The Talking Door Knob

Every opening door has a story to tell and this is one of those stories. I've spent the last 8 weeks, 50 days to be exact in a detention. Wait? I'm not in High School and even if I had been well my campus didn't have detention. No, I mean that I've spent the better part of the fall season on a film set for a up and coming movie about high school students (non-disclosed name of film). During this 50 Day period, I decided to compile a list of what I learned on set, what inspired me, what amused me, and what was just plain weird.

The 100 things I learned on the film set of (undisclosed):

1. How to drive a golf cart


No joke the first day, this is what I did for hours. I had never driven a golf cart before, because I've never had to, not being a golf player of any sort.  


2. How to type a call sheet

Typing over 80 words a minute, a useful and very sellable skill friends. 


3. Why I never want to be a door-to-door salesmen

Want to film in LA, please proceed to asking everyone within a far to wide distance in the summer heat if they have any concerns. 

4. How to make football helmets belong to a school

A sticker two finger spaces up from the little holes on either side of the helmet designates the spot for a school logo. According to one of our extras these helmets do not come painted...  

5. Making it Work, real fashion thing

When dressing a girl to look like Brittany Spears in Hit Me Baby, One more time, requires at least four things: a plaid skirt, a white collared shirt, white socks and black shoes. When that white collared shirt is a men shirt that is too big for said girl, a hair tie becomes extremely useful. Also the fact that I may or may not have previously in life dressed in this exact same fashion might have been useful. 

6. Red Bull is Expensive

7. Green Tape is not the same as Blue Tape

8. Almost all the smokers in the world work on movie sets (I could be assuming that one)

 9. How to use a ratchet strap

10. Basic math skills should not be underestimated as an important skill in life

11. Inflatable people look as real as real people

12. All stories are important, they give you context to people you're working with

13.  Drinking two water bottles on the drive home, helps you stay awake. Because no one falls asleep when they have to pee.

14. Being awake for 22 hours is easier than being awake for 36.

15. Never really believe anyone when they answer your question without making eye contact.

16. Not all fridges stay cold all night, when not plugged into a power source. So otter pops can take up to four days to freeze, in these conditions.

17.There are many different types of cigarettes: brands, blends, box colors, filters, etc.

18. For every one woman on set there are five men, which results in heavily influenced conversation amongst the women.

19. Fashion trends and hair styles are perception more than reality when you don't do any research.

20. If you aren't holding on when riding in a golf cart there is a 10% chance you could and will fall off and hurt yourself.

21. Pleasing other people is slightly overrated.

22. Lunch rooms are always going to feel like that moment in any high school movie when you have to decide what group you're in.

23. Anything you want to do is possible, as long as you figure out a way to do it.

The script supervisor on this movie told me her story about how she got into the business. Here it is: She was watching Men of Honor behind the scenes stuff and noticed a woman, with a binder, sitting near the director. She proceeded to look at the credits and figure out what that particular person did. She found her name and contacted her and asked her to teach her everything she did on set. And that was her story, seriously. No joke, who does that? 

24. When you're not getting paid, you should ask for free things without shame. 

25. Copiers and computers from 1982 don't like to print/ or copy more than 15 sheets at a time. (Also when a machine doesn't work you give it a different year of origin: 1982, 1965, 1973, 1992)

26. Coffee runs are better kept secret and slightly elitist in nature.

27. Doing stunts = half a day gone on 1/8 of a page

28. Taking a golf cart to a yogurt place three blocks away, not looked upon highly.

29. You will get blame for things that you pointed out where wrong to begin with.

30.Parking meters will take a credit card/ debit card for .50 cents for 15 minutes of parking.

31. Learn who your people are on set: create inside jokes, bring each other snacks and generally keep each other sane.

32. Sleeping for less than six hours is fine, unless you do it for 40 days and then you have to check your own heartbeat to  make sure you're not a zombie.

33. Making a music video is in fact, different than making a movie. 

34. Trying to do homework on set, is like trying to sleep in a nightclub.

35. There are 37 different types of sea lice.

I don't even really remember the context of this but if I did, I don't think it really is something I care to remember. 

36.  Shooting schedules are not suppose to be living documents, like the Constitution, but actually SUPPOSE to be pretty set in stone.

37. Following key players of a film set on Twitter is actually rather helpful because you immediately know when something bothers them, when they need something, or when someone else is lying to you.

38. Meals are as follows: Breakfast (when you get to work), first meal (6 hours in), second meal (12 hours), third meal (is possible and is at 18 hours into your work day).

39. Don't use vintage wardrobe pieces, they rip, tear and generally don't have a possibility for doubles.

This results in sending a poor PA to Melrose with a picture and a task to find a vintage jacket. Three hours later, that same PA, has no jacket and little energy for anything else.

40. Emails are a false form of communication, they indicate that you can't talk to a person who is standing next to you. Same goes for text messages and phone calls.

41. Not everyone in life learned how to make coffee, or copies.

42. When you bulldoze your house and set it on fire, it will burn for two days. 

43. If you fall asleep on set, there is a 87% chance someone is going to take a picture of you with their phone and post it to the internet: via twitter, facebook, etc.

44. When speaking about said film preface everything with, 'AS OF RIGHT NOW...', 'AT THIS MOMENT, THIS IS THE PLAN...', 'PLEASE NOTE THIS MIGHT CHANGE...'

45. Planet Star Claw.

46. It possibly takes 1 Producer, 1 Production Coordinator, 1 Locations Manager, 3 Art Department Peeps and several PAs to retrieve a chicken that has escaped.

47. If you're a PA, you are automatically considered a child. If you look older than a PA should, you are automatically not considered a PA.

48. Copier Toner has a sticker of tape on it that must be removed, otherwise it will melt inside the copier causing it to no longer work.

49. Water Melons can be not only filled with liquor but also with blood and guts when you need to blow something up.

50. Locking up means basically standing around and telling people what they should already know on a crew, but no one can be bothered with paying that much attention.

51. Second Meal between the hours of Midnight and 2AM is usually and almost always going to be pizza.

52. Fake Blood tints your hands for a little while.

53. There is a point where people aren't as charming as they once were... (Around Day 37 of a 33 Day Shoot for example)

54. Military Time after Midnight on the same day extends. So when it's 3 AM it's 27:00. Also interesting when adding increments of points they go up in 6 minutes. So 27.6 = 3:36AM.

55. Decisions are made by people who not only show up but also care.

56. When someone says "Welcome to.... We've been here for a while" after their third day, RUN.

57. Weather Reports are important. Partially Cloudy affects your entire day. Rain ruins everything. And sunshine makes you bitter when you're indoors.

58. A scene that is 1.2/8 of a page can and will take at least 6 days of shooting.

59. A 360 Stunt is not complicated. It involves an empty parking lot, water, some precision and a whole lot of confidence, guts and fearless sensibility.

This resulted from a conversation with Stunt Coordinator, where I explained that one of my life goals is to do that stunt when you're driving and suddenly pull a bitch (i.e. any movie with cars racing ever made) 

60. The charming uncle personality type exists in people who aren't your uncle. As does the teenage babysitter more interested in her boyfriend, and many other such stereotypical people.

61. When in a large sound stage and you have to walk to the back to turn off the lights in the middle of the night, be aware that you won't remember where that flat bed was until you slam your ankle into it.

62. Irish boys, easily distracted mid-conversation by another conversation.

63. When someone starts a conversation with an apology be aware they are going to ask you for something you can't really say no to, because it's not really a question so much as a plead for aid.

64. When you don't turn off the air conditioner, things freeze and the air conditioner stops working.

65. Crash mats = great beds.

66. Fire flames upward.

67. Details are important. Details make or break entire scenes.  

68. After countless nights of not sleeping, actually going to bed at a decent hour is unnatural and difficult.

69. There is a 97% chance that when walking into a conversation on a movie set, people will be talking about movies (shock right?)

70. Keying means when you plug in a headset to a walkie without turning it off resulting in whatever you say being heard by everyone with a walkie on, until someone takes pity on you or gets aggravated by your stupidity.

71. Keying is exceptionally easy on walkies that are broken, useless, and generally don't work.

72. People who work in prop houses enjoy themselves.

73. Drive-Thru Starbucks think you're playing a cruel joke when you order 19 drinks. They might even leave their mics on long enough for you to hear them say something rude about how you better damn well actually have money and be for real.

74. Mumbling indicates two things - 1. the person mumbling wants you to know they are peeved about something. 2. They are aware their thoughts might not be widely accepted.

75. Always get all the contact information for all the people responsible for paying you.

76. Knowing who was president in 1945 and 1865 is apparently weird. (FDR & Truman for 1945 depending on what time of the year we're talking and Lincoln & Johnson for 1865 for anyone who was wondering).

77. Arcade Fire, a band.

78. How to play Lacrosse.

79. Apples and honey are a way to celebrate the New Year in the Jewish faith.

80. Rosh Hashanah is Jewish New Year, and is celebrated in a variety of different ways including but not limited to fasting, prayer, and sharing of apples and honey.

81. Carrying gum is a sure fire way to become friends with certain people. Sort of like carrying lighters and cigarettes.

82. How to create a fake forest.

It involves many things that I am actually allergic to, which was awesome. 

83. Getting sick on set is only good because the Medic has everything.

84. Don't publish photos of an unreleased film, production 101.

You could get fired, for reals.

85. Do not use Mop n' Glo on high school gym floors.

You know when your friends started self tanning in high school and would come to class orange... that's what sort of happens to fancy floors with mop n' glo.  

 86. When purchasing water bottles for a crew (average 80 people) the math should be as follows - 80 people, working 16 hours, drinking at least 3 bottles = 12 flats of water (min) though I would go with 15 just in case and this is based on the idea that there are 20 bottles per flat. Otherwise you will run out of water at 5 AM. 

87. Things Change.

88. For a crew of 100, its takes 2 3-yard dumpsters a day to accommodate their waste

89. Call sheets are pointless as no one reads them anyway

90. How to take script notes

91. The difference between a production, electric and grip truck. Ok that's not entirely true, I really don't know the difference so much as I know who is a PA, Electric or Grip....

92. This is not so much what I learned as it is what I want everyone else to learn, high school is TWO words. At no point should we ever write highschool as one word because that is in fact, incorrect.

93. Wrestling mats can be invested by a fungus that grows from wrestler's sweat, if the mat is not cleaned and the wrestlers repeatedly slam into it for hours (because a shot is out of frame).

At least that is what I understood from a conversation I was eavesdropping on around 1 AM....

94. Grace on a movie set is not something involving prayer. But actually is a way to say "we're not going to lunch until we finish this, don't sue us."

95. The cooler that says "Ice Tea" is usually Lemonade, and the cooler that's not labeled is usually the "Ice Tea."

96. Always stand for your principles for your sake and the sake of others.

97. People notice how hard you work, really.

98. Sometimes a shared drink at dawn is the best thing.

99. Watch out for trees:

100. Common sense is in-common.

For anyone who was on this set with me, thank you all for being wonderful. And I hope you enjoyed my points!

Hugs.

Lesley

The Predicament of My Generation

Last night at an hour late enough to avoid blustering crowds and disengaged moviegoers, I sat down to watch  movie I think I've been excited about for months.

The Social Network, a film written by Aaron Sorkin (who for those of you that don't know, I slightly idealize as a screen writer, see West Wing or Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip). The reason I was excited was because of the writer, but also because it was going to be a movie about one of the essential components of my generation: Facebook.

Now some would say that the situation of my movie watching experience was ironic, or poetically justified in some way but I'm not sure I would agree. You see, that as soon as I sat down to a trailer of Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie (Looks like a modernized Hitchcock Film) I instantly noticed the row of 'older' teenagers sprawled in front of me in a group of about 8, each with their cell phones pulled out. I noticed the cell phones but also dismissed them because it was obviously only the trailers still and I realize that not everyone shares in my intense love for previews. But then the movie started and the resilient little lights of the screens didn't wavier for most of the movie, personally I think I ignored it well as there was no kicking of chairs or demanding of any sort. But how is it that these teenagers, on their phones (one even on facebook) didn't for a second consider the audience behind them, or even better the experience that they were tampering with by not even truly paying attention to the movie! Don't get me wrong, I on occasion pop my phone out (though not ever as blatantly) to check the time or dismiss a phone call during a movie. And at home, I sit on the computer and do things (check facebook) while watching any movie/ series/ or etc. But the a movie theater is about the experience of being immersed in the movie, is it so hard to be immersed without 3-D? Or killer HD graphics? That it is impossible to  not be involved with your cell phone during a film?

Leaving the teenagers that I successfully ignored enough to enjoy the movie, I want to describe my experience with The Social Network. Mr. Writer (as KChenowith calls him) did not disappoint. He is witty, intelligent and truthfully blessed in crafting words. The script had several moments that I loved, from the fast paced dialogue in the beginning that challenged you in a punk like matter to try to keep up with the rest of the movie itself. The acting of it was excellent. Justin Timberlake was impressive in his role, I almost forgot he was once a member of N'SYNC and a mousekeeter in his delivery of character.

I don't really want to talk so much about the aspects of the movie that made it enjoyable, because I think everyone should (who wants to) see it. But rather the deep feeling of connected memory that I had with relationship to the story unfolding on screen. The beginnings of facebook, the conversation about changing the profiles to add pictures. The idea of the digitial connected community that I am currently living as a reality. The movie social network may not be fact, but it is a realization of a moment that defined a part of my generation's character/ personality. Facebook, for better or worse, is a part of who we are as individuals and as a group. So however it actually got started, the importance is that it got started....

Wake me Up When September Ends

So the rest of the month of August and the whole month of September were lost on this blog due to unforeseen circumstances of my life being consumed wholly.

On that note, I would like to point out that I did indeed encounter quite a few muses that I will soon be writing about on here just not quite yet. But no worries, just as the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back, so I believe am I...

Headlines Don't Sell Papes!

Newsies Sell Papes!

On Wednesday August 4, 2010 one of my dreams came true. What was it? I got to see Newsies in a movie theater, with incredible sound and a screen the size of my house.  Only 18 years and 4 months after its original theatrical release, I finally got to watch one of my favorite movies of all time not only on the silver screen but also with a room full of newsies lovers (we are too old a cult to have a fancy name like twihards or potterheads...) AND with the added bonus of having Mr. Kenny Ortega (and choreographer), the editor: William Reylonds (I think), and set designer (not even close to being sure that person's name) and one last surprised to be discussed later! 

How did this come to pass, you may ask? Apparently the Disney Gods decided to acknowledge what I have often called their red headed step-child musical, the 1992 pre-cursor to the marvelous little telemusical you might have heard of 'High School Musical' (also Mr. Ortega's handiwork). D23 in collaboration with the Arclights is presenting classic disney films, which caught my eye immediately and when I scrolled through the list of titles my jaw dropped when I found Newsies. I seriously thought I was seeing things, projecting my hopes onto the computer screen with little belief that it was reality. But as the fates had it, Newsies was indeed being brought out and dusted off for the public. Once I came to my senses about it, I dove into finding which one of my old friends, my dearest kindred spirits would join me for our giddy reunion with dancing Christian Bale. 

In this process I realized two things: (1) somewhere in our 18 year love affair with dancing newsboys, we developed lives and commitments which stop us from going to events and (2) you NEVER stop carrying the banner, once a newsies lover = always a newsies lover. Long story short, I ended up at the movie by myself. But before this happened, it was released by Arclight and by D23 on Twitter that Kenny Ortega was going to be at the screening and giving  a Q & A. The fangirl in me was beyond giddy about this prospect, I might mention here that I have meet 7 Newsies in life. At some point during Sophomore year of high school I might have established a goal to meet most if not all important components of the movie itself. So this was one step closer to a goal that I had completely forgotten about. 

Kenny Ortega pointing out crew members

Moving along, I sat in a row next to four empty seats and as Newsie fate would have it next to a lovely fan that had come to see the movie by herself when she realized as sadly as I had that people had lives. A D23 rep, named John I believe, went up and introduced the movie to us and led a little trivia session of 6 questions (that were slightly easy and not related enough to Newsies in my opinion) and gave away things. A few certain Newsies posters with Ortega signatures were handed out like candy that I wasn't allowed to have (not that I'm bitter, except maybe I am). Kenny also came up and introduced the film and answered a few questions. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed that the questions weren't particularly new to me. I knew the answers, because well I was (am, whatever) attached to this movie. I have watched it with the audio commentary on DVD, I owned it on VHS, I am part of its huge online following... etc, etc, etc. So the questions were about how hard it was to teach the boys to dance, and how it was to work with Christian Bale, and where the idea had come from. I did learn that Kenny's favorite musical is Oliver, which was new! I giggled a bit when John asked how Kenny felt having worked on what could only be described as a cyber cult classic. I loved it when Kenny asked if anyone who had worked on the film had joined us and was genuinely excited to see some of his old crew members (editor, set designer, a few others) and their families. 

The introduction finished and the movie started. The movie that I won't deconstruct, that I won't bore you with my eternal love for the pelvic thrust and spit handshake. I will say, that even for someone who can quote the film and possibly even dance along too, it was a whole new experience. The sound was completely throwing me off... I could hear EVERYTHING! Background comments from actors, and snide remarks from passerbyers and it was like seeing a different movie. I could focus on this, because I won't even admit to the amount of times that I've seen the movie. Also just the sheer size of the picture, awesome. Audience participation was a new element too, people sang, people quoted and people were generally EXCITED. It wasn't someone just indulging my love for the movie, it was a room of fans. Not a better way to see a movie. 

At the end, I had made friends with my fellow single watcher and we discussed talking to Kenny/ taking a picture. We settled on picture taking and made friends with someone else in the lobby that we made a deal take one picture for another picture. It was harder than it might seem to get our picture, as I said Kenny was super excited to see old crew members. So I stood next to him for a while, listening to him catch up. I found out that he loves The Counter, a hamburger place in Los Angeles (with other locations). I also discovered he is currently signed on to a new project 'Into the Heights' a musical coming to the silver screen. It was amusing to him discuss how Newsies was his best foundation for 'Into the Heights'. Then the crew member (I really wasn't sure who he had been) and him starting talking about how even today when they get jobs, sometimes when people see their Newsies credit they only want to talk about the little musical. At this point three things happened, Kenny's mother motioned for me to push in and try to get a picture. A dancer from the film said a quick hello and a young lady tapped Kenny on the shoulder, a very familiar looking young lady. 

Ele Keats & Kenny Ortega

Ele Keats was standing right next to me and I hadn't noticed until I stared at her face. My new friend was pointing and mouthing that's Sarah, and I suddenly was confused. As any Jack Kelly girl, I was never a big fan of Sarah Jacobs. I never sought her out or expected to meet her but here she was totally excited to see Kenny and interacting with fans. The two talked about how great it was to see Newsies again and Ele commented that even after all this time, it's still a great movie. Point of all this, is I loved my wait time for my picture. I got a picture of Kenny Ortega and Ele Keats talking/ hugging and I got my picture with Kenny Ortega. It was wonderful evening and if you are in the greater LA area, you should think about checking out one of the classics showing at all three arclights. Also if you visit the Arclight in Pasadena check out the Storyboard, the large wall of posters next to the bar because its gorgegous and I actually named it!! And I think next month, there is going to be a little picture fittingly of me jumping up like a newsie sitting next to it! 

Also a warning, I have declared it is Adventure August so stay tune for more entertaining stories of exploring the world!

Class Notes: Manhood Puzzle

I decided that for the last five weeks of my current class, I was going to post notes from one or two articles/ readings a week. Why? I can hear the questions... well mostly because my note taking is like diving into a pile of narratives, with a guide. Don't believe me? See for yourselves, also maybe learn something new or enjoyable on the way....

The Manhood Puzzle (NOTES by Lesley) by David D. Gilmore 

• boys tested or indoctrinated before being awarded their manhood 



• Swing Kids: HJ indoctrinated. 




• All societies have male vs. female labels, few have a third - androgynous label but even the third have to make a life choice 




• House Episode: Born with both sexes, parents made choice 



• Most societies have an ideal for each sex, a psychic anchor used for individual perception and self esteem



• Think Super Models, and sports figures  



• Marlboro Man 



• There is a social science attitude that there are standard almost universal ideas and concepts ascribed to Men & Women 
• Gilmore is concerned with the Manhood universal



• That boys must attain a manhood, against odds because manhood is not a biological state that is grown into but an object that must be attained. 
• This concept is found everywhere, in all types of societies



• Interestingly women do not fight the same standard, their biological state as women is not tested. 


• On that note: Women who are deviant, usually called "unladylike" but their very gender role is not questioned. 


• Notice that when men were called out for their gender role - called equivalent of being female/ women like.



• Does point out that Women seek "femininity" to achieve social standing, but rarely involves a test or proofs with action 


• Not entire sure that I concur with this idea, it might be considered that women have a different type of test that is socially understood in a different manner. 



• Coming of Age for a female might be constructed in having to accept a husband, or learning how to do certain things. Might not it be considered that women are also pushed to grow into their gender role much earlier. 

• TESTS of MANHOOD a SURVEY 




• Turk Island, South Pacific 


• Avid fisherman, casting and diving in deep waters  
• Men encourage to take risks with their life, limbs 
• Think "manly" thoughts 



• Go on dangerous hunts in tiny boats, with shark infested waters. If don't go mocked for effeminate nature 
• On island weekends, boys go out to get into fights, drink and find sexual conquests. 



• Love in the Time of Cholera (Thinking of main character young Ariza, or even Becoming Jane (though focus on James Avery character, not Jane) 



• East Africa, tribes: Masai, Rendille, Jie and Samburu 


• Boys taken from mothers at birth 
• Circumcision at brink of adolescence, cannot cry out or even flinch during public ceremony


• if they do flinch, they are shamed - as is their entire lineage  
• after the process, if successful, taken out to the woods and taught the ways of manhood 
• Only after, are they considered men and allowed to take a wife. 



• Ethiopia: Amhara 


• wandant (passionate term for manhood) includes aggressiveness, stamina, courageous face in danger, never backing down to a threat. 
• young men forced into whipping contests, to prove their wand-ant 
• also to prove virility scar arms with hot embers.  
• aside from these proofs, a young man must on his wedding night wave a bloodied sheet of martial consummation to kinsmen 
• performances on battlefield and wedding bed, both must be proved. 



• Oddly what comes to mind is For Water, For Chocolate, which is a novel about a woman... but the same ideas come to mind. 



• New Guinea Highlands 



• boys torn from their mothers to forego brutal masculine rituals 



• include whipping, flailing, and terrorizing from older men 
• insist that men are made, not born 
• Parallels 



• These cultures once warrior types, rites of passage preparing for a idealized warrior lifestyle




• but not confined to militaristic societies only. 



• Bushman of Southwest Africa


• peaceful people, not violent 
• boys must track and kill full size antelope, before considered men and permitted to marry 
• Pueblo Indians: New Mexico 


• peaceful as well  
• between 12-15, taken to be purified and beaten by spirits (father's in disguise) 
• Must be made a man 


• note that women might have rites but not to make them a woman, that's a natural state that develops
• Not just primitive cultures - modern urban cultures too 



• machos of latin American cultures 
• manhood is  not mere maleness, it must be proved throughout cultures 



• England 



• boys taken at a young age to boarding schools, where the social grounds provided for a trail of becoming a man through being terrorized by older boys. 



• U.S. 



• boy scouts - making big men out of little boys



• Even Christ used to promote manhood  (at turn of century) 


• athletic, aggressive when necessary
• boys, faith, and gods had to be made masculine or there was doubt.  
• Bildungsroman - a strain of US literature, the ascension to the exalted status of manhood under guidance from elders (failure always a far off option).  


• See Hemingway, Norman Mailer



• Heroic image of achieved manhood being questioned in America, or is it?


• Images of Rambo, Hollywood westerners, gangs, etc. 
• Think about the selling of products to younger boys - 


• J.K Rowling, published her books under J.K. and not Joann because her publisher feared that boys would not read a story about a boy written by a woman 
• The recent trailer for Disney movie Tangled (originally Rapunzel) had its name changed, and the focus of the trailer is on the adventuring Finn (male main character) and not on the princess.... 

• Manhood and Gender Role 


• Frued - anatomy was destiny 
• Jung - developed universal features of "animus" and "anima" core of sexual identity 
• dualism in western philosophy and literature 



• men seek aggression because of their naturally aggressive
• Feminist revolution caused gender roles understanding to change 


• though even Frued and Jung recognized that each individual could have male and female traits within the person 
• sex (biological), gender (social) 
• Gender is a symbolic category 


• ascriptive and culturally relative 
• Sex rooted in anatomy


• constant 
• manhood affected by culture. 
• Previous Interpretations  


• masculine ideology justification for oppression of women (Marxist) 



• not true for societies were gender equality exist 
• Men worry about manhood because evolutionary predisposed to (reductionist #1) 



• again not all societies dependent on warrior/hunter societies
• Men everywhere defending against castration (reductionist #2) 
• Some Help from the Post-Freudians 


• all infants have a primary identity distinct from femininity, all children go through same trails at the beginning. 


• Boys must separate from mother - causing their lost of selves 
• While girl can remain close to mother- because that reinforces their roles. 


• post-freudians mens defense against the eternal child - not at being female-like but rather at being boyish. 
• Think One Fine Day.... the end of the trailer here in particular!
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  Hope you enjoy the videos! Not as much commentary for this one as I thought, but still interesting concepts !
  
  
  
  

Dancing Mops Premise?

A year ago when I read that Nicholas Cage was making a movie called the Sorcerer's Apprentice, I decided I wasn't interested. About the same time when I saw some of the props for the movie at D23, I was slightly doubting my rash decision of disinterest. Then a few months past where I was too excited about movies like New Moon, Sherlock Holmes, Princess and the Frog, Percy Jackson and so many others. I didn't think about the Sorcerer's Apprentice again until about three weeks ago when I saw a trailer for it. Suddenly, I was much more interested.

Trailers tend to do that to me, the short well-crafted three minute or less story sucks me in like gullible child. Though I am fully aware that 75% of the time, the trailer is just the best parts of the movie: the most exciting, the funniest lines, the wittiest dialogue and so on. I have a slight theory though that if a movie trailer can engage me in the overall plot, or emotionally connect me to a character in three minutes the likelihood that the movie will be able to do it too in 120 minutes is high. So the first time I saw the trailer I was suddenly more intrigued than I had been before. A movie slightly based on the sorcerer's apprentice short with mickey mouse in Fantasia might not be terrible after all. There is magic and by the looks of the three minute trailer awesome special effects. The one scene with the old car flipping through a water mirror and turning into a fancy sports car, that was almost enough to make me want to see what other kind of magic there would be. Every time I saw the trailer, my desire to see the movie increased until finally I knew I would be seeing it.

So last night, in search of adventure I ended up at a movie theater for the midnight showing of Sorcerer's Apprentice. It wasn't a busy midnight, honestly it reminded me of my days working at a movie theater when the employees would get together for a private screening. It was nice, to have an entire row to ourselves for the movie. The movie started in the past, setting up the foundation for the entire story beginning with Merlin and Morgana. End backstory and the audience is being introduced to the main character and his storyline, and yes that is the very thought I had as the opening credits started and the film transported us from 740 Britian to 2000 New York City. I don't want to give too much away about the movie itself becuase it already follows a rather predictable storyline so I leave it with the little surprises it might have. But I do want to talk about the magic of the movie itself.

Movie magic, in this case, means a few things. Firstly and naturally so, the special effects of the actual magic. I was in love with it, in awe with my suspensed disbelief, of sorcerer's being stuck in mirror worlds and others sinking into quick sand rugs. Something like a little silver dragon moving around with life, doesn't even seem that strange to me anymore. I blame Harry Potter, but I expect and anticapate the movement of inanimate objects and I believe it. Partially because it looks real, watch something like Harry Potter or even the Sorcerer's Apprentice and tell me if you don't believe that the dragon is moving on its own. Stop thinking about how you know its fake and a series of special effects that makes it happen, becuase honestly you are probably not really thinking about that until after the movie is over. When you're watching it, you accept it not just because you knew it was going to happen in a movie about magic but because it LOOKS real.

The secondary movie magic that I want to talk about is the elements of music in the movie and creation of memorable scenes. There isn't tons of music in Sorcerer's Apprentice, but the music that is used is just perfectly fit into the scenes. The purpose of music to a story is to increase it's emotional bond to its audience, to give more life to the narrative itself and it was achieved. Memorable scenes, though a few could be named, it would actually be the dancing mops scene that the movie was actually based on. Or at least what I thought the movie was based on. There was the classic music, the leaving of the master and the complete screw up of the apprentice while the mops were dancing about and it made me and friends giddy. The power of nostaglia should never be underestimated, it evokes emotional ties for everyone involved. Dancing mops and music by Paul Dukas brings up ties to either the animated version with Mickey Mouse, or maybe to the epic water show on the rivers of America (Fantasmatic anyone?) or a variety of other things. Every time I even hear the song I want to start waving my arms around like a conductor, so that's an engaging piece of music. Even if just the delight of this one scene, I would suggest everyone go see the movie.

But it's not just about the special effects or the memorable scene. Sorcerer's Apprentice proved to be light hearted and enjoyable, everything that I wanted it to be as a summer blockbuster type. It makes you laugh out loud and root for the good guys. One of my fellow adventurer's even went so far as to suggest it would be he's new inspiration movie because of the awesome magical ideas. So if you're looking for a magical fun adventure, this is your movie.

In 11 years you grow UP

I know that you're leaving 

You must have your reasons 

The seasons are calling...  

The steps that I retrace, 

the sad look on your face... 

And its happen once again, 

I'll turn to a friend

Someone that understands 

That sees through the master plan 

But everybody's gone  

And I've been here for too long 

to face this on my own... 

Well I guess this is growing up. 

- Blink 182: Damn It 

Blink has been with my for years, their songs have resonated through several moments in my life. But never once did I really think that this song would go hand in hand with what I felt about a Disney movie, but it did. Honestly I had forgotten that this song even existed, until about a month ago when a college graduating friend sang it acoustically on a ukulele during her own party. Yes, no joke on a ukulele. Since then I realized the words of the song were much more powerful today, in these moments of life than they were years ago when this song first was released. Damn It was actually Blink 182's first real success and hit single hitting the charts in 1997, when I had no idea the lyrics would ring true outside of the fictional break up that was being sung about. 

I was listening to the song again on Sunday morning of this week, three days after seeing the midnight showing of Toy Story 3 and the lyrics reminded me of the movie. Toy Story was released in 1995 just two years before this song became a commercial success, and Toy Story 2 hit theaters in 1999 just two years after. So it seems that Toy Story (and basically Pixar) have been in my life as long as Blink 182 has and it seems fitting that for this latest installment I relate the old song. Of course I adored the newest Toy Story as I always knew I would (though there was that scare there when Disney was trying to do the movie without the Pixar peeps). From the moment I saw the extended scene at D23 with the home videos of Andy playing with that awesome Space Cadet and lovable Cowboy I knew this movie was going to be a bundle of emotion. I was never disappointed.  

Its been 11 years since the last Toy Story film and the audience grew up just like Andy did. The setting has changed, the story has grown but our old toys are still waiting to tell their story. It was just as captivating, funny and impressive as the first. I couldn't help but wonder if the young boys behind me (one in his cowboy suit and hat) were as impressed by the movie as I was. I mean at a whole six years old those boys didn't know that back in my day, cartoons didn't look like the well crafted 3-D wonders they do today. Pixar's Toy Story was to my generation what Snow White was to the generations before, a moment when story telling was taken to a new and unbelievable level. The incredible feat though is that even after 15 years, I'm still impressed by Pixar. Each movie brings something new to the table, the colors, the details, the maginficant backdrops have even brought tears to my eyes (I know, I know, dork). I don't want to give to much away about the story but I do warn anyone over the age of 15, all my adult friends that you might tear up a few times. The themes in the life of Andy, in the life of the toys is parrallel to our lives and growing up is easy when you don't have to think about. 

You are going to laugh. You are going to cry. You are going to have your breath taken away. Because this is the stuff that our dreams were made of, and don't lie you all thought one day that your toys were having meetings when you weren't in the room. Those 11 years were well worth the wait, because this is a great ending to a love saga we've had with Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch Toy Story 2 again.

The Reward System

I visited my own blog today and felt a bit like a failure, it's been so very long since I've updated. Believe me it isn't like I haven't had plenty to say. What with every network trying to rip out my heart with their series finales, or with the summer blockbuster season starting, or with all the interesting things I've been studying. But sometimes time and focus escape me, and currently my poor laptop has decided to hate typing the letter "A" which deters me from typing as much out of annoyance. Seriously you never notice how many times you type "A" until it stops working and then you want to sort of stab the little key that won't work.

But I actually didn't decide to jump on here and write tonight on any of those topics that have distracted me of late. Today, I wanted to write about voting because well it was voting day! I should explain off the bat that I'm not going to go into some in depth discussion on my politics, no sir. I want to talk about voting and voting day because that's the heart of the matter. Truthfully when it comes down to it, I don't care who you voted for as long as you vote (at least on voting day anyway, other days I care quite a bit about who and what was voted for).

I spent most of my day excited about voting. I'm aware that it's slightly strange that my uncontrollable grin only gets wider as I drive to my polling place, or as I get my ballot, or as I color in my little arrow line. Getting my "I voted" sticker actually leads me to skip, yes skip friends. Because my little white oval sticker declares as I so graciously put it earlier to someone as a functioning, caring member of my society. And this is what I've been thinking about since Monday night actually, the voting sticker. It's the icing on my voting day excitement that provides me with a great sense of accomplishment. Not that voting itself doesn't give me some sense of accomplishment because it does, but the sticker that's what makes it real. Because after I got my sticker, I drove a friend to her polling place and then we went to Starbucks where I proceed to ask my local baristas if they had voted. I text a few friends and reminded them that it was voting day and that they should jaunt down to their polling areas. I was like a one grinning get the vote out crew, reminding everyone that you get a sticker! Honestly I don't know if its some residual sense of craving physical reward from school when you got stickers on your papers as a sign of a job well done. Or if I just like stickers and small free trinkets that declare accomplishment of some sort (I also collect the celebration buttons from Disneyland). But if that's true for me then it must be true for others, because I doubt that the great U.S of A makes all those stickers just for little old me (though if they do, awesome).

Might it be that everyone likes the stickers? Are we a society that needs the rewards? The proof that we are active citizens? Better yet isn't it wonderful to think that in this age of fancy technology of interactive gadgets and expensive toys, we can still gain a true sense of enjoyment from a little sticky piece of paper? Its like the lollipops that the Doctor use to give you after a shot, a little something for all the trouble. So if you didn't vote today, remember the next time that polls open that if you go out of your way and vote (maybe even go the extra mile and be read your ballot books) that after those difficult moments of helping the district, the state, and the country make decisions YOU get a STICKER!

May You Have a Strong Foundation

The newest show on NBC caught my attention originally for two reasons – it’s television spots (commercials) were pretty amusing and Lauren Graham was playing in the words of Entertainment Weekly yet another too young looking mother to a teenage daughter. Parenthood though is no carbon copy of Gilmore Girls, actually Parenthood is an interesting combination of ABC’s Modern Family and Brothers & Sisters.

8 episodes into the show and I have a completely formulated opinion, which really shouldn’t come to surprise anyone in particular I love the show. Any story that involves a dynamic family and quirky issues is my piece of cake. It followed the same adult sibling complexity of Brothers & Sisters, but it isn’t all drama because there are moments that are filled with a quirky humor that you can’t help but laugh at. The pilot episode sucked me in with a 45 minute storyline that made me laugh and cry all at once, possibly both several times back to back. Unlike Brothers & Sisters this isn’t a show solely focused on adult siblings and their dramatic and intertwined lives quite fittingly Parenthood is a narrative about being parents first, siblings second and individuals third. 

The world of Parenthood begins with second oldest adult sibling moving herself and her two children back to her hometown and into her parents house. Somewhere in the bay area is where the entire Braverman clan lives. The Grandparents, Camille and Zeek, thus far Camille comes off as a free spirit artsy type, while Zeek comes off as an over opinionated hard-ass.  There are four Braverman adult siblings, Adam the perfect older brother, Sarah the screw up middle sister, Crosby the slacker middle brother, and Julia the overachieving youngest sister. The siblings each have their own families, each a very different set of parents and children giving the audience a buffet variety of parenting styles and issues. 

Adam and his wife Kristina have two children, a teenage girl named Haddie and an elementary school aged boy named Max. Though this begins as the perfect white picket fence family, with the perfect older brother transitioned to the perfect husband and father it’s not all it seems. Even though at first I watched these characters and expected a dog to come running out into any scene, it’s anything but the family of Father Knows Best.

The centerpiece of the series is Sarah’s family, a single mother with a rebellious teenage daughter, Amber and an emotionally broken teenage son, Drew. Sarah is in her late thirties trying to piece her life back together and give her almost grown children a better future. Amber is almost like an antithesis to her cousin Haddie (at least it seems it) with her darker clothing, poorer performance in school and direct rebellion to authority. While Drew breaks my heart every time he has a scene, the young Miles Heizer really brings his character to life even if he doesn’t get as much screen time as the equally talented Mae Whitman (Amber). Lauren Graham (Sarah) brings a whole different type of mother daughter relationship to life than she did with Gilmore Girls.  Graham does turmoil and not all together just as well as she did on top of it fun mom.

Next would be Crosby, the carefree spirit and only sibling that never been married. But he suddenly discovers that he has a five-year-old son named Jabbar. Crosby’s parenting experience is him finally growing up with each moment he spends with his son. Also it brings to the screen a very different type of parenting relationship, as Jasmine the mother of Jabbar is unsure about how much she wants Crosby to be involved. 

The last family is Julia, Joel and Sydney. Julia is an over working successful lawyer and Joel is a stay-at-home dad. Sydney is a younger school aged that is clearly more attached to her father than her mother. Joel is a super-dad and Julia, the overachiever is having trouble bonding with her young daughter.

I have yet to decide which is my favorite though I might be leaning towards Crosby and Drew. Another great creation from Ron Howard who hasn’t let me down since Happy Days and Jason Katims one of the producers of Friday Night Lights (which if you scroll down to a few months ago you might remember I also adored). As if the subtle humor, the witty dialogue and the charisma of the characters and the talent that depicts each of them doesn’t draw you in the theme song should. It’s a rendition of Bob Dylan’s Stay Forever Young which is really just absurdly catchy. Don’t have time to watch yet something else on Tuesday Nights? Don’t worry it’s on Hulu and OnDemand, so go catch up on a great new television family.

All you need is love

About a month ago, during my introduction class to my new graduate studies program we had a discussion about love. The class being taught by a doctor of philosophy created a very real and open debate about what love is? What true love is? If love is passion or comfort? What soul mates are? Question, after question about the what is so constantly considered the essence of life. But each question brought no solid answer, no scientific proof, no declared formula. There was a consensus that love was painful and that romantic love is not the only type that exists.

During this discussion, I was struck with an idea about how love is represented in our media. More importantly how first love, passionate love, romantic love is represented. This idea came to mind because the night before I had seen Dear John. I have seen three of the five thus far released Nicholas Sparks movies, the ever popular Notebook, the heartbreaking musically driven Walk to Remember and the heart wrenching Dear John. In that moment I had a thought about how when watching those movies, any of them about love from the perspective of the male character was a different experience than watching/ reading things like Twilight or The Broken Hearts Club of Buenos Aires. The novels are about love, the movies are about love. They are about a romantic relationship but is there something to be said about the fact that seems that from a woman's perspective the love interest, the male is an ideal. He is a body of perfection, yes there is something underlying about him. Maybe something dark, or troubling but in general there is a awing sense of perfection. While when looking at the love in Nicholas Sparks work you see that the love interest isn't so much ideal but rather a bundle of crazy imperfection that makes her inescapable. It's a very different feel of characters when you really study it, but to delve further into this in all these tales of love it's never just about the couple. There is family and friends involved, relationships outside of the main relationship that somehow affect the characters by making them stronger, weaker, more complete.

I explain all this because that was the night that I decided I needed to read a Nicholas Sparks novel. Because here I was comparing it to other movies based on books, but I had read those books. A movie is a visual representation of what the book was, but it is by no means a replica of the voice of the author. The experience of reading the original story is never the same as watching how a team of people envisioned the story. Don't get me wrong, I love it when movies are made out of my favorite books. Love it. Because it's a different variation of a story I already love, but I love both stories as different parts of the same cake. That night the decision was made and then I spent a few weeks trying to decide which book I wanted to read, I decided that I would read The Last Song before it came out on the big screen next week. It's a movie that I was hoping to see anyway, so added bonus figuring out if I liked the story. 

Before starting the novel I already knew that Nicholas Sparks might be well considered the Thomas Kinkade of love story novels. What does this mean? Thomas Kinkade has been described to me as a painter who figured out a way to do light paintings really well and just keeps doing that over and over again. It doesn't make his paintings any more or less wonderful to look at, it's just a techinque really. Nicholas Sparks has found a way to craft a story, I knew there was going to be a passionate love and I knew there was going to be a gut wrenching saddness. It's just the story he writes, at least that I have experience with, and he does it well so I knew what to expect.

An addict of the written word isn't even enough of a description for my distinct problem with starting a book and not being able to put it down. I started The Last Song last night at 1 AM and I finished it this morning at 10 AM. I cried from the hours of about 6AM to 9 AM for the end of the story. Around chapter 4, I knew things were going to sad in the end though I couldn't decide what the saddness was going to be I did make a deal with the book. I could take it if it was one character, I wouldn't be able to take it if it was a different character. I really don't want to give to much away, but it turns out that it was just as hard with the character I had decided I would be ok with. It wasn't a story that hooked me because I needed to know what was going to happen, I always sort of knew how it was going to end. It was a story that keep me engaged because the characters were like friends with a really good story to tell. I realized that love stories are not about the complex writing or the outstanding narrative. They are about the passion, the emotion, the feeling that drives a reader to be engaged and involved. Last Song does not disappoint, it was everything I expected but that's what also made it so comfortable and great. I can't wait to see the movie, even though now I cry even at the trailer that I've watched twice today. I know I'm going to be hiding in the back of theatre just sobbing at the end but hey sometimes we need a good cry, right?


Last Song Trailer!

I would know you anywhere!

At this point, I've actually seen Alice in Wonderland twice. Once in 3-D at the midnight showing and once in regular old 2-D about five days later. I was going to post about it right after seeing the movie, but I knew I was going to see it a second time and really wanted to finish forming an opinion about the film itself. So after seeing it twice I decided a few things: 1) Disney 3-D is pretty cool, though I am still against the hype. 2) I really liked the movie. 3) Johnny Depp really makes his young co-stars shine on screen.

I knew I was going to have to see it in 3-D, because that's what everyone was talking about because it's the first big movie to come out in 3-D since Avatar made so much money. I've seen a few 3-D films from the old cowboy movies of the 1940s to megablockbuster Avatar, but seriously Disney does it the best. I still don't think it should be an every movie thing, or even advertised as this revolution of a film experience because its not really. Any movie with a great script, a big enough screen and some captivating performances can draw you in ten times better than a tree branch being in your face. With Alice, even when I was watching the 3-D film I wanted to watch it on a regular screen. I knew that the colors, the vivid characters conversations, the playfulness of the movie would not be lost just because I couldn't see certain things pop out. But I did think that the 3-D was better done than even Avatar that was techinically filmed in partial 3-D technology. The interesting thing about Alice is that Tim Burton filmed old school way adn reformatted for the new verison, personally I think I might like that way better but its too early to tell yet.

The movie itself had a story that brought to life I think what many of the people I know are going through today. A real mirror of society almost, funny enough that's what the original Alice did back in 1865 England too. But watching it and listening to the issues that were brought to life on screen, screamed of the half foot in and half foot out moment of many. Alice, a nineteen year old who is pressured into societal constraints breaks free only to not know what real path to take in Wonderland. Actually she spends a lot of the movie convinced she is the wrong Alice, even though the creatures of Wonderland know better they let her be about it. Its a journey to self- discovery, falling down the rabbit hole was a push to movement to finding answers. Recently I did some research on how the art of the depression from photographs, music and film were trying to get society basically just moving again. I was struck by how in Alice everything was about making her move, making her discover, make her understand. Interestingly enough the movie ended with business proposals, ideas of expanding and exploring the real world. Though some of the dialogue was hard to understand in sections, it was delightful. My favorite moment being between Hatter and Alice about her muchness. It was a great thought, having that gumption that part of you that believes in who you are and what you want and getting it. Even if the story is a classic age-old tale that has been told several times and in many movies and countless books, it's something that just never gets old. Also how many times do you get to see it come alive with a floating cat and mad hatter, or an obnoxious queen with an over-sized head? Tim Burton apparently agrees with my take of the film according to Tim Burton in an interview with D23:

What do you like about this version of the story?
What I like about this is that it's more of a personal journey. These are the things that are actually the most important in life. That moment where you make that important choice. Maybe it happens to everybody. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it does a couple of different times in your life, where you learn something, you grow. You know, it's like you've got two sides of yourself in conflict. Emotionally conflicted. And then, when you make that personal growth, it's quite an amazing thing. Quite a strong thing. It's reconciling within yourself who you are, becoming the person you're going to be, a human being. It sounds light, but it's important.

My last point is that Johnny Depp at this point is such a wonderful actor. Such a powerful presence on screen that you would think that he would overpower everyone else especially some of the young actors he shares the silver screen with but he doesn't.  As I really believed in Alice, as Alice I thought about this about how this girl that I had never before was just charming at this character. She really fit into the wonderland, confused and lost when she had to be and brave and independent when the time came. I am definitely going to keep an eye out for Mia Wasikowska. The evidence, of the young Freddie Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Finding Neverland) suggests that Mia might be up and coming. 

Truthfully, I think everyone should enjoy Alice in her Underland and have fun with it. Maybe even read the books when you get the chance, I know I'm going to take a crack at them soon. 

Cue the singing child

This past week, after playing trivia at our local Friday's a few of my friends bribed me into seeing the Crazies. I say bribe because, I'm not a scary movie person. It's not that they scare me, quite the contrary they bore me. The thing about scary movies is that they have all become so incredibly formulaic that it's hard not to already know what's happen when you're the type of movie watcher that I am. Though one could argue that all movies have to some extent become formulaic, as I guessed almost the entire plot of Shutter Island within the first ten minutes too. ((That was a sad disappointment, though the acting of that film is still worth the watch)). But the point is that scary movies formula is just not my cup of tea, I don't care for the high pierced music that signals my heart to beat faster or for the unnerving moment when a little girl starts singing a nursery rhyme. I'm not a huge fan of quick editing cuts telling me to feel nervous, or dim lighting to warn me that someone is going to die. But that's just me, I know plenty of people that don't like the dramas that I so thrive on.

But back to the movie at hand, The Crazies a bribe to go to a movie I clearly wouldn't have ever seen without someone making me. Starting with my favorite part of the movie going experience, I automatically noticed that even all the trailers were for up and coming horror films. The only one that really caught my eye was one that started in a diner, with a young man sitting at a booth which I automatically recognized as Kellan Lutz. I surprised even myself for knowing who the shadowy figure was on the screen but I definitely paid more attention to the trailer itself just because I'm a fan-girl of his. Nightmare on Elm Street is a movie I might invest in and I'm not sure if it's because I support Kellan Lutz or because the trailer actually intrigued me. On a factoid note about the movie itself, Nightmare on Elm Street is a remake of the very first film that Johnny Depp was in, ever. It was the movie that launch a career that has given us such wonderful films as Chocolat, Pirates, Benny and Joon and this weekend's Alice in Wonderland. So if that's saying anything about the potential of the film itself, I might as well possibly check it out!

I don't remember what else was promoted before the Crazies started but once the movie started I was set to dissect it. Before entering the theater this is what I knew about the movie: the title, the poster had a pitchfork and was dark, the trailer had screaming and I was pretty sure it was set in some rural town. That was it, I couldn't tell you who was in it or what I thought it was about or anything else. The movie started and I laughed as cue the vast wheat fields that start every horror film known to man. I'm convinced that the reason I might be afraid of large open spaces of Middle America is because that's what horror films have taught me to fear. The film started with a military styled radar screen that made me think for about five minutes that maybe the movie itself was about aliens. That idea didn't last as in the opening sequence no one died by the hands of some unknown mystery killer. Someone did indeed die, but by the hands of the town's sheriff. That little sequence of events was enough to tell me that this movie was not about a crazy killer, it wasn't some subversive message about rebellious teenagers meeting their demises. No this movie was in literary terms going to be a story of man vs. man, basically. I mean really we could debate that it was a man vs. machine but that would side track me even more than usual.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot itself, even though I fear I might already done so. But in short even though I could guess where the plot was going, the movie revealed itself half way through anyway. So then I caught myself wandering what the point of the film itself was, the journey? The fight? I'm still unclear what the real purpose was, as anyone who sees it might agree with. But at the end I didn't hate it, and I was distrubed by it and I wouldn't not maybe see it again. I enjoyed the film for what it was, I enjoyed the different twist of it not being just a lunatic killer with some vegeance. I liked the fact that it was possibly trying to make a social statement of some sort. I still correctly bet that someone wouldn't die with one of my friends who was convinced that the character would. I still hated the part where classic empty street with one young woman on a bike came out singing. I still got a good laugh out of the jumping and shrieking of the audience that was so involved in the film that they reacted when the music and the lights told them too. But all and in all, I might start giving some scary/ horror films a chance again.

The Lost Boys

I've been feeling like a bit of lost boy myself, well at least in terms of my poor blog updates. My disappearance for the last month and two weeks has not been spent under a rock and away from all creative muses. On the contrary the end of December, the entire month of Janurary and the beginnings of February have brought nothing but creative muses into my world.
Here is a quick review of what exactly has been inspiring me to no end, some of the things I might still write up blurs about but most of them are now receding to far into the past to catch up with all the new things I have yet to experience and consume.


The Week Night Line Up:

• Big Love- I fell into the trap of yet another HBO show. Though I have to say this one drives me less crazy on a weekly basis. It's not like the other shows I have watched that leave you hanging unbearably for a week with cliff hangers and seven unresolved plot points. The great thing about Big Love is the heart of the show itself and the relationships of the family and the individual with religion. I don't think the show's focus is on the negativity or the unexplained aspects of mormons, though of course there is the negative in there. I am really enjoying the mutli-wive relationship that in my head is a modern study of understanding to the stories of Jacob and his three wives (at least that's the way that I relate it to me and my religious and cultural background). I might talk more about this as season 4 progresses, but for now check it out if you have a chance because it's definitely an easy hook to get into.
• Grey's Anatomy - This show is finally in a real upswing again. It might even be getting better than it was it's first season. If you had watched it and stopped, start again. And if you haven't watched it at all, watch a few key episodes or the starter kits and start.
• Castle - The Alyssa Milano episode was great, if you watch no other castle episodes watch that one.
• Psych - is back and I just realized I never got around to writing about last season. 
• White Collar - same problem as poor Pysch above, I watched it because really it's Catch me If you Can as a TV show. So you know, likely there will be more to come on this show in the near future.
• Greek- Is back... I think after the 80s episode I might discuss my absurd love for this show. 

My Bookcase:

• Sookie Stackhouse Novels - I'm on novel number 9 and I wasn't going to write about them until I finished all the books that were already out. Easy, fast and enjoyable reads.
• John Adams - I started reading this historical novel about one of my favorite revolutionaries and presidents. We'll see how I like it...
• Bro Code - Barney is as entertaining on paper as he is on screen my friends. That's all I have to say on that so far.
• Teenager: I bought this just a few weeks ago and it's actually a nonfiction novel on the creation of youth culture in the U.S. I'm more excited about it than I should be. 
• History of Society: I found this awesome old text book in a book store in Pasadena. It's a sociology text book from 1934, that was actually regifted sometime in 1954... (there's a hand written note inside the cover) It's huge but I'm trudging along in it and love it... more to come on that I can promise!
• There are at least four other books that I'm planning on reading soon, or re-reading as the case might be... so you know no worries about books.

iTunes Recently Played:

• Strangely I want to point out how this could have only years ago been titled, in my CD player. Times are changing faster than I think we even notice.
• The Hope for Haiti Digital CD - incredible. If you watched the George Clooney production or not, you should get this CD because aside from donating money you get an incredible collection of work. I just love the collabration of lean on me with three artists, of the moving vocals of Justin Timberlake... just go download it. 
• Hoy Me Voy, a song by Juanes redone with Colbie Caillat. I did not know this song even existed until I was looking something up on Colbie Caillat and realized it had been made years ago. This is one of my favorite Juanes song (a Colombian rocker) and I was thrilled with the reworked english vocals added by Colbie. 
• Recently I discovered new music to me, though old really in nature. I've been listening to The Fratellis, Swayze and Atomsphere quite a bit to name a few. Also Toy Soliders by Eminem, just awesome. I don't know how I missed it before?

On the Silver Screen:

• Sherlock Holmes - I saw this on Christmas Day, of course! And it was everything I hoped for and more. Because really Jude Law brought new life to Watson that I didn't expect. Also Robert Downey Jr.'s acceptance speech at the Golden Globes was possibly my favorite!
• Young Victoria - What surprised me about liking this movie, isn't that I liked the story, but that I liked the creative shots and artistic aspects of it. There's this one shot in particular that really caught my eye that was the opening visual for a fancy state dinner where the camera pans a row of glasses in a perfect row. 
• Avatar - I waited much longer than most people to watch this movie. I was under the impression that it might be getting far too much hype for a project that was James Cameron possibly showing off. I didn't dislike it and I might think that it did deserve its hype. My problem with this movie might now be that for some reason it's bringing up how 3D is the way of the future. 3D movies have existed basically since the creation of  movies (ok, maybe a few years after the creation). And the push for this type of movie isn't because it can really add to your experience (I see plently of 3D movies) but that it makes everyone more money. So please don't fall for this ploy, we do not need 3D TVs. We need to go outside and actually live in the real world more.
• Up in the Air- sad and depressing, though definitely worth it's hype on parts of the acting.
• Dear John - I might actually have to read a Nicholas Sparks novel soon. I have always intended to, just haven't. The striking moment of this movie and love story for me was that this wasn't some military romance of World War II, this wasn't oustide events and emotions that happened within my life time. It was awing. Also I decided that Nicholas Sparks depiction of the love story, the couple might be a great thing to compare to love stories written by woman. So that might be coming up here soon.
• Leap Year - Romantic Comedies can really brighten up any day, as long as you're in the mood for light, frothy and completely predictable. Amy Adams was adorable and her trusty sidekicks of the movie a great pair of shoes and louie v. bag... totally a crack up. It definitely made me want to go back to Ireland though, great scenes.
• I feel like I saw a few more things that I can't even remember now. 

 The Human Story:

• I ran this great contest about status updates on facebook that I intend to write about soon. It has to do with the need to attach meanings and craft narratives from things we don't understand.
• Yesterday, I saw life walk by me on either side of the road it made a great impression on me. Right next to a high school I saw a young couple walking on my left and two young boys riding scooters to my right. Then up a few feet, I saw an older woman in her 30s maybe jogging along and on the other side a man in business attire walking slowly. This story played out for a few blocks, with people of all walks of life walking by me as I was driving. It was really cool. 
• To add to the madness and my insanity of noticing all stories, I have also gone back to school. I am now a student of Humanities,  which is literally the story of humans, the narrative of the very essence of what makes us people. Definitely more on my studies to come!

This weekend watch out for Percy Jackson and Valentine's Day Movie thoughts. But before I leave you, I leave you with this great little article that I found very amusing.

http://www.virginmedia.com/movies/moviegeek/features/everyday-things-never-happen-in-movies.php?ssid=1