is full of stereotypes, both about Native Americans and Europeans. Some pretty inappropriate language is used to describe the Native American people, but I figure that, that language is used primarily by the "villains", and it is the job of the parents to take the film as a "teachable moment". Discuss the language with your children, explain that the language used is inappropriate and wrong, and explain why it was used. I don't think it is necessarily the job of a film studio, even one that makes films aimed at a younger audience, to have perfectly politically correct movies. I do understand the criticisms though, because many parents would not be "on the ball" and use the film to teach children about "good words" and "bad words", and some may even share the views held by the villains in the movie.

As I said earlier, I was very young when this movie came out, probably about six years old. I actually didn't like it very much in theatres, because it was "too sad" for me. I don't recall my parents ever talking to me about the language use or the stereotypes, but I think it was because I was too young to understand the word "savage", and didn't pay attention to that sort of thing. At the time I hated it when characters broke into song, "Back to the story please!" was my thought process, so my mind checked out during the song moments. I think my parents probably answered some of my questions about the issues in the movie, because like I said, it was a bit too old for me at the time.

I do have one quibble with the end of the movie though. Obviously, there will be spoilers in this next paragraph, so if you don't want to be spoiled, please skip over:

John Smith was badly wounded by a gun shot, but the voyage from the "New World" to England would be about three months, depending on the weather. Infection from such a wound sets in VERY quickly. I would think that it would be best to treat him in the "New World", because at least then they won't be trying to treat him on a boat that's rocking on the ocean. Surely they would have brought a surgeon or someone with medical training with them. Also, how much more could have been done for him in England at that time? I would think that there wouldn't be much more that could be done for him, and he'd be long dead by the time he got back anyway, from infection. Does anyone with any medical history knowledge have any insight? I'm just kinda bitter about the ending because to me, it would probably be best to treat him on land or on an anchored ship in the "New World", rather than take him back to England. Then at least in the Disney movie, he could have been with Pocahontas and I wouldn't have ended up crying at the end like I always do. And yes, I know this is the least of my worries with the film, because as I've established, it's not historically accurate in the least. And anyways, can a film with a talking tree be historically accurate?

(end spoilers)

I do think "Based on a true story" is thrown around too much. That's why it is up to the movie-goer to do research, and maybe find that the "actual story" is more interesting than the movie version! The real story of Pocahontas is much more tragic, I think than the Disney version, but quite a bit more interesting. She was more than just a love affair.

Do your research folks! Don't just follow what Hollywood tells you.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T13:12:00.003-05:00

I haven't had time to watch any films since Dead Snow, so I thought I would go off topic and speak about Halloween.

I quite enjoy Halloween, particularly the candy part. I have a serious sweet tooth, and as soon as my Mom buys the candy, I dig right into it. So much so, that my parents tease me about it. An example: the other day I decided to try a yellow tootsie roll pop, thinking that it would be lemon flavoured. It wasn't. It was the dreaded banana flavour, so I cringed, and offered it to my parents. They both refused, and my Dad, in a mock serious tone, said something like "You are going to eat that Jennifer". I laughed. Then I ate it...very quickly, because I just can't waste candy, even the really bad stuff. However, the yellow tootsie roll pops are at the very top of the bowl of candy, so we're going to give them away.

From the age of 14 until I was 18, Halloween lost some of its appeal because I was too old to go out trick or treating and too young to go to any of the "adult" social functions. When I was 17, and in my first year of University, I put on a Scream mask and gave candy to kids, and really enjoyed that. But last year was the first year I got to really dress up and go out to a party. I went way overboard and bought a rather expensive costume at "Party Stuff", but it was a good night. This year I went the cheaper route and put together my own costume, which I wore at school. I'm probably going to wear the same costume I wore last year for the event I'll be going to tonight. My Dad suggested I wear a suit because of the costume Kirk is wearing but I'm not so sure about that. Don't know if I could pull off wearing my brother or my Dad's suit.

Surprisingly enough, I don't watch a lot of the Halloween specials. I was never into Charlie Brown as a kid, so I've only seen pieces of that. I'm not going to have time to watch a scary movie tonight, I'm thinking, so my horror movie watching last week will have to do in that department. I don't actually own a lot of horror movies, because I get so scared. I have Shaun of the Dead, which is closer to a comedy, 28 Days Later, which is a brilliant film, and The Ring 2, which was a gift, and not a movie I cared for too much. I may have to put in 28 Days Later sometime soon. Maybe even with the lights off to set the atmosphere. I do also have The Nightmare Before Christmas on VHS, my Dad was awesome enough to track down buy for me a year ago because I'd never seen it and Disney had it in the awful "Disney vault" at the time. It's since been released again and I'm thinking about buying it on DVD because I love it so much, and VHS is a near dead technology.

I hope you all have great Halloween plans and have a Happy Halloween!

Dead Snow

2009-10-25T17:42:00.004-05:00

I finally had an afternoon where I didn't have any homework to do, so I watched Dead Snow, on Kenton's recommendation. I had a great time with it, and am going to give a few thoughts.

It is a Norwegian film about a bunch of med students going off to a remote cabin (of course) over the Easter break. There, they run into a strange hitchhiker who tells them the history of the mountains, and warns them not to "wake up the evil within". Of course, our drunk med students laugh, and refuse to take the hitchhiker seriously. Then the zombies show up. What makes Dead Snow different from other zombie films is that these are not normal zombies. They're...NAZI ZOMBIES. Much better than the regular kind, I assure you.

The film was billed as a horror/comedy, but for the first hour or so, there was relatively little humour. It was actually quite scary...or I thought so, but I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to movies like this. All the lights were on, and I was watching it on a fairly small screen, but I was still squealing during all the "jump scenes". It is also very gory. It's more cartoon gore, meaning that it is not "realistic" gore, but still disgusting nonetheless. After the first hour, the film seems to switch directions, and it becomes slightly more comical. It actually turns into almost a parody of other zombie/horror movies. Unfortunately, it's a fairly short movie, so this change of tone only lasts for about twenty minutes. I found that a lot of the humour comes from the ridiculousness of the situation these young people were in. They weren't just zombies...but they were zombies in Nazi costumes. Something about that makes it funny. But at the same time, it puts other horror movies into perspective: how likely is it that dead people are going to rise up from the ground? So maybe next time I sit through a horror movie, despite how scary it is, maybe I'll be able to find some humour in it.

I also want to say that I was quite impressed with the make up job on the zombies. It looked very good, and very creepy. The filmmakers must have known that their movie was going to be cliche, but instead of trying to hide that fact, they embraced it. I liked the movie a lot, so anyone who is into horror and can handle really gory stuff should check it out! Though if you're a wimp like I am...you'll probably end up sleeping with the light on. I'm fully expecting nightmares tonight, but that's part of the fun of these movies. I can't watch really scary horror movies very often, but when I do, I generally end up having a good time. And this film was a good time, for sure.

Just a little note: The film is subtitled, as it is in Norwegian. I love watching foreign films so that was not a problem for me at all. I actually really love listening to other languages, especially hearing how similar (or dissimilar) they are to English. Norwegian is actually pretty close to English, because there were several words I was able to pick up, because they sounded just like their English counterpart.

Where the Wild Things are

2009-10-22T20:06:00.004-05:00

In short...biggest disappointment ever. Or of the year at the very least. Let me get this clear: I liked it, but I didn't like it as much as I wanted to. I think my problem was with character development. Even ten minutes in, I realized how hard it was for me to love Max and I just wasn't "feeling it". And maybe it's because I had had a rough day last Friday and my mind was elsewhere, I'm really not sure. I felt that the characters weren't very well fleshed out, so I couldn't bring myself to care very much for them, even after spending almost two hours with them.

That being said, it is a very beautiful movie. The scenery is gorgeous, the costumes are perfect (I'm fully expecting them to win the "Best costume" Oscar), and the "Wild Things" world felt real to me. It's just character that was an issue for me. And a lot of people I've talked to who have seen this movie have loved it, so Kirk and I are probably in the minority, but that's okay.

I think my big problem is that I hyped it up too much. I went in expecting it to be one of the best theatre experiences of my life, so of course I was going to be disappointed. I had this discussion with Jeremy once, about how if you have high expectations for a film, you are going to be disappointed. But if you go in expecting to hate it, then it feels better when you are pleasantly surprised. Since the trailer for Where the Wild Things are was among the better trailers I've ever seen, of course my expectations were high. Whereas a few years ago a friend dragged me to Beerfest, and I went in fully expecting to hate it, because I'd hated Super Troopers. But I loved it, and I think part of it was the fact that I was so pleasantly surprised.

So the big lesson? Try to keep expectations in check. No movie can be everything you want it to be, and going in expecting it to be is going to set you up for disappointment. I have learned that a few times in the past two years with films I've put on a pedestal (such as Watchmen, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). Neither were as good as I'd hoped, though I still enjoyed them. Disappointment is a bitter pill to swallow, but I think this time the lesson has sunk in.

I think I'd probably give Where the Wild Things are a 6/10. I think people should go see it for sure, especially on the big screen, but it's not worthy of raves from me. I do want to see it again, probably on DVD, to see whether it was just my mental state that affected my enjoyment of it.

Spike TV's Scream 2009

2009-10-20T23:08:00.004-05:00

Not much to say right now, but I found this story on the internet and wanted to share it: Scream 2009.There doesn't seem to be very many surprises, the very popular Transformers, Twilight, and Star Trek all won awards.

I'd just like to take this moment to show the female readers what audience members got to enjoy setting their eyes upon. Wait for it....

For anyone who doesn't know, that's Mr. Johnny Depp, looking spectacular as always. I think I'd faint if I was at an award show and he came onstage. Depp accepted the award for "most anticipated sci-fi movie" for Alice in Wonderland.

Buyer Beware: Compact Fluorescent Lamps Versus Incandescent Bulbs...Which is Better?

2009-10-13T16:58:00.007-05:00

CFL light bulb on the left, incandescent bulb on the right.

I worked with Berea, Chris and Michael on our “buyer beware” project. Everyone came into the project with some good ideas, but we were all most enthusiastic about the idea Chris pitched: CFL bulbs versus incandescent bulbs. We were all skeptical about whether CFL bulbs were really as good as what the government and CFL producers were saying. Can they really save consumers money? Our they really good for the environment? We also wondered how to dispose of the bulbs in a safe manner, considering the mercury content of the bulbs.

We researched our project using a mixture of primary and secondary sources. We did a confidential survey over the internet to gather the opinions of consumers. We decided that an online survey would be easier as it would allow us to ask more questions in a shorter period of time, plus it would be more confidential, as we would never know who exactly completed the survey and what their answers were. We used the free survey website SurveyMonkey to conduct our survey.

We also looked at information obtained through Government of Canada websites, Manitoba Hydro, and Clean Nova Scotia, which is an organization that works with the public and private sector on environmental issues. We looked at three specific issues: the environmental impact of CFLs, the human impact, and the cost savings. By looking at CFL bulbs in three different ways, we were able to determine whether the bulbs are as good as they are claimed to be.

Environmental Impact

The Federal government says that by using CFL bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs, it is estimated that, as a nation, we will be reducing greenhouse gas emissions by over 6 million tonnes a year. Considering that would be the equivalent of taking 1.4 million cars off the road, that’s pretty impressive! We also found that CFL bulbs use about a quarter of the energy that incandescent bulbs use. However, the bulbs also contain mercury, which is dangerous to humans.

The people we asked were split on the issue of environmental impact. Many acknowledged that they were good for the environment, though some raised the issue of mercury being bad for the environment, if not disposed of properly. Others felt that they were not good for the environment at all. The bulbs are heavily advertised as being environmentally friendly, and it seems that the advertising is working as most have heard of the energy-saving claims.

Another issue is that CFL bulbs increase the amount your furnace will have to work during winter time, as the bulbs do not generate the heat that incandescent bulbs do. Manitoba Hydro claims that the money spent on heating will be offset by the money saved over the summer when your air conditioning does not have to work as hard to heat your home.

Human Impact

The biggest concern regarding CFL bulbs and human impact is the mercury levels. As I mentioned earlier, mercury is dangerous to people, and if the bulbs are broken and not cleaned up properly, or not disposed of properly, this could lead to prolonged exposure to mercury. We wanted to research the proper way to dispose of CFL bulbs, as none of us were aware of the procedure at the beginning of the project. It seems most other people weren’t either! We asked a question regarding disposal on our survey, and the vast majority simply disposed of CFL bulbs in the trash. Those who were aware of proper procedures admitted that they could not be bothered to follow proper disposal procedures. Do not throw away CFL bulbs! It is actually prohibited to do so by City of Winnipeg law. Doing so can cause the mercury to leech into the water and soil at land fills or even get into the air. Instead, Winnipeggers have the following disposal options:

Free disposal of bulbs at Miller Environmental Corporation
Free disposal of bulbs at Home Depot Stores

Please dispose of your burnt out CFL bulbs properly, it is free after all! The used bulbs will be recycled, according to Home Depot. So you will not only be preventing harmful mercury from being released into the environment, you will be helping to reduce waste.

Another thing we feel should be advertised is how to clean up the bulbs safely if they are broken. Most people we surveyed did not have a bulb break while in use, but many people are unaware of how to clean up a broken bulb. One person stated that they used a broom, which is not a good idea, according to Energy Star .

Instead, open a window, leave the room for at least fifteen minutes, and shut off any air conditioners to keep the mercury from circulating through the air. Use paper or cardboard to scoop up the glass and powder, and place them in a jar or sealed plastic bag. Use tape to pick up and smaller fragments that are remaining. Wipe clean with a wet paper towel or wet wipe, placing the used towels in the jar or plastic bag. Do not use a vacuum or broom. A vacuum is only to be used on a carpet, after all visible pieces are removed. Afterwards, you are to remove the vacuum bag and place it in a sealed bag.

It is also recommended that any bedding or clothing that has come in direct contact with a broken CFL bulb be thrown out, as washing them in a washing machine will contaminate the washing machine. Clothing that has come into contact with just the vapour however, can be washed.

Cost Analysis

According to the Government of Canada, the use of CFL bulbs could save the average Canadian home (containing roughly 30 bulbs) , about $50 on their electricity bills. However, considering the price of CFL bulbs (a 15 watt bulbs, equivalent of a 60 watt incandescent bulb) is $5, meaning replacing incandescent bulbs with CFL bulbs is an investment. CFL bulbs should last much longer than incandescent bulbs, up to five years, so that means consumers should make a return on their investment after three years of normal usage.

****

Ultimately, we concluded that CFL bulbs had positive and negative aspects. They greatly reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and energy use, which are all good for the environment. Consumers also save money by switching to CFL bulbs, as they last longer, and use up much less energy than incandescent bulbs.

However, we feel that not enough is being done to educate consumers on how to dispose of bulbs properly. While they are good for the environment in the reasons stated above, the mercury in the bulbs is very bad for the environment. The City of Winnipeg is trying to prevent mercury leeching by setting up disposal sites, but more needs to be done to educate consumers on where to take their used bulbs. It would be helpful if the government created an advertising campaign to let the general public know that throwing away the bulbs is bad, and that there are places to dispose of the bulbs for free. Home Depot could even cash in on this, offering a free incentive for those who come in to dispose of a bulb. This would raise awareness and hopefully prevent people from disposing of their bulbs in an unsafe manner.

CFL bulbs are a great product for your pocket book, and for the environment when used and disposed of correctly. We think that with more promotion of safe disposal techniques, people, and the environment will benefit further from CFL bulbs.

Snow (Oh No!)

2009-10-10T15:07:00.004-05:00

I'm sure everyone who talked to me yesterday heard me complain about the snow we got. I'm not big on cold weather, because I get cold very easily. I like milder weather, therefore Spring and Fall. I can take the inevitable snow...if it comes after Halloween. October 9th and snow already on the ground? No way. I am trying to accept it.

After Friday at the King's Head, Kirk and I decided to catch a movie. We picked out Couples Retreat, which ended up being a rather interesting choice, considering that it takes place on a tropical island...in contrast to the weather we were having outside. It wasn't bad. I like Vince Vaughn quite a bit, and he was reasonably amusing. Of course, Where The Wild Things Are comes out next week! I am getting very excited about it.

With Canadian Thanksgiving coming out soon, does anyone have a favourite Thanksgiving movie or tv special? I saw Pieces of April a number of years ago and I recall it being very moving. It stars Katie Holmes from her pre-Tom Cruise life, and she did a really good job in it. I think at times now she can be very over-publicized, in part due to her marriage to Cruise. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. The day after my Dad always bakes bread in our bread maker and we have the leftovers, and there's nothing at all like fresh bread. With the day off on Monday, I may put in a movie over the afternoon. I have several at home that I have owned for a year or more...and still have not seen. I swore to remedy that over the summer, but it never happened.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Some Television Thoughts, Plus Violence in Film and TV

2009-10-06T18:46:00.007-05:00

First of all, I just wanted to say that I managed to get my hands on "Dead Snow", which Kenton Larsen suggested to me. I'll watch it when I get the time, and when I do, I'll post my thoughts.

It's been a tough week for me, school-wise. Failed a PR assignment I'd have otherwise done very well on, because I didn't capitalize the "t" in "YouTube". I felt extraordinarily dumb after that, and have sworn to never make that mistake again. The problem is that I'm so used to not capitalizing it, I just didn't think to check, even though I was actually ON the YouTube wiki page to look something up as I was writing the assignment.

I also got back my streeter assignment, and failed it as well due to a foolish spelling error. I spelt a name wrong (in my defence, her name was very unusual). I had the name right in my interview notes, but spelt it wrong as I was writing my article. Another foolish mistake I don't want to make again. But I do feel pretty lousy about failing...I'm not used to it!

Monday is my big tv night...at least in the sense that so far it is the only night I have more than one show to watch. I watch Heroes and Trauma. I do wonder why I even bother with Heroes any more. It is a tragedy, because the first season was fantastic, second season mediocre and finally, the third season was almost impossible to watch. This new season is not looking much better. At this point I only really watch because I want to know what happens in the end. I don't know if it will last more than another season or two because the ratings have been dropping, and it is a very expensive show to produce (ensemble cast, excellent special effects, etc).

On a better note, I did like last night's Trauma. More character development, and a really interesting story line. "Rabbit" is still my favourite character, he's the only intriguing one really. I'll be watching again next week. It's a very gory tv show though, and since I can be quite squeamish, there were some unpleasant parts. I'm a bit strange when it comes to violence and gore. In movies and on tv, I can watch people get shot, stabbed, etc, but show me a guy about to get his arm chewed up in machinery, or a gushing leg wound...and I freak out. There were moments I was covering my eyes and squealing, much to the amusement of my Mom, who is a retired nurse.

Similarly, the gore is why I had to cover my eyes during Watchmen. I said that normally I can take violence, but there were bits in that film that were just too much for me. I guess you can say I don't like disgusting things, or the aftermath of a violent act. I can take it and am fine with watching most movies or tv shows with stuff like that, but I may have to cover my eyes. But violence for the sake of violence (for example, the Saw franchise) does bother me. I used to be a bit more fearless when it came to that sort of thing but more recently, I've started to become more affected by it. I'm sure ER showed things as bloody and gory as Trauma did last night, but it never got to me. Maybe the reality of the situation being shown is starting to hit me harder than it once did? Or maybe I have just developed a weaker stomach. Needless to say, I would prefer not to have to deal with gushing leg wounds anytime soon, though should I be presented with such a situation, I promise to try not to faint, cry or throw up.

By Request: Why I Love "Shopgirl"

2009-10-01T20:42:00.003-05:00

First of all, my Buyer Beware group is doing a survey for our project, please take a moment to complete it. Thank you!

Amber asked me why it's one of my favourite films, and I thought I'd elaborate through my blog. :)

Shopgirl is a film based on Steve Martin's novella of the same name. Both the novella and the film are among my favourite books/movies. There will be spoilers in this entry:

Anyways, Shopgirl is the story of Mirabelle Buttersfield (Claire Danes, one of my favourite actresses), a slightly depressed, dissatisfied twenty-something selling gloves at a department store, while working on her art on the side. She first meets Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman), a fellow twenty-something, who is broke, socially awkward, and completely infatuated with Mirabelle. Mirabelle does not reciprocate his feelings. Then she meets Ray Porter (Steve Martin) a wealthy man much older than she is. They go out on a date where Ray tells her that their relationship will not be monogamous or something that will last forever. Mirabelle doesn't care, or chooses to ignore this statement, feeling that it is going so well that there's no way it can't last. Ray treats Mirabelle well, though he does cheat on her with an old girlfriend. Mirabelle is hurt, but chooses to forgive Ray. However, she begins to realize that Ray cannot ever love her the way she wants to be loved, and leaves him, choosing to "hurt now, instead of hurting later".

She meets up again with Jeremy, who has spent his time away from Mirabelle trying to improve himself. They go on another date, where he impresses her with the changes he has made. She quits her job at the department store and gets a job at an art gallery, and enters a relationship with Jeremy. She sees Ray again at an art show for her work, where he tells her he always did love her. Mirabelle is moved, but runs back into the arms of Jeremy, the man she realizes can love her the way she wants to be loved, because what he offers is "tender and true".

Anyways, I can relate to Mirabelle better than I can relate to any other character right now. I've had two "Ray Porter" types in my life. One a few years ago, and one much more recently. When I first saw this film it was before Ray Porter #2 entered my life. I was moved, but not quite to tears. I saw it just after I'd met and lost Ray Porter #2 and I cried all night, because I knew he would never love me the way I wanted him to and I missed him. I was a foolish woman, and spent too long wanting this person, even though he was up front that it would not be a long term relationship. But like Mirabelle, I was convinced at the time that things went so well over the summer that we could make things work somehow. I was very mistaken. I spent a long time hurting over the things that went on--time that was wasted, but not regretted because I've learned from the experience.

I also spent a decent amount of time just...living. Not quite satisfied with my life, not quite dissatisfied, but no motivation to go out and change it. I was quite like Mirabelle in that way. I would talk about all the things I disliked about my life and my situation but did nothing to change it. Ive always believed that there is a breaking point in every human relationship, where one party decides enough is enough and chooses to move on. They've been hurt too much, too disillusioned, etc. I'm the type of person who needs to hit that breaking point, and be hurt very badly. I realized it wasn't worth it anymore, that I got more pain than satisfaction from my situation and left it. And it's done, and I haven't looked back. I'm happier. But I've felt the sting of wanting someone you can never fully have. Of being kept at arm's length, ignored, wanting someone who can be so insensitive to your feelings that they do not hesitate to say something they know will hurt you. They do things to hurt you, to see how you will react...

I may have moved on from my situation, but I can still relate to the movie. I found my own Jeremy type. :) Someone who accepts me for who I am, who makes me truly, genuinely happy all the time. Like Mirabelle, I took a hard look at my life, and sought to improve it. In the past month, I've quit my job, started a program I really love, and tried to remove all the things in my life that have caused me pain. Plus I have a really wonderful boyfriend. :) There's still things in my life that hurt, but I'm trying to steer away from drama. I don't have time for it, school is taking over my life, and when I'm not busy with school, I want to be with Kirk or my friends. I don't want to be spending my time dealing with silly drama. On a whole, I'm happier than I've been in a long time. And I'm really proud of myself for doing the whole self-improvement thing. I spent the last year trying to improve myself in some ways, but I was never really satisfied, because I wasn't improving my emotional state of being, and my life situation. The second I dealt with that, I became happier.

I think the movie would still make me cry like a baby. I read the book over the summer, right in the middle of dealing with all this, and by page 36 I was in tears. I cried pretty much all the way through. I know it's not for everyone, but some of Steve Martin's lines were so beautiful and true (at least to me), that I was moved to tears. I think when you get down to it, the film and book are about foolish love, and everyone has a foolish love story. But I also believe everyone gets their happy ending, eventually. I think ultimately the movie has a happy ending, because Mirabelle grows as a person, and finds happiness with someone she once wrote off.

Here's a scene from the end that always makes me cry. (I just watched it and I'd be in tears right now if my Dad wasn't down here beside me working on the desk top computer) I just wish that clip included the final voice over bit, because it just makes it all the more moving. Anyway, if you've watched it and haven't seen the movie, that gives you all incentive to go and see the movie. Please do watch it. Now I really feel like re-watching it again, to see how different my viewing experience will be as someone who is now more like Mirabelle at the end of the film, rather than Mirabelle when she was with Ray.

Trauma!

2009-09-28T21:04:00.004-05:00

Trauma is a new show that premiered on NBC tonight. I tuned in with my parents, as we were all ER fans and are looking for something to "fill the void". Theoretically, I could be watching the early seasons of ER, but I've never been good at watching tv on DVD. I didn't start watching ER regularly until about season 13 so I've been watching the early seasons on DVD. I'm almost done season four right now...been "almost done" it for about six months. I tend to go in spurts, I'll watch several episodes in a two week period, then not pick it up for a year or so. But I love the early seasons very much.

Back to Trauma. It wasn't a bad show, but I could tell that the characters were heavily modelled off of ER characters. They shared some of the same characteristics anyway. Cliff Curtis, the New Zealand actor who played "Porourangi" in Whale Rider, plays one of the main characters, Rabbit. I thought he was a real find, easily the stand out among the cast. His character is the most interesting of the bunch so far. I suppose it's easy to say that the characters are based strongly off of ER characters because ER is such an iconic show, and many of the characters presented on that show have become sort of "stock characters" anyway (the fresh, young doctor, the rebellious but oh-so-lovable doctor, the responsible doctor with the troubled family, the doctor with the rough past, etc).

Will I be watching again? Most likely. I'll be giving this show a shot, considering a lot of my shows got cancelled last year (Pushing Daisies, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), or ended (ER). The premiere wasn't fantastic, but I've seen a lot worse. I'll watch a few more episodes, see if it gets itself into a good groove, then decide whether I'll start following it or not. NBC is banking hard on this show becoming the next ER, so we'll see how it does.

I'm also thinking about getting into Flashforward on ABC. The only thing stopping me is that I've heard it is like Lost, in that if you miss an episode, you can't really catch up. That, and I'm always reluctant to get into new tv, since shows seem to be cancelled left and right nowadays. I just don't think I could take the heartbreak of another Pushing Daisies, a show I loved with all my heart that ABC gave up on. There was very little conclusion with that show. However, I just read some awesome news via Wikipedia. Turns out the show will be back for a "third season" in comic book format! Here's hoping that offers a bit more closure than the tacked on "series finale" ever did.

Has anyone watched Flashforward? If so, is it worth watching?

Zombieland

2009-09-25T17:47:00.002-05:00

Zombieland Trailer

Trailer #2

This movie looks fantastic. I was talking with my boyfriend, Kirk, about movies coming out next week and he looked it up and said that this one was coming out. I told him we have to go see it at one point and he agreed. Which is one of the many reasons why he is such a great boyfriend.

Shaun of the Dead is one of my favourite movies, so that gives you all some insight as to why I am so excited about this film.

Art, and the Ability it has to Move Us

2009-09-23T17:15:00.008-05:00

I love art. Of all types. I love film and television (obviously), literature, paintings/drawings/more "classic" artwork, and even music, though I am not very educated musically. What I love is the ability art has to make us feel something, whether it makes us happy, sad or even angry. I just wanted to take some time to share pieces of art that have really moved me recently.

Sometime Around Midnight--The Airborne Toxic Event

(I've also included a link to the video itself, as it cannot be embedded and the video is so moving, that I feel it's part of the "experience" of the song)

I discovered this song at the beginning of the summer when I heard it on the radio. It took me awhile to actually listen to the lyrics and discover the meaning of the song (initially what I enjoyed was the emotion in singer Mikel Jollett's voice). Once I really listened to the lyrics, I cried, because it was exactly what I was going through at the time. I love the music itself; the violin is probably my favourite instrument and it's used very effectively. And how the emotion in the song builds. It starts calm, with an almost indifferent tone, and it slowly builds to the climax (Oh and when your friends say,“What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”), where Jollett sings with so much pain and emotion in his voice, to the point where it sounds as if he's almost screaming in agony. It's beautiful.

As I said earlier, I can really relate to this song. I lived it over the summer. And sometimes, when the situation I was in was really hurting me, I'd put on this song, and cry it out, and it was about the most cathartic thing I could do. It wasn't the only song I'd play at those times, there were many others, but this is the one I wanted to give special mention to. Thankfully I've moved past everything from the summer, but it is still a song that moves me very much. And I gotta say, I've never written this much about a song before.

LOST

(Yes, I believe television is an art form, as I stated earlier in this entry.)

Lost is my favourite tv show, by far. I discuss it, almost obsessively when it is airing, I have my own theories about what's going to happen, and am even reluctant to go out while it is airing because I'm paranoid my VCR will die and it won't tape!

This show has me feeling a whole range of emotions. I've felt great happiness, sadness, anger, even frustration (such as when we don't find out what's going on, or during some of the "weaker" episodes). I believe every single season finale so far has had me shedding tears at some point, and certainly every season so far has had at least one or two episodes (sometimes more) make me cry. Every season finale has left me frozen in shock as well, and longing for more! The most recent season finale has been the best (or perhaps worst?) for that, the minute it ended, I found myself shaking, tears rolling down my cheeks, wishing for more. I'm still waiting for January to roll around, so I can get into the final season.

I just wanted to highlight one particularly moving moment from the fourth season (there will be season 4 spoilers, season four not being the most recent season, but the one before the most recent season):

Desmond speaks to Penny on the phone ("The Constant")

Just a bit of background information: Desmond's mind was travelling between 1996, and 2004, because after leaving the island, he experienced a "time shift". Once the chopper landed on the freighter, Desmond spoke to someone experiencing the same thing, and saw this man die. After speaking to Daniel Faraday both via walkie talkie in 2004, and finding him at Oxford in 1996, Desmond learns he needs a "constant" to stop the time shifts. A constant is someone you know from both times. Desmond picks Penny, his ex-girlfriend, whom he still loves. In 1996, he convinces Penny to give him her phone number, and tells her that he will call her Christmas Eve in eight years. He returns to 2004, remembers the number, dials it, and upon speaking to her, his mind recovers.

Desmond had been trapped on the island for years, after his boat crashed onto the island. All that time, he's been longing for Penny, and wanting to return to her. That phone call was the first time they'd talked in years, so hearing them profess their love for each other was amazing. As was knowing that phone call saved Desmond's life. The actors Henry Ian Cusick and Sonya Walger played the scene perfectly.

(Have I mentioned that Desmond is also my favourite character? And that their love story is my favourite love story on television?)

When I first watched this scene, I actually had to stop it midway through that scene (I'd taped it because I worked the night it was on) because I was crying so hard I couldn't see the screen or hear what they were saying. Afterwards I rewound the tape and watched the scene again. And again.

Later on in the season, you find out that their phone call lead directly to the rescue of some of the "Oceanic 6". Another very touching moment in that season, as the clip I linked to shows their actual reunion.

(end spoilers)

As you can see, I am a bit of a romantic, and things to do with love or lost love move me. :) I also got a bit carried away with my write-ups, so I'll probably devote another entry or two to the subject of very moving art at later dates. Here's my question for those who choose to comment: What piece of art (any medium) moves you? I mean that in any way, my examples were ones that made me cry, but yours can be ones that fill you with joy, or make you angry. Anything, I care what YOU think!