Well!

It has been awhile, hasn't it?

Really, the only reason I decided to post was to talk about a mini milestone that I hit.

That's right, folks.

I have now seen 50 out of 100 of the AFI Top 100 Movies.  Hooray!

So..

So, I have a YouTube account now.  This here is my acting reel.  I'm kind of happy with it, given the fact that it is my first time trying iMovie without supervision/it's a newer version than the one at ACC/I have never made a reel before.  Don't know how useful it will be, but eh.  If you go to my account, there is also a Seuss slide show set to "Solla Sollew" if you're interested.  Also, on my Facebook page I have added an album for Photoshop projects.  That's my new hobby, I think.  If you have any sweet pics that you want to let me tear up or any cool ideas let me know in the comments.

Also, I have started to take a picture a day of myself with my iSight camera.  So, hopefully when the year is up I can make a sweet movie.

Why?

So remember that post yesterday about how busy I am and how well things are going?

FUCKING SCRATCH THAT.

WHY?

BECAUSE I SLEPT UNTILL 9 A.M. TODAY.  

Yesterday, at the end of the workshop they said, "We'll be starting tomorrow at 9 A.M. sharp and locking the doors at 9.  Anyone not here will not receive their certification."

What the fuck is wrong with me?

Not only did I just blow $50, but the people at the Texas FIlm Commission probably think I am full of shit.  I don't think it will get back to Austin Film Society, but it still fucking pisses me off.

The kicker?

I didn't sleep till 9.

I slept till 6.  Woke up with my alarm.  Went back to sleep.  Woke up at 6:45 to my next alarm.  Set another alarm for 8.  Did NOT wake up to that one.

This happens all the time.  I am really never late unless it is something in the morning where I just can't seem to tell myself that FALLING BACK ASLEEP RIGHT NOW IS A BAD IDEA.

I am so fucking mad at myself.

It's not even the end of the world with the P.A. thing, seeing as how getting out there and doing free work is the only real way to get things done.

I just really hate being a disappointment.  Most of all to myself.

Oy

I don't know if I have already posted about Spanish, but I am taking Spanish I right now.  It's a 5-1/2 week course and it is pretty great.  I don't think I could ever learn a language without being totally immersed in it.  It starts at 8:00 every weekday morning and goes until 10:30.  So, it's pretty long and early.  

I was working the other day and a gentleman that I was helping said he is a recruiter for a financial supply firm and took my phone number.  Now he called and I am going to call him back to meet for coffee or something.  I am really hoping this is not some kind of scam.  That would totally ruin the whole ego boost this gave me.  I'm worried that he's some kind of pyramid scheme douche, but he didn't seem odd or too pushy.  So we'll see.

I just got back from the first part of a weekend intensive workshop for Production Assistants at Austin Film Society.  After tomorrow, I will be certified by Texas Film Commission to be a P.A. and be put in their directory.  So that's cool.  I want to find P.A. work I can do for free first, but part-time so I can, you know, survive.

We'll See.

Which Wich is Which? LAWL.

So, Luis and I went to a new place for lunch called "Which Wich".  They might as well call it "Which Sandwich You Choose = Delicious Wich".  'Cause that's what it was.  You write your order on a brown bag and have all of the time in the world to find out what kind of sandwich you want.  Not like in other, more NYC, sandwich shops.  (Subway((sp?))  It was great.  Cheese Whiz is one of the toppings you can get.  Wow!  It was really good.

Here is a picture of a sandwich unless you can't visualize it.

WE NAMED THE DOG INDIANA.

SPOILER ALERT

SPOILER ALERT

SPOILER ALERT

Ok, I am not planning on spoiling a lot of "Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"  (misnomer) but It's hard to talk about why this movie failed and succeeded without talking about some things plot-wise.

Firstly, I love the 1950's era the movie takes place in.  I love how everything was wrong with society, from MacCarthy trials to the Cold War and yet the public spent their nights watching "Leave it to Beaver."  Indiana Jones is older and grayer and expect a bunch of "heartfelt" a.k.a. "fucking depressing" moments when he thinks on who he has lost in his life.  Harrison Ford is great.  What else is there to say about the man?  He's Indiana Jones.  Cate Blanchette(sp?)  is the nemesis role in this movie, and thankfully does not have any sort of romantic involvement with Indy.  I'm kind of scatter brained right now so I apologize if this is not in any kind of order.  ACTION SEQUENCES:

First and second action sequences were fucking awesome.  Third was actually filmed in CT (I remember when they were casting for extras).  Fourth(?) was a jungle chase that was extremely long and pretty good except for an odd "Tarzan"-esque sequence.  Big Ants are Big.  

QUESTION:

How do spiders get into EVERY ruin?

There are always webs.  How do they get in there?

THE END:

Like eating a large helping of cotton candy, you enjoy the ride but when you get to the end you think "I feel like vomiting".

Worst ending to a movie in a long time.  And I mean that for the end of the ruins sequence and the very last shots as well.

Oy.

Movie:

****/*****

Ending:

*/*****

Oy, so good.

So.
I will not try to deny the fact that I have been looking forward to the film adaptation of the "Iron Man" comics. Being a huge Marvel fan, anything with that dark red logo automatically makes me wet myself. Hell, I even saw "Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer" in theatres. I feel like I need to justify my downright love for this new film, so I will give another example of a movie I was looking forward to just as much where I was able to see that, although it was a movie of one of my favorite characters of all time, it was complete shit. I am speaking of "Spider-Man 3." This movie completely failed at everything it tried to accomplish. Think of "Iron Man" as the anti-"Spider-Man 3."
It's hard to talk about the movie without spoiling anything.
It is cast perfectly. It's great to see Robert Downey Jr. play a role that is so close to his own persona. Jeff Bridges is equally great as the underhanded villain. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts was a nice way to have a love interest that didn't take over the plot. I know this all sounds quite general, but they were all really fantastic. Stan Lee and John Favreau make cameos that aren't overly ridiculous.
I think the biggest compliment I can give is that at the end of the movie, my face hurt from smiling and laughing so much. There wasn't a single moment where I found myself bored or wondering when the plot would start up again. From the first 20 seconds this movie launches and it never falls back.
Go See This Movie.
The greatest part about this is that "Iron Man" is the first blockbuster of the summer and therefore a litmus test of movies to come. And if "Indiana Jones", "The Dar Knight" and "The Incredible Hulk" are even 80% of what "Iron Man" was then we are in for one HELL of a summer.
I cannot wait to see this movie again.

OY!

OK!
SO!
WELL!
It HAS been awhile.
Ok, so. A few things have happened. Firstly, Nick Panz and Caitlin Keeler came up for the week. That was good times. We went out and got drunk (even Caitlin, we have our ways) and I had WAY too much tequila and spent the next day vomiting. Great. Anyway, I only got to see them a few days because of work and school so that sucked. We went to San Antonio and saw the Alamo. Which is pretty much the only thing to do in San Antonio. Then that night I took Caitlin to the Drafthouse to see "Semi-Pro". It was actually quite good. I mean, as good as a Will Ferrel sports comedy can be. I think the fact that they kept it rated R really helped it. Then, like the morning dew..............they disappeared. It was nice to have them around, and I really hope that they enjoyed their vacation.
I am really not in a mood to write, and haven't been in quite some time. At Bill's request, I have updated here. I have just been kind of tired lately (big surprise).
I will update soon though.

Oy!

Spring Break started Saturday and days that I don't have work or school I usually spend sitting at home, drinking tea and watching movies.
Today, the film was "Nixon" which stars pretty much every actor you have ever heard of including Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Bob Hoskins, David Hyde Pierce, Mary Steenburgen and James Woods. Directed by Oliver Stone, this movie is the definition of biopic. To me, Anthony Hopkins could not have been better as Dick Nixon. His sudden, almost violent mood swings were just perfect. If you have not seen this movie, then you have not seen Oliver Stone and you have not seen Anthony Hopkins.

I feel bad, because this is the same post that I used for "The Society's" blog. But, honestly if you took out the movie reviews from this blog, you would end up with at most only half of the posts remaining. So I will try to add some personal stuff as well.
I talked to Christy yesterday and it was really nice. I feel really bad that I have been treating her and pretty much all of my friends back in CT badly. Bart called me like, two weeks ago and I just got around to calling him back yesterday. I never call Bill. Travis and Keilly sent me letters about a month ago and I have yet to write them back. I just have such a bad attention span and it takes a whole lot of effort for me to just sit down and write or pick up a phone. I'm not trying to make any excuses, but that's the way it is and I am going to try to change that. I talked to Christy yesterday and called Bart as well (he didn't pick up, that bitch). Tomorrow I have off and I am going to take that time to sit down and write responses to those letters.

I don't think I will call Bill though. What's the point?

JK BILL LAWLACAUST

Om!

OM NOM NOM!
I do love veggies and dip. Yes I do.
Let's see.
Ah, our film group at work now has it's own blog for which I am a contributor. We just started it, so there isn't much but you can check it out HERE. You'll be able to read commentaries on our get togethers and movie reviews. Should be pretty classy.
I was going to go to the Drafthouse tonight for their mystery event, but I found out that it wasn't until midnight and it was some movie from SunDance that I probably would not have cared about.

Ana is going to her parent's for spring break, and I won't see her for about a week.
Sad Face.

Exam!

I had my mid-term in U.S. History II
It was thoroughly blah, but then Ana and I went to AMC and saw "Be Kind, Rewind."

"Be Kind, Rewind"
-Honestly, a film with the most heart that I think I have ever seen. You could really tell that everyone in it had their whole souls in it. Jack Black was great, and I am not one of his "GAHH HES SO FUNNY IN EVERYTHING" fans either. Mos Def was great. Everyone was great. It was just a really great, really cute movie. I probably won't pick it up on DVD until its on sale, and then its the kind of movie you watch like once a year at most, just to remind yourself why you fell in love with movies in the first place.

Tomorrow is Theatre class, which is becoming less and less bearable every day and THEN



SPRING BREAK!! WOO!! *FLASHES BOOBS*
Spring Break is AWESOME BLOSSOM AND I WILL TOTALLY BE LIKE ............... working...........and........erm.......reading books.........and surfing the net.


Great.

Yop!

Am I the only one looking forward to "Horton Hears A Who"?
I mean, sure it will most likely suck but come one. It's fucking "Horton Hears A Who."

The other night Luis, Chris and Natalie from work all went over to Natalie's place and watched "Casino." Natalie made a whole bunch of Italian appetizers and we had cannoli after the movie. It was a good night and we are planning on doing something like it every other sunday. I wish it was on the AFI Top 100, but it was an absolutely great film. It's funny, before this year/before I saw "The Departed" I knew about Martin Scorsese, but I had never seen any of his movies. Now, I can't think of a gangster-esque movie without judging it to his.

Berry, berry good.

Voting tomorrow. Then caucus at 7.
I know that I don't have to tell anyone who I vote for and it's my constitutional right and blah blah blah.
Obama '08.
That's all I'm sayin'.

Alas!

Work was thoroughly blah today.
I did pick up the complete plays of Aristophanes today. I need to read "The Frogs" for Intro to Theatre. Did I choose to read "The Frogs" because Sondheim made a musical adaptation of it?


You know me better than I thought, Anonymous. And Bill.

I don't know if I wrote about this but here's two more reviews from Cinema de Nicholas.

"Secret Honor"
-Apparently this was a play before they made it into a film. It features Nixon dictating for an hour and a half. It was really good, and the actor (I forget who it was, he's in a lot of stuff) was really amazing. It's part of Criterion. As good as it was, there is only so much Nixon one person can stand and a feature film of him in a room talking/shouting/crying gets a little boring. Funnily enough the next film in my queue is "Nixon".

"The Darjeeling Limited"
-Have I ever told you how much I love Wes Anderson movies? They always have such a good heart, and TDL is no exception. The film really highlighted the strengths of Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and Adrian Brody. The short "Hotel Chevalier" was odd, and I felt like it was supremely unnecessary but whatever. Great film. See it.

Movies PArt Deux!

I knew I has something else to say:

#3: Ana and I watched "Eastern Promises." Very good movie. Viggo definitely scored his Oscar nod in that film. Very intense action. Great Russian gangster movie. SPOILER: If your life ambition was to go through life withOUT seeing Viggo Mortensen's junk, you might want to skip this one.

#4: I watched "Sunshine" last night. It was Phen-fucking-omenal. It's like Armageddon+Alien(the thriller aspect, not the extraterrestrial aspect)+Every Good Space Movie Ever Made. It is one of my favorite movies now. I loved it.

I think that's it.
Yea.

Movies!

Ok, so I know it's been awhile AGAIN and that this months posts don't total anywhere near last months, but in my defense I have other things to do so STOP JUDGING ME ANONYMOUS!
Here we go!
#1: Ana and I went to AMC Theatres last Saturday and attended their Oscar day which was all 5 best picture nominees in a row. 12 hours in a theater with 20 minute breaks. It was awesome. Ana could only stay for "Michael Clayton" and "There Will Be Blood" which sucked, but she had a call back and work later so it's understandable. After she left I watched "Atonement", "Juno" and "No Country For Old Men" for the 3rd time. I'll get to the majority of how I felt about each film a little later but they were all great. The projectionist apparently fell asleep during "Atonement" or something, because the aspect ratio was all wonky. Apparently, when a film is sent to theatres it isn't cropped to the screen and the projectionist does that. That being said, in one of the hospital scenes near the middle of the film you could clearly see a dolly track for a good 5 seconds. I thought I imagined it, but I talked to other people there who had seen it.
#2: The Oscars. Oh, The Oscars. First off, kudos to all the nominees and for Jon Stewart for coming up with some awesome stuff (sans writers, I would assume). The night was very nice. It was a very cooshy Oscars in my opinion in that everything that deserved to win, won. I felt "Juno" was a very funny movie with a good heart, but even without seeing the other nominees I assumed she didn't deserve an award among all of those power house actresses. I'm not sure how I felt about Tilda Swinton winning for "Michael Clayton" because I honestly didn't feel that much for her performance. I love that "The Bourne Ultimatum" swept the technical awards. Those kind of awards are for things you don't even notice while seeing the movie until they show clips at the Oscars. I was all, "Best Sound Mixing?" But then they played the clip, and it made it very clear how much of the movie really relied on that. I found it very strange that "The Golden Compass" won best CG. I really thought "Transformers" was a shoe in. I love that "Sweeney Todd" won Best Art Direction. Again, it's the one awards that I really felt it deserved. I loved Johnny Depp, but his performance was just not on par with Daniel Day-Lewis. Best Original Song. Did I want "Once" to win? Yes. Do I have a special place in my heart for "Enchanted"? Absolutely. It was weird that all the songs were from musical movies. It was like watching a gimped Tony's. I love Amy Adams, and she was wonderful in "Enchanted" but she doesn't have the pipes to sing live on stage. It really sounded more like Karaoke than anything else and without the pigeons and cockroaches and whatnot the song loses a lot of it's charm. Kristin Chenoweth was alright. I didn't like her operatic voice in that song, it didn't seem to mix well. And then that guy singing the last song was flat for the last half of it. I hated him. The performance for "Once" really was beautiful and their acceptance/getting kicked off stage/other acceptance speech was adorable.

I think that's it.
Bill, don't be mad at me for anything I said about Ellen Page.

Been A While!

So, I know it's been awhile. It's not that I have not been on the computer, or not had time. It's just that I haven't really felt like writing. That, and there was not much to say.
No More.
First off, and most importantly probably is that Ana and I are an item now. It's nice. Very nice. She's a very nice and very beautiful girl, and I am happy to be with her. She makes me smile..... a lot. Ok, that's enough of that.
Secondly, I watched "Company" tonight on PBS. I recorded it, and got home to catch the tail end of Act I and all of Act II. I have a few things to say:

1) Good God. I love this show.
2) Good God. Raul Esparza is fucking amazing.
3) The last two things are things I already knew, but it was nice to be reminded.
4) I almost cried at the finale. Both at the end of "Being Alive" and the legit last scene.
5) The actress who played Marta was a fucking ham, and I dislike her.
6) I fucking hate the fact that PBS is required to censor a piece of art like this.
"Shit" shouldn't have to be censored.
7) I need to buy the DVD.

V-Day!

Ah, Valentine's Day. So terribly awkward for new relationships.
It was nice today though. I gave Ana a valentine and four vouchers to see a movie with me at the alamo. Also a bar of 87% dark chocolate. I don't know how she can eat the stuff, but she says she likes the darkest kinds of chocolate. She gave me a valentine, which I was not expecting at all but it was really nice and the message inside was extremely cute. I am such a sap for this girl.

If you were wondering, the picture above is from "Friday Night Lights" which I decided to watch today, and haven't watched in about a month. The scene was in a movie theatre and that is ME in the red circle, bitches. I know it's blurry. I know it's only for about five seconds. But it's more network airtime than anyone I personally know has ever gotten so..............BOO-YAH! It feels good. All that time. Probably over 60 hours of filming time this season, and those five, blurry seconds make it all worth it because there are hundreds of others who never get that out of the same amount of work.

News!

The writers strike is OVER!

Hoo-rah!

Good News:

Lost, The Office, 30 Rock. All either coming back for the season, or having a complete season.
Cavemen, Carpoolers. Completely dead! Hoo-ray!

Bad News:

Scrubs might or might not have its final episodes aired. They might just be straight to DVD.
Friday Night Lights returning is looking VERY doubtful. The series always got great reviews, but never got the ratings it needed.

I love the way John Stewart is handling the writers being back.

Girl!

I had class today.
I find myself liking my T.V. Production class more and more every week. It's awesome.
Went over to Ana's apartment today and we watched the majority of the first disc of Arrested Development. It's been awhile since I have seen it, so it was great. Then, after TV Prod I picked her up and we went to Kirby Lane Cafe. Good times all around.
I find myself smiling a lot for seemingly no reason.
I like it. It's been awhile since I have felt butterflies.

I think I may be repeating pictures, but if I don't remember posting it it feels like a new one to me.

Harumph!

Today was shit.
I woke up feeling really crappy and I almost called out, when I realized that I called out LAST sunday and that would not be cool. Work was bleh, and I felt like crap the whole day. On the drive home, I started experiencing acid reflux and now it's full blown heart burn. Ugh. Thankfully I still have some nexium trials left from when I was deathly ill at CCSU. So that will hopefully make things better. Mom should be home at 11-ish.
Hopefully seeing Ana tomorrow because she doesn't have work. I need some good news.

Actually, on that note. The good news note, not the Ana note which, by the way, is going very well. The Writer's Strike is apparently over! They should be back at their desks on Wednesday!
Also, I was wearing my FNL shirt today at work and one of the fucking STARS of the show came in. It was the albino looking guy. I forget his characters name. Kind of embarrassing seeing as how I was wearing a FNL shirt, but we talked for a little bit when I was ringing him out. I told him I'm an extra and I was wondering if he had heard anything about when they are going to start filming again. Pretty nice guy. Pretty nice guy.

Film!

Today was a me day, which I always enjoy. I sat around, cleaned the last bits of the house for when my mom comes home. I also watched "Jarhead" and "The Nines".
"Jarhead" was really good. I don't think it really brought anything new to the genre, but it was nice to see a modern day "Platoon".
"The Nines" was very interesting. Am I the only person who actually likes Ryan Reynolds? If you're a critic, you should check out this movie. A nice little head trip that doesn't end in a terribly depressing way.
My mom is adorable. She just called and we talked for awhile. She brought up the apartment thing and asked what people on Craig's List meant when they said "420 friendly". I was cracking up. THEN she asked over my laughter if it meant "something about being gay". I could not control myself. It was ridiculous.

Damn!

So either the Drafthouse decided not to update their ticket availability until 5. Or, a bunch of losers faster than me got the tickets to the sneak peek of "Semi-Pro". God damn it.
Oh well. Life finds a way.

Hooray!

So all of the sudden I remembered something. Fished around in my car for a bit.
Came out with two AMC gift cards from this summer in CT that my mom had sent me then which i hadn't used.
All in all, $28. So I am going to be paying a grand total of $2 or $3 for 5 Best Picture nominees and free popcorn and soda.
WIN.

Monies!

Concerning the monies........I have pretty much none.
My credit is at it's limit because of the gas from this month and due to text books. So I am MORE than happy that mi madre is coming home sunday to pay all that off.
THEN.
I am going to try my damnedest to get tickets to a sneak preview of "Semi-Pro" at the Drafthouse because (drumroll)........................fucking WILL FERREL is going to BE THERE.
FUCK.
In addition to whatever the ticket price is, everyone in attendance has to be wearing a Florida Tropics team uniform which you can either make or purchase. Apparently they are going to take a group picture of everyone in uniform with Will in a group shot.
Awesome.
THEN.
On the 23rd AMC theatres is having a screening of all 5 of the Best Picture nominees in one day. $30 and you get five movies, unlimited popcorn and soda. Fucking win.

I got my U.S. History II test back. I got 100% on the multiple choice. The essay I got a 5/10 on.
So I got 30/35. So a B. Better than I was expecting so.........eh.

Post! Get it?!

I put up two posters today and I don't know how I feel about them.
One is "There Will Be Blood" which is awesome. It's not the one of Daniel Day-Lewis' face that you see everywhere. It looks almost like a bible, it's really cool.
The other is "Iron Man" which came out of a magazine so it has those perma-creases through it. It's shiny, which is cool but it is made of the same kind of material that bags that hold magazines are made of, so it's kind of............wrinkly? Kinda cool. But kinda ......... wrinkly.
Yea.
They are also kind of crooked, so that does not help.

In other news, they had a montage of fight clips at the end of "The Daily Show" between John Stewart/Stephen Colbert/Conan O'Brian. It was AWESOME.

Jew!

So, today I met Ana before class at this place called Manny Hatten's. It's this legit New York deli, they even get cheesecake shipped daily from Carnegie Deli in NYC. And I ordered LOX!! I felt so Jewish! It was awesome. It tasted alright. Like a huge "Philadelphia roll" sushi, but with bagel instead of rice. I wouldn't eat it all the time, but it is a nice way to get fish into my diet every now and again.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk about this, but I am now LOVING the feud going on between Conan O'Brien and John Stewart/Stephen Colbert. Conan came on both programs last night demanding to fight the both of them and it was utter hilarity. John Stewart is such a small man. Anyway, I loved it and I think it is great that late night shows are kind of banding together to get through this (hopefully) last stretch of the writers strike.

Test!

So, I had my first test of the semester in U.S. History II.
It was not terrible. The majority of it was scantron, which I have not done in years and makes me feel like I am back in high school. One essay at the end. I may not like the teacher, but she provides thorough notes and a detailed study guide for each exam. Also, thankfully at ACC the exams are not cumulative so you only get tested on things that you have just learned. I think I got at least a B, which is an awesome feeling for me because I am usually terrible at history and last semester with Bill Cosby really put my confidence in the dumps for academic classes. I feel like this semester is going to go really well.
T.V. Production went well. Talked to Richie for a few seconds. Pretty much the standard, "I'm ok with you now, just don't mess up or I will kill you." big brother stuff. Should not be a problem. Presented my treatment to the class. I call in "Newsworthy". And it is pretty much just a montage of breaking news stories from the century, which will hopefully juxtapose what is considered newsworthy now-a-days to way-back-when. I am already happy with it. It's going to be a challenge to get it all filmed live, but it should be fine.

P.S. - I have had many funny images on this Blog, but I think todays really takes the cake.

Vomitorium!

And no, I don't mean the passageways underneath a stage.
I called in today because I woke up and ran to the bathroom and.......yea.
Work wasn't too happy, but hey, neither am I. Also, I barely work anymore anyway so my paycheck is going to suck a little extra next time. Great.
Mom called last night to check in. She'll be home next Sunday, which I am happy for. Apparently she's bringing Toby which is awesome. I miss my puppy. I awkwardly told her how badly I need to move out. I mean, I am spending around $300 a month on gas alone. That is stupid. Criminally so. Then I told her that I need to expedite getting my new computer because my fucking HP just decided to give up on making the CD-R work. Wonderful.

Let's do a tech recap:
- My Ipod won't sync so I have been burning CD's.
- My computer won't burn CD's so ...... I am fucked pretty much. And it's not that it won't burn CD's. I could get over that. It won't PLAY CD's either. So Samantha at work burned me a copy of Photoshop CS3 and it is worthless because I can't get it installed on the damn computer. ARG!

Today, I did my studying for U.S. History II. We'll see.
I watched "Network" and "Easy Rider". AFI's #64 and #84 respectably.
"Network" was great. Old, but a lot of it's ideas were still really fresh which, honestly, is not a good thing.
"Easy Rider" confused the shit out of me. It felt like a high school kid filmed it. I really liked Jack Nicholson in it, but the rest seemed to be "WERE HIPPIES AND NO ONE UNDERSTANDS US! SMOKE WEED! BUY AND SELL COKE AND THAT'S IT!" Like if "Blow" wasn't interesting.

Point!

Worked today.
Came home and didn't really feel good, So I just laid down and watched "An Inconvenient Truth".
Pretty good. It's pretty much just a really long powerpoint presentation. With a bunch of scenes of how great Al Gore is. It really put him on a pedestal, which I don't really get because the movie is not supposed to be about him but rather the environment. When it focused on the environment, it really shined and had a lot of really eye-opening graphics and photos. Especially the pictures of glaciers decades apart. When it talked about Gore, I was very bored. I know he was robbed of the presidency. I know he's a pretty good guy. I don't care enough about him to watch a whole movie.
Work tomorrow. Blarg.
I have to study for U.S. History II. I have a test monday.
Blarg times two.

Wow!

So...............


Ok, I realize that I start pretty much every entry with "So,", and I am pretty sure I have addressed this concern before but I now realize I don't really care.

So, I went downtown to see "No Country for Old Men" with Ana. She recommended that we pre-purchase the tickets because it is Oscar season, but I told her not to worry because these movies have been out for months and everyone has seen them already. WRONG. Apparently no one gives a shit about good film until some old crotchety men tell them what is good. That is lame. And the movie was sold out. My bad. So we went north to the arboretum and got tickets for a later show at a different theatre. Ana was hungry, so we went to the Cheesecake Factory and it was packed and ridiculous so we left. We then traveled to Amy's Ice cream, got in line and were next when we realized that they didn't take cards and neither of us had any cash. What kind of legitimate business these days does not accept cards? I always get confused when people come into Border's and ask "Is credit ok?" Anyway. We decided to walk and talk for awhile instead and wandered into Barnes and (Sorry "&") Noble and got some stuff at the Starbucks there. I found that we have a lot in common. Almost too much. Not too much, but almost. That's a joke, by the way. But in Starbucks I told her how my new thing was seeing the AFI top 100 films and she said, "What?" And I replied, "Oh, The American Film Institute issues a list of the 100 greatest films of all time." And she opened her purse and pulled that list out. That is awesome. That is determination. So, I had a little nerd-gasm. Not going to lie.

We saw the movie. It was great.
And that was pretty much the end of the night.
I had a great time and I think she did too, so hopefully another movie night is in the near future.
Side note: I have a T.A. in my TV Production class. This guy Richie. Really cool guy and I get along with him fine. Which apparently is a good thing because he is Ana's brother. That could make things awkward, but I'm not planning on it. Anyway, he's a cool guy and I might be seeing more of him.

Feb!

So, this month was supposed to start with real-life Pokemans. But my harddrive likes to just randomly delete jpegs. Which is .......... you know........great. So random pics it is. Like this one from Adult Swim's "Darkplace"!

Yesterday I had theatre class and the auditions for "Much Ado About Nothing". The auditions were kind of meh. I read a scene with some girl for maybe 45 seconds and that was that. So, i dunno. Doing Shakespeare would be a good mix up for me, but if I don't get in I won't be upset. I had time to kill before the audition so I went to the Drafthouse and saw "Teeth".
Yea.
The trailer really confused me, because it was clear what was happening but it was still kind of funny. And that's pretty much the whole movie. A "Such-a-dark-comedy-that-sometimes-its-not-funny-comedy".
Yea.
Good. Amusing. Not really worth seeing in theatres.
I really liked Matt from Nip/Tuck in it though.

Today I watched "Goodfellas".
Fucking great. I understand the whole Scorsese thing now.
Good movie.

Unacceptable!

So, I printed off the AFI Top 100 movie list and came to the conclusion that I have only seen 32/100 of what AFI considers to be the greatest 100 movies ever made.


This is unacceptable, and while I am not looking forward to watching a lot of old westerns and war movies I have decided I have no choice but to sit through them all.
Thus starts a new chapter in the Utter Brilliance novel....and strangely enough "Goodfellas" just came in the mail from Blockbuster which is #92. So after watching that, I will only have 67 movies left! Yay!

Auditions for "Much Ado About Nothing" today.

Also!
Today is the last day of "Pictures Starring Me!" Month. I'm sure you all enjoyed me as much as I did, but all good things must come to an end.

So Say We All!

I went over to Luis' yesterday and we watched a disc of Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.5
I can not stress what a finely tuned show that is. Sure it's backdrop is humans fighting against robots, but in most of the episodes that is the least important thing going on. The writers also seem to make it a habit of making emotional moments in that show.............real. You can almost taste the emotion. Which says volumes about the actors, but I really think that it is the writing and some of the camera work. It's the one show where you really don't know what is going to happen next, not in a "Lost, crazy stuff happens because the island is weird way" but in a "Hey, these are human beings in dire situations, who knows what will happen" way. A+++

I was going to audtion for "Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil" when I realized that there is AT MOST one white role and that it usually is played by someone in their 30's. I might go today just for shits and giggles. Friday I am going to see a movie with Ana, this girl in my intro to theatre class. So................yea. We'll see about that.

Ugh!

This rule of thumb for movies I rent that I think are crappy turning out to be actually quite good also goes the opposite way.

I hung out with Luis last night and we rented "Rescue Dawn." Starring Christian Bale and Steve Zahn, I was really looking forward to this movie. Pretty much a Vietnamese version of "The Great Escape."
THE WORST MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN.
Honestly.
The whole thing felt like the most contrived piece of shit ever filmed.
I honestly can't describe to you how terrible it was, but my face hurt by the end because for the last 20 minutes of the movie, I was scowling with all of my might trying in vain to find some kind of connection between the jumble of shots that apparently are supposed to form some sort of narrative.

Ugh.

Creepy!

So the world has conspired to make every movie I watch from now on.............. pretty damn good.
I watched "Hairspray" today.
"Hairspray".
The one with John Travolta in a fat suit.
And I found myself smiling through most of the movie.
What?!
It was really fun. Which, I know, seems to be the word of the week with me but it is 100% true. The only parts that annoyed me were when Amanda Bynes was on screen, but I think that just stems from my disgust with everything that she does. John Travolta was........ clearly John Travolta in a female fat suit, but it worked. Zac Efron was adorable and has a great voice (I still am not moved enough to see High School Musical). Christopher Walken was patently ridiculous. I forget the actors name, but the actor who playes Seaweed was PHENOMENAL. He has such talent. Queen Latifa was her lovable self as always. James Marsden was awesome, and I think maybe Corny Collins is on my "Characters I want to Play at some Point" list. And last, but not least, Nikki Blonski(sp?) was great. I have never seen the show, but her performance alone would have made me want to go see the show. Although her character was like seeing a Bizarro version of a girl I know.
That's that.

Also, I lent "The Ultimates" and "The Ultimates 2" from Borders and read through them in a day they were so good. It's basically the Ultimate Universe's version of the Avengers. Spoilers are ahead in a list of things that made me giddy:

-The Army beating up Bruce Banner to turn him into the Hulk to use against invading forces. That not working. Them throwing him out of the helicopter without a parachute. Him hitting the ground in a massive thud. Nick Fury saying, "That didn't sound like a 95 pound scientist hitting the ground." Hulk Smash.

-Hawkeye being tied up. Ripping his fingernails off and using them as projectiles to kill a room full of armed guards.

-Hulk putting his fist through the Abominations head.

-Captain America fighting his nemesis from WWII. Asked if he wants to give up. Fights back. Screams, "What do you think the A stands for? FRANCE!?" Delivers killing blow.

-Hank Pym being a wife beater and a genuinely terrible person.

Confusion!

So, I keep renting these movies expecting them to be total shit and I keep getting surprised!

I watched "TMNT" today.
Maybe I am just getting soft, but I really enjoyed it. It really kept the attitude of the original flicks and was more of a sequel than a retelling, which i think was a great idea. I sort of wish that Shredder had made some sort of appearance (other than the hint at the end that said "GIVE US MONEY TO MAKE A SEQUEL AND SHREDDER WILL BE IN IT WE SWEAR!"). And it was kind of bizarre to get over the extremely "Ghostbuster"-ish feel of the whole film. But it worked. And while the animation never got as much detail as something from Pixar, the style worked. I especially enjoyed the fight scene between Raphael and Leonardo on the rainy roof lit by a red neon sign. Looked very sharp. Anyway that is all. Go watch it. It's not great, but it's fun.

Which unless I'm missing something, is the only reason the Turtles exist.

New!

So, I watched "Black Snake Moan" today and I have to say: Bravo.
It really is a great movie. I mean, it's no cinematic masterpiece but I went into that movie expecting some shit movie and I got a good movie..............with a lot of Christina Ricci's breasticles.
Like......... a lot. I'm not complaining...........but.............yea.
Anyway, it's a good-un. Rented "Zodiac" because I want to see more of Robert Downey Jr.'s work. Especially with "Iron Man" coming up.

That is all.

Again!

I forgot to post this:

I saw "No Country for Old Men."
Good God.
It is not right that "There Will Be Blood" and this movie came out so close together. Not only does it make it almost impossible for me to say which is better, but it also makes them terrible competitors for Oscar season. Movies like this usually are made decades apart from eachother. Go see them.

Ugh!

Wow.
So yesterday, I went out with Heather and a few of her friends and got more plastered than I have ever been. To the point of vomiting (back at home, not at the bar or in the street) and, yes, even to the point of "blacking out". Having literally no recollection between leaving the last bar and walking into Heather's kitchen is the most bizarre feeling. I totally feel for people with amnesia. That must feel terrible. So yea, fun night followed by not so fun late night followed by day of feeling like I was going to puke more. It was worth it. Next time I am staying away from the Yager (just the shot not a JAGER-BOMB. Not now chief I'm in the fuckin zone). I think that's what turned the tides of my brain and stomach. Oy.
So Heath Ledger is dead.
Wow.
How does that happen? Heather and I talked about how all of the celebrities that you don't expect things to happen to are just dropping like flies. Owen Wilson slits his wrists? What? Heath Ledger apparently overdosed on sleeping meds? Wha? Does it make me a bad person that when I heard that he kicked the bucket the first thing that came to mind was : Jesus.........................................I sure hope they were done production on The Dark Knight?
No offense, but I have been waiting for that movie and one persons death is not going to fuck that up for me.

RIP

P.S. I was feeling fine when this picture was taken, but it is exactly how I feel right now.

One More Day!

Today was nice.
I drank a whole shit load of tea (the tea box my mom gave me for christmas has, like, bottomless slots for tea and I can't seem to ever hit the bottom of "Banana Caramel", which is pretty much the best flavor of tea ever invented.)
Had some soup, a sandwich, some grapes and watched "The Bourne Ultimatum". It was pretty much the best finale to any film trilogy I have ever seen. It wrapped up the whole picture in a nice package, but left it open to the imagination (and possible sequels). Thrilling, adrenaline pumped movie. Very good work.

Found a cool website where I made "Fidelity" by Regina Spektor my ringtone. Bill is right every now and again. Regina Spektor is not only one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, she is also the most talented. Her songs are amazing. Go download everything she has ever done.
Spent some time on the net, getting some coolio pics for the blogosphere. As you know, January is "Pictures that have me in them" month. But February is looking to have some exciting posts. I'm excited for "Real-life Pokemon" week, and so should you.
Also on the blog front. I have been checking hits, and a few months ago where I would have been happy with getting up to 9 hits a day, lately I have been getting upwards to 28 hits a day. That is just awesome to me. Especially the fact that most of them are coming from inside austin. Cool Cool Cool.

Day!

So, today is a lazy day.
I am still pretty sick, so its good that I have the day off.
I'm doing reading for classes, and watching some movie that I have not rented yet.
I went to the Drafthouse with Luis last night and saw "Cassandra's Dream", the new Woody Allen movie. It was Golden Corral certified average on all levels. There wasn't one scene that I was amazed by. Nothing terrible, but nothing great either. Very mediocre storytelling.

Golden Corral.

I am really enjoying hanging out with Luis. He's really funny and we have a lot in common (mainly movies). So that's good.
Class tomorrow, then hanging out with Heather.

P.S. This photo was taken on Halloween. That's me as the Joker and random strangers as The Riddler, Poison Ivy, Robin and Batman.

Michaels!

So, the Ian Black/Showalter ...........show was tonight.
I can't describe how funny these guys were. The only proper way of showing how funny they were is this: people who know me, or have seen a show/movie/funny happening know that when I think something is funny..........I laugh. I have no control over it. And most of the time, that laughter is fucking loud. Let me just say this...........my voice is shot from laughing so much at that fucking show. Did it suck standing for oh.... 4 hours? Yes. Did it make it worse that it is like 30 degrees outside and the show took place outdoors in a tent with 3 space heaters for 2 or 3 hundred people? God yes.




Was it worth it?
You betcha.



P.S. - Also, the way they acted during the slight time they had on stage together reminded me so much of the way Bill and I act, that I am now going to start writing down shit that I think is funny and try to make a stand-up routine from it. Kind of a pipe dream, I know but no less of a pipe dream than being a successful actor for stage or screen, so what the hell?

Zowie!

So, apparently this is my month of "do awesome shit that you can pretty much only do in Austin."

Last week I saw "Napoleon Dynamite" with Bill and met Jon Gries (Uncle Rico).

Yesterday I saw a free preview screening of "There Will Be Blood" which was a fucking trip. It was one of those movies that, while watching it, you forget that it is entertainment or that it is a movie at all and afterward recognize it for truly being a FILM. The word movie can apply to anything from "Alvin and the Chipmunks" to something like "Wedding Crashers" but a FILM is something truly epic. It was great. See it. Daniel Day Lewis will make you shit yourself.

Today I saw a free preview screening of "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show" at the Drafthouse and Vince Vaughn's sister (apparently she produced or something) and one of the main comedians, Sebastian was there for a Q&A after the show. As if Vince Vaughn was not already one of my most liked celebrities, he has to make a movie where he takes four relatively unknown comics on a 30 day/30 city tour, pretty much handing them a career in the process. It was very funny and it had a great heart which was something I was not expecting, especially considering the only other tour movie I have seen was "Tourgasm w/ Dane Cook" and those guys are pretty much all pricks anyway. Very funny. If you love Vince Vaughn, you will love him more after this movie.

And tomorrow I am going to a club to see Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter of TV's "Stella" do stand-up. I am really fucking looking forward to it.

Plus, I am tempted to go to a screening of Uwe Boll's newest turd......movie. Just because he will be there himself for a Q&A and I am assuming it is going to be ruthless, because anyone who knows anything about film knows what a fucking douche Uwe Boll is. If you don't, just think of the movies "House of the Dead", "Blood Rayne" and the new "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale" and think of what kind of prick would actually try to make money creating such works of shit.

EDIT: I also got a free cap for going to the Vince Vaughn movie. I'm going to try wearing it around, because I am usually notorious for hating to wear hats but I feel like I am denying a whole world of accessories. It's a pretty nice cap too.

No!

So tonight was the last.
Bill goes home tomorrow in the morning.
Boo.
It was some good times, and I already can not wait until spring break.
Saw "Juno" today with Bill. It was his third time seeing it. I wasn't really blown away by it. It was good. Real good. Great performances. Epic writing, I think. Just not..............Ka-Boom. If that makes sense. I think the parts of the movie I enjoyed the most were the parts when it was like a regular movie and the parts I disliked were when it was trying to be so indie. I like independent movies, don't get me wrong. But "Garden State" is not the definition of independent. Having Zach Braff pick out his favorite songs on his Ipod Touch does not a soundtrack make. It felt like it was forcing the idea that this "was not your average comedy" sometimes. The last shot of the movie also made me want to blow my brains out.
Ok, so off the negative.
It has three of my favorite people in life in it.
-Jason Bateman: Awesome. From the previews and from the beginning of the movie I felt like it was just going to be more of the same from him, but seeing him as someone.....bad is not the right word here......dislikable was really great. I didn't think it was possible, but he made me not like him in that movie. I was able to get past his endearing smirk and his quick words and NOT like him.
-Michael Cera: Great. To be honest, I was expecting more of the same from him and I was delivered more of the same. A little more depth than George Michael from AD, but not too much. This is fine with me, I just hope he appreciates how good he has it. John Heder has done pretty much the same character in two movies and the world is already sick of him.
-J.K. Simmons: Loved him. Such a believable dad. So good.

School started today with a bang.
Honors Comp II was canceled due to low sign-ups. So awesome.
I have to find another comp class to take. I am thinking of waiting until next semester and taking Choir of something.
U.S. History II is going to be annoying. No more Bill Cosby, so I can't complain to much. But this lady is one of those very plain, large women who hide behind really, really lame comedy when they are feeling nervous being in front of a room full of judging, new faces. Ugh.
T.V. Production is going to be the diamond in the rough this semester. Pretty much all hands-on training with equipment. Awesome.

Alamo!

So, today Bill and I headed to San Antonio around noon.
It took a whole lot longer than I was expecting. We saw the Alamo, had lunch at 'The County Line' which was delicious bbq. Then we walked around San An for an hour or so. Went back to Austin. Went to Zen for dinner.
Then we went to Heather's house to watch "Friday Night Lights".
She was half an hour late.
But we saw the game that we filmed over two days, which made up an entire minute or so of footage. Didn't see either of us. Eh.

Good day.
Work tomorrow. Maybe Main Event after.

Hard!

So I went to work at 9-4.
Left Bill at the house to fend for himself.
Came home, we had pizza. Then we went downtown and saw "Walk Hard."
It was my second time seeing it, and I have to say I think it is the new generation's "Airplane."
A lot of the humor in this movie would make the Zucker's proud.

Uncle!

So Bill and I started off the day by going into Downtown Bastrop to mail my parents ..... mail to them.... yea. Ok. Then we went into Austin. Went up and down SoCo for a few hours. Had lunch at Zen, which is like a Japanese fast food place and it is awesome. Then went to the drag on Guadalupe, and the mall at Dobie to look at sweet comics. Went home. Fucked around. Went BACK into Austin. Went to the Alamo Ritz and saw "Napoleon Dynamite." Very funny. Hadn't seen it in awhile, so it was refreshing. Oh yea, I forgot to mention the fact that UNCLE FUCKING RICO WAS THERE! He had a brief Q&A before the movie. He was really nice. I asked him what his influences were for the character and he said it was a mix of Elvis and David Hasselhoff. Then when he was leaving before the movie, he walked past me and I said "Thanks" and he turned around and said "No problem, man." AND PATTED ME ON MY SHOULDER. It was awesome.

Let's tally up celebrity contacts, shall we?

-Patted on the shoulder by Jon Gries.
-Offered a handshake FROM Justin Long; accepted.
-Asked Michael Cerveris to turn around because he had a piece of lint on his head. Removed lint.

Good times.

So!

Bill is in town!
Hurrah!

I picked him up at the airport around noon, then we went to Circuit City and I got my new phone (Dark blue Chocolate from LG which I am in love with) and another 360 controller. Then hit up La Madeline, which is like a Panera that is french and a little nicer. Drove around Austin a bit, went to the Hyatt because as much as I hated working there, it is beautiful and everyone should see it. Then showed him Bastrop, which was not much to see.

Home:
-Hooked up the 360 to the large TV in the family room.
-Bill showed me his songs that I had already heard. (But you should check him out here.)
-Recorded a little blurb at the end of one of his songs where I sound like I have cerebral paulsey. -Went grocery shopping.
-Watched "Thumbsucker" which I had forgotten I had already seen. Good movie.

End of day.
More to come.

Buble!

So, I was on Michael Buble's website looking at concert tour dates.
(I am definitely going to try to get tickets for the Houston show.)
Then, I went on YouTube to watch his music video for "Feelin' Good" which was hilarious.
It has over 1 million hits, so I decided to look at the comments, where I re-learned why I hate the internet so much:

- "omg!!! my aunt is so upssed with him!!! she said shes going to be the last name of buble!!!!!!"

- "Is it me or did Buble just beat up three HOT chicks in this video and left them for dead in that factory to burn alive?!

BAD BUBLE...BAD BUBLE! Not very gentleman like of him!"

" its a freakin music video u tard"

-" his name should be michael adorable!!! he's reeking with talent."

Answer!

A: This month, all posts are accompanied by a picture of YOURS TRULY!! What a lucky reader you are.

Bill is in Texas in T-Minus 11 hours.
Met the Panzarino parentals tonight. Went to Hula Hut with them, Mark and Samarra(sp?). Then we went to this place called "Main Event." FYI, other than the Drafthouse, Main Event is now my most favorite place. It is basically like a grown-up Chuck-E-Cheese. After 9 or 10, all the kids have to leave and they have happy hour and stuff. There is bowling, lazer tag, an arcade, billiards, darts and MUCH MORE!! We bowled for a bit, then played shuffleboard.

FYI X 2!!
Shuffleboard is the most fun fucking game ever invented. It is awesome.
So much fun.
Def. taking Bill to that place.

Anyway, the night was really nice. To be honest, I was a little awkward because I was kind of hanging out with parents and two other people I have met once before. But they are such kind people, and I forgot how easily Mr. Panzarino makes me laugh. I think he had me "pound" fists, like 30 times tonight.

P.S. - I wish I could make convincing blood in Paint.net