I've been writing this blog for a few months now via Myspace, and have decided to transfer a copy to Blogspot, mainly for friends who haven't sold their souls to that online community.
I'm actually fine with myspace. Once you start ignoring all of the friend requests bearing some girl pushing her jeans just a little passed her hips, while making pouty lips in the mirror as the flash from her camera whites out the top corner of her image, Myspace is just fine.
My brother and I have been playing professional saxophone since we were 15.
Why does 15 count as a starting point? Because when I was 15 I played in a bar for the first time and made cash. Since I wasn't just playing the Christmas recitals I can say that I've played professionally since I was 15.
I also recall the owner of this bar trying to hook me up with one of the waitresses who was probably 8 years older than me. My attempt to follow through with this was by asking a series of questions and making no real conversation.
I was 15, leave me the hell alone, I didn't know what I was doing!
Shit, I still don't.
I always find that funny though, the question based conversation.
You know a conversation is going no where when every follow up to a comment is a question, a tried desperate question hoping for a point where the conversation will be supported by discussion and argument, shared experience and hopeful connection.
I hope everyone's labor day rocked and was full of whatever it is you find entertaining.
I worked the entire weekend, which isn't a bad thing, I love what I do. Wednesday and Thursday I had a small part in a film. Both days took many hours, not getting out until 4 am. This was the best set I've been on though! It was Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, and she was an excellent director. It stars Ellen Page, who was very sweet, and very quiet.
The set was very fast paced and professional, but all of the PA's and crew members were amiable and fun.
The cast was great and seemed to be having a blast, I got to meet some wonderful people, listen to interesting stories, network and make some new friends.
The best part is working with people from previous shoots. Brandon new one of the PAs from a film he appeared in, and I got to work with this very funny guy, Chris, whom I had worked on a commercial with earlier in the year.
Friday we had a gig with Groove Party at Tee Bonez, and Sunday was a wedding in Detroit with an amazing sax player Paulio. The guy was incredible, and totally easy to work with. Paulio had that crisp sax sound like Bonny James or David Sanborn. It was very inspiring.
Now for the subject of this entry.
Even though my weekend was full of great stories, the only thing that came to mind when I was asked by a coworker this morning about my labor day was this:I had a run in with a smelly Pen.
Exactly how it sounds.
I went to my bank to deposit some checks at an ATM. After snatching up a deposit envelope, I found a pen that had been sitting in my door for god knows how long. As I began to fill in the appropriate boxes, a pungent smell became very evident.
At first I thought it was sewage outside, but realized it was coming from inside my car. I brought the pen up and under my nostrils and took a quick whiff.
This pen smelled like it came directly out of a Moose's ass.
I still needed to finish filling out the deposit slip, and that was the only pen in my car, so, holding my breath, i scribbled unreadable text onto the envelope and tossed the butt pen out the window.
I just realized that the term 'butt pens' almost looks like butt penis.
Since my last entry, I've had, what I thought, were great ideas for blogs, but have had such a full schedule at work and with the bands, that I kept saying to myself, you can write this next week, you can do that later tonight, wait until the weekend, etc.
I sincerely can NOT remember half of these thoughts I wanted to share, and some finally were based on subjects other than movies!
WRITE FRESH! Jeeeeze, I regret not writing my thoughts down as soon as they popped in my mind. Priorities are one thing, but as soon as I was done with my work day, the gym and various other editing jobs, I wanted to watch a movie, or just kind of hang out.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, I mean life is what you make it, and if your idea of happiness involves points of the day being dedicated to chilling out, then you should do it. I don't believe anything should be forced.
Now you're probably thinking that I'm a hypocrite for saying that after just bitching about my inability to write my blog when I had a chance, but this was caused by a forceful attitude.
I forced myself to wait, and continue working on projects at work. Honestly, I could have wrote a little down and emailed it to myself for later use. If I had forced myself to write those blogs down when I didn't feel passionate about what I was going to write, they would have sounded stale and monotone.
I've decided I"m going to take moments out of my day and write when I want too. I can't ignore things because of my setting, I mean not all the time. When you're at work you have downtime, its not an 8-10 hour slave job, and I'm sorry if you feel otherwise. People have smoke breaks, chat around the office, and stop what their doing all the time.
I'm never late on my deadlines, I always get my footage chopped and locked ahead of schedule in case there are other edits, yet I still have those moments of "Ooo don't want to piss off the supervisors".
If there is one thing I've learned in the passed 8 years since graduating high school is that NO one is the ultimate creature of their environment. You may be incredible at what you do, and deserve respect and attention for that, but arrogance will be your worse enemy.
There is a huge difference between pride in your work and just thinking you're damn better than everyone. Believe me, I have great respect for people I work with who do their job, but it goes down the drain if I hear them talk shit about others, or act snobbish about their attitude with work. If they talk shit about others, they are prroooobably talking shit about you.
Every time I meet people like this I seriously become cautious about what I"m saying to people for the rest of the day, I don't want to be like that at ALL.
This also reminds me of another irritant, people who excuse being dickheads for honesty. Holy hell! That is my biggest pet peeve. People honestly think they can say cruel things about a persons looks, personality, and all around character and say 'Hey I'm just being honest' or 'I'm just a bitch, I say it like it is'..............
I watch people in my office, and people in my life treat others like this, belittle them and walk away just fine because over the years they've been able to rationalize these actions.
Ok, where did this blog go? Those points aside, here is some recommended viewing.
Venture Bros: Season 3 Finale - Check it out. It was a great/sad episode. The entire season felt like it was just setting us up for more story lines to come in the next seasons. Season 1, and 2 were more conclusive albeit the cliffhangers they both leave off with.
Pineapple Express: Could be the goriest comedy I've ever watched! James Franco was excellent, no doubt his best performance. Rogen was great as usual, it didn't feel like he had a chance to spread his chops, but it was a good performance. I'm trying to remember the other guy's name, who played Red's character. One second, I need to hop over to IMDB
(10 seconds later) Danny Mcbride! That guy is just hilarious. Definitely a nice edition to the Appatow crew! He was also great in Tropic Thunder as one of the many, many, many bit parts.
Tropic Thunder started kind of weak, but as soon as the ignorant cast of the period war drama are thrown into a real warzone the humor totally takes off. Robert Downey Jr. is just taking over the summer....well he was knocked down by Dark Knight....still....Robert Downey Jr. is doing super awesome this summer! He kicks ass as the Australian actor portraying a black soldier in Tropic Thunder.
Black (Jack that is) is funny in his moments, but isn't given a lot of screen time.
Jay Baruchel, famed for one of the Apatow gang, really shines as the humble actor just trying to get his break in the biz.
Both movies are great for a laugh. I also saw mirrors which was a so-so movie, but I really dug it anyways. However, it is 6pm, and I want to leave the cube and go to the gym, so I can pretend to be athletic.
Those of you who frequent my page, or so much as glance at in passing curiosity as you porous your friends will have notice my extremely high anticipation for The Dark Knight. obviously I'm one of a huge number of Americans that wanted to see TDK enough that the flick dominated all of the box office records (1 Midnight showing of all time, 1 Opening boxoffice of all time, and now 1 on www.imdb.com Top 250).
Dark Knight was almost everything a comic book movie should be. Nolan in crew proves that genre doesn't need to be generic.
From the depth of its characters, to the intensity of its scenes, The Dark Knight had me, and the sold out IMAX attentively following its dynamic story. Christian Bale returned stronger than before both as Wayne and Batman. He played out Waynes desire for justice and the torturing feart that he may be an attractor to the insane, points constantly brought up in the comics, as well as most other Batman mediums.
His raspy interpretation of Batman's voice was most definitely my least favorite aspect of this flick, as well as its predecessor Batman Begins, albeit in Dark Knight he takes it easy in some scenes.
I just can't get into it, it sounds too fake, laughably fake, not monstrous and intimidating. Kevin Conroy, the voice actor for Batman: The Animated Series, had the best version, slipping from the posh, prep dialect of Wayne to a harder, gruffer sounding Batman. Conroy's version of Batman's voice echoed anger, vengeance, and loneliness.
Bale's sounds like the lead singer of a metal band who hasn't realized he can't sing metal.
This isn't to say his performance is any less magnificent, Bale depicts the brooding Batman wonderfully, from the fight scenes, to Wayne's faux naivity and loneliness.
The introduction of Harvey Dent was prepared and executed the way it should be: A determined hero doomed from the start. Aaron Eckhart gives us his best role ever, creating the strong willed District Attorney targeted by the mobs wrath, and the Joker's tests. Without giving anything away, his descent into the madman Two-Face is stunning and sad. You feel for his character, and when Dent finally succumbs, it isn't like being introduced to a new villian, its the catastrophic defeat of a powerfully driven character.
This transformation is a testament to smart writing and great acting.
The most powerful element out of this cornucopia of stars and filmmakers was the performance by the late Heath Ledger as the Joker.
Ledger was never on that screen, he WAS the Joker. I've heard that phrase before, but this is the first time I feel like I can say/type it. Every psychotic entrance by the clown prince of crime was scary, funny, and so intense, you couldn't pull your eyes away.
I've never seen a portrayal of an already loved character be created in such a unique way. Decade old fans of the Joker can receive a brand new story depicting the ever loved villain.
Ledger deserves the oscar, as well as many standing ovations.
However, it is very sad to think we'll never get a chance to see Ledger step into those clown shoes again, but whoever else takes up the purple suit has some big ones to fill.
Not everyone will enjoy this movie, but I can say that will be limited to the impatient. It has everything a summer blockbuster should offer in terms of entertainment, but the capacity of art in this film allows it to top even the heavy hitting classics.
TDK doesn't leave you with a lot of unanswered questions, and keeps a road paved for a third installment.
Still, if they chose to end the Nolanfied world of Batman with this masterpiece, I'd be more than happy to except this awesome film as its conclusion.
I've been bearing a Dark Knight image ever since they released the first trailer last year. It was kind of a dork version of the guy who grows his beard out until they win a contest....wait maybe mine is a tad more interesting than that.
Tonight I'll be heading up to the IMAX, sitting in line for a long while (Not nearly as long as it feels this movie took to open), snagging a good seat and finally watching this flick I've waited oh so long for.
High five to the cats behind the marketing of this movie, it's generated so much hype that if this movie surpasses it, it'll probably become a noteworthy moment in cinematic history.
It's too bad Ledger isn't around to enjoy it, but he's been getting praises left and right for his portrayal of Joker, so much to the fact that critics say he is a shoe in for an Oscar nod.
That would make my day as well, an oscar for a comic book movie. Its just not a genre that gets a lot of notice from that ceremony unless being recognized for fx and sound.
I hope you all get to see it, especially if you're a fan of Batman. Have fun in the theaters, go in a few days if you hate crowds. I have a feeling this movie is going to bust some records for opening sales.
I used to look forward to my saturday morning cartoons, including X-Men, Beetlejuice, Batman Adventures, and a bunch of others throughout the years. It signaled two days away from school and all of the irritations that came with that.
Now, at 26, I watch my Sunday night cartoon line up. Adult swim keeps that kid alive in me. Sure the humor is a tad crass, and more for adults, but some of the best cartoons from my younger years were spiced with underlined adult humor that I'm just NOW starting to understand.
I just finished the latest episode of the Venture Bros, which once again solidifies why that cartoon is one of the BEST animated shows to come out in years.
For those of you who haven't been privy to the five year old adult swim show, currently in its third season, The Venture Bros is the ongoing tale of former boy adventurer (parodying a number of sixties cartoons, mainly Johnny Quest.) Rusty Venture, who is now a bitter, middle aged man living in his father shadow, a famous scientist. The show also spotlights his prone to death twin sons Hank, and Dean ( A mix of Johnny Quest and Fred from Scooby Doo) and their pinnacle of 70's muscle car masculinity body guard, Brock Samson.
Without going into further details about the previous episodes (You need to get season 1 and 2, soak those in, then fall in love with this cyni-ass of a series) let me say that this show constantly lampoons the 60's and 70's fad of hyperadventuristic famly-esque cartoons, movies, and comic books while still maintaining an intriguing storyline, and incredibly addictive character development.
You're well aware that the show is mocking so many generic elements, but you still keep coming back to learn more about these characters, their growing interactions, and direction of the constantly twisting plot.
Its a wonderful escape of humor and storytelling.
If you're a cartoon fanatic, you need to pick this one up, if you are looking for a laugh, give the show a chance, if you're thinking to yourself "Cartoons are for kids"...please pull the stick out of your ass.
I was, for a three month period, pretty consistent with my blog entries. My life has been fairly busy as of late, and in my downtime I've become less reliable to head up things that I deem constructive. Writing these little bastards felt entertaining as well as a worthwhile use of time. They also are pretty testing. I don't like reading blogs that wreak of self aggrandizing writings, not that they don't have a place or offer a good read, its just that blogs that have a pattern of focus always seem like a reliable visit. My pattern was bitching or praising recent flicks.
Why don't we continue that trend?
The comic book movie and super hero genre is Summer '08's whore, and I'll be in that red light district for the next couple of months.
The kickoff, in my opinion, was the release of Iron Man, directed by Jon Favreau (Star of Swingers, director of Elf)
and starring Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man was never a comic I followed, or was interested in. I don't mean that in a negative way. I didn't hate the comic or the character, it just wasn't one that grabbed my attention. Maybe it was because he was a rich guy in an armored suit, and for many years if the protagonist hadn't powers, then they had to be a vigilante to be interesting. Later I found that there were many characteristics to Iron Man and his story that were dark and fascinating.
The Iron Man flick was entertaining from beginning to end. Stark's character, an uber intelligent, rich, Howard Hughes-esque weapons mogul turned do-gooder, peace activist super heroe left so much for Downey to play with. Robert Downey Jr. has been, once again, walking up the ladder in hollywood thanks to a slew of intriguing roles both major and independent. If you haven't seen him in Shane Black's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, go out and rent it, net flix it, download it, whatever, just see it.
We watch as Stark, post being attacked in the desert by terrorists, creates several stages of the Iron Man suit, joined by hilarious tests, all the while he escapes the lime light previously depicting him as a death dealing, out of touch playboy. Jeff Bridges plays Obadiah Stane, who becomes the Iron Monger, Stark's former partner and secret rival.
The movie is rich with clever dialog, awesome action (the flight scenes are worth the entire flick) and great effects. There is very little character development other than Tony Stark's. His sassy sidekick Pepper Potts is played by Gwenyth Paltrow, and servers very little purpose in the movie other than to be a formidable female character.
Overall, one of the best comic book transitions to the theater in a long time, and very much worth seeing on the big screen! Don't just rent this!
The Incredible Hulk opened last weekend and took the box office over M Night Shalamahamahmayhamahaymajsmdofaasdf 's The Happening. Many movie goers and comic fans were greatly disappointed in the last Hulk movie back in 2003.
I was just very, very, very bored by it.
It was long winded, and not at all cohesive.
The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton, Tim Roth, and Liv Tyler was EVERYTHING opposite. Norton who plays alter ego Bruce Banner hulks out SO much during this flick, its easy to forget who Ed Norton is.
Mind you there isn't many scenarios you come up with to make him Hulk out other than throw lots'o'dem military people his way.
Norton is fun to watch, but doesn't do much for Banner's character. Its hard to see him transform into the tortured scientist, it mostly feels like you're simply watching Edward Norton running around the screen trying not to turn into the Hulk. Tim Roth plays the "Russian" antagonist who later becomes the Abomination, a creature just as strong as the Hulk, but sans those handsome good looks...you know let me just stop here. If you want to go see a very entertaining movie with lots of explosions, punches, kicks, chases, loud music, sound effects and CGI, this is the perfect choice. Its pure escapism and comic book corniness. It is not a SMART movie, but its also not a BAD movie. Hulk proves to be very entertaining and brainless, much like the character himself....well he's more scary and brainless...until those later comics where he retains his intelligence in the Hulk form.........nevermind, the point is Incredible Hulk is fun on the big screen, but is fine as a rentable experience.
Opening in the next two weeks are Wanted, based off of the ungodly vulger/violent comic mini series, and Hancock, a unique character made specifically for film.
For those interested in comics, Wanted is quite an experience.
The original series tells the story of young Wes who is revealed to be the son of a great super villain recently bumped off by a mysterious assassin. Wes is trained by the Fraternity, a club of Supervillains who secretly run the world. You see back in the 80's all the super villains got together and waged war on the super heroes, killing almost all of them, and either crippling or forcing the rest into retirement. From there they erased the Super Heroes from everyone's minds, and divided up the continents between villain groups. Wes is trained by Fox, a super villainous loosely based on Catwoman. In fact all the characters in the miniseries were parodies of DC villains (I don't recall any Marvel characters), for example one of the main antagonists being a rendition of Joker. This comic is wonderfully written, very unique, and depicts all their characters as awful, hideous creatures of personal satisfaction.
The film versioin cut out everything dealing with superheroes and supervillians, but left in the basic concept of Wes finding out he was the son of a major assassin, with Jolie playing Fox, and James McAvoy as Wes.
What stokes me about this movie is that (apparently) the scenes involving any special effects were shot with the Red camera, a very new type of HD camera that rocks my techno geeky side!
I don't know much about Hancock other than what the trailers have revealed, but it looks awesomely funny, as well as full of action. Smith is playing a superhero who drinks too much and doesn't give a rats ass if people like him or not. One trailer reveals that he hasn't a clue where his powers came from, or much about his past. Jason Batemen is a PR specialist who tries to fix Hancock's public image, and there seems to be a major fight scene some where during the flick. You're able to see Smith fighting somebody in that trailer. If that turns out to be Charleze Theron I'm going to drown myself in the tub of popcorn that will no doubly have way to much white cheddar salt.
Hancock's character is also a drunk, and this aspect has caused Iron Man director Jon favreau to second guess bringing Tony Stark's alcoholism into the sequel. This was a major plot point in the comic book, but Favreau doesn't want his audience to get an unoriginal idea....even though it IS an original idea, and Hancock is the one being unoriginal.
I digress....
21 MORE DAYS!!! 21 more days until the Dark Knight, and already it receives praise from my all time favorite movie critic Peter Travers, long time writer for Roliing Stone Magazine. My myspace page has been portraying a Joker image for over a half a year since the first trailer was revealed last fall, and will continue to do so until I see this flick at the IMAX, midnight on July 18th! If you haven't read the review, go to my last blog, and READ! GET PUMPED!
Man, I really hope I'm not hyping myself up just to be disappointed.
Oh well, we'll end this blog with some Dark Knight Trailers! Enjoy and let's hope we keep getting genuine comic book movies that stay true to the original concepts, and not rape the hell out of it just because "Some people might not get it"!
TV SPOT 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67-poSYpVP0&fmt=18
COMCAST ALT TRAILER http://wbads-07.vo.llnwd.net/e1/wbol/uk/movies/thedarkknight/the_dark_knight_u0xb20_know_your_limits_qt_med.mov
TV SPOT 8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sktZWzBKuFc&fmt=18
TV SPOT 9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwEeLJ5UqwY&fmt=18
Phillip Seymour Hoffman is one of the greatest character actors today. Some may argue that he has one character, and just brings that incarnation to a bunch of movies. Of course I’ve heard that about Johnny Depp as well. I think there’s truth in the former assessment, as in not everyone is going to give a Lon Chaney or Daniel Day Lewis performance, but it’s also very unfair to degrade their performances by ignoring the originality character actors like Hoffman bring to the screen.
I just finished watching Punch Drunk Love, a film by present day auteur Paul Thomas Anderson , director/writer of Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood. I’d watched this movie way back in 2002 when it first hit theaters. It was half because of an Adam Sandler kick I’d been on for years and my growing curiosity of Anderson since watching Magnolia. There was a genuine intrigue due to rumors of Sandler’s unusual role.
I love seeing actors outside their normal flicks, like when Jack Nicholson played the quiet and confused Warren Schimidt in (ironically about the year) 2002’s About Schimidt. Sandler played the highly withdrawn Barry Egen, a slightly manic-depressive, definitely lonely, business owner with 7 condescending sisters and a secret mission to collect hundreds of Healthy Choice pudding cups to redeem the free 500 flyer miles mistakenly offered by the distributer. Like most of Anderson’s films, there is a single element that plays very little to the story line, but carries its presence like a supporting character. Magnolia had the frogs, Boogie Nights had the dick, There Will be Blood had oil, Punch Drunk Love, a harmonium (a type of piano). Egan meets a girl named Lena in what he thinks is a fateful moment, but turns out to be a set up by one of his sisters to get him dating. After an innocent mistake of calling a phone sex hotline, we follow Egan through an odyssey of blackmail, rage, and a search for love.
Sandler creates the neurotic Egan with grace. Egan’s burst of violent anger is much more delicate compared to his comic roles with similar actions. However, my favorite character is the minor role of Dean Trumbell played by Hoffman, a devious Utah mattress shop owner, which also fronts for his phone sex hotline. Hoffman’s character sends his goons after Sandler to force their blackmail scheme. A confrontation between Egen and Trumbell cause Hoffman to scream and erratic, "SHUT UP, SHUT UP! SHUT-SHUT-SHUT-SHUT UP," line, as he chokes through anger in reaction to Egen’s persistence.
Here you have Hoffman playing a character of huge contrast to Sandler: A man incredibly violent and angry opposed to Egen’s soft spoken and withdrawn character, who’s not quite sure how to handle his rage.
If you haven’t seen the flick, pick it up. If you’re only used to Sandler’s Happy Gilmore, you’ll be surprised to see a very different portrayal by the comedy favorite. For film buffs, you’ve probably already seen this, but if you haven’t its a must for the collection! Those looking for a rental, this is NOT formulaic, so you may be confused by the odd story pattern, however I really doubt you’ll bored.
