Ramblings of a Constipated Mind

Merry Christmas everybody!

That is all.

I've been relaxing and enjoying the Christmas holidays, for the most part. Yesterday I saw The Incredibles again, this time with Souwa. And in Spanish. For once, I can actually say that Spanish dubbing isn't always terrible. They managed to match up the voices (or at least the tone and pitch in general) pretty well. Kudos to whoever dubbed it.

Also, I forgot to mention that when I first saw the movie I saw first-hand a specific idea Pixar implements in its movies that's pretty neat. Even in prints that are in English and subtitled, they take the time to dub any signs or printed material that appear in the film itself. For example: on the Monsters, Inc. DVD they showed how when Mike reads the newspaper, they printed the headlines in dozens of different languages depending on which country it would be shown at. In The Incredibles, there was a part where in the background there was a scrolling digital/neon sign or something, and it was in Spanish. But the characters were speaking in English. And there were Spanish subtitles.

That's kinda weird. But cool. Pixar really pays attention to the details. And they have a monkey at their company. I want to work there.

Hm. Today I spent most of my time around the computer playing Half-Life or watching James play it. I stopped long enough to write an essay for college applications - now I'm almost done! Dude, that game rocks. The story isn't Pulitzer material but it gets the job done - you're a scientist working in a secret underground facility. One day, something goes wrong and a portal is opened up to another dimension. You had to fight your way to the surface shooting up freaky weird aliens. Plus, the government sends in soldiers to "clean up" the mess (aka Kill all Survivors). So you get to run around and blow stuff up and kill some aliens and blow stuff up and travel to an alien planet and blow stuff up! Woohoo! It's definitely one of the best games ever made, just like people say. It's so addictive. I remember playing it for the first time and actually jumping out of my chair at times. That's how incredible the gameplay is - and the graphics are so outdated! This is proof that graphics don't make the game. It's all about atmosphere. Part of me wants to beat it again before playing the newly-released sequel, but...

I was so hooked on Half-Life I had my mom buy Half-Life 2 for me while she was out shopping. It was only $10 more expensive cheaper than in the USA. That's awesome. That never happens here. Most of the time, you have to pay at least $80 for a decent game, so I just order them online. But not this time.

Half-Life was regarded as the best first-person shooter ever made. Half-Life 2 has been quoted as being, and I'm not lying: "...the best game ever made." Oh yeah.

As of now, the best games I have played are, in alphabetical order:

Grim Fandango
Half-Life
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
The Curse of Monkey Island

It is time to see if Half-Life 2 is as excellent as everyone says it is, and worth the long long wait. It was delayed for more than a year after someone hacked into the Valve company system and stole 1/3 of the source code.

It is installed now.

After a long journey through what seems like billions of security measures, the game is ready to go. Will I play it now, at 1 AM, and risk getting hooked and staying up all night? Or will I wait until another day? Hm. I can't decide.

Either way, I'm going in. It's G-Time.

Quote of Da Moment:
"I never saw you throw that gentleman off the balcony. All I care about is: are you happy with your haircut?"
--The Rock

Today I woke up and practiced for my driving test. It turns out I won't be taking it tomorrow after all. I really need to practice more with my parents' car. It's waaaayy more sensitive than the beat-up ACES one. Which means I need to learn how to operate the clutch all over again. Wonderful.

I managed to survive that experience. Church was good. After that, I came home and finished watching The Crow. I know, I know, I have no integrity whatsoever. So sue me. It actually wasn't that bad. The first half hour is where all the freaky weird stuff happens. But is it a good movie? No. Just okay. Good if you you just want to watch some guy in strange makeup kill a bunch of people. I bet Goths watch it for stress relief all the time.

So began the movie madness. At 3:45 I went to the theaters to see The Incredibles. Good movie. It's not Pixar's best though - I think that award goes to Monsters, Inc. for the time being. Or maybe Finding Nemo, but I have to see it again. The Incredibles is really good, but in terms of comedy not quite as funny. I mean, yeah, I probably had a big smile on my face for the entire movie, but there were only a few points where I actually laughed out loud. Or maybe it's just that my sense of humor is changing. I don't know. In terms of everything else though, it was great. Some of the ideas were really clever. Loved the whole cape and monologuing issues. Nice superhero spoofs.

Oh, and the music rocks. It's like a mix between superhero themes, Mission Impossible and James Bond. Awesome. Perfect score for the film.

After that, I went to Diego's birthday party and saw Resident Evil on his new big-screen tv. I had never seen it all from start to finish. It's pretty good, for a zombie movie. At least there was an attempt at plot/character development.

So yeah. It seems the gods of Hollywood had conspired to turn my vacation time into movie watching insanity. Ah well. Things could be worse.

I have to finish most of my college essays by Wednesday though. That's my goal. Tomorrow I just want to at least complete the one I'm working on for Duke. Then I'll go to Karen's birthday party. Yay!

Oh, and chances are I'll watch a movie.

Quote of Da Moment:
"Cigarette sales would drop to zero overnight if the warning said 'CIGARETTES CONTAIN FAT.' "
--Dave Barry

I just saw Almost Famous. Four years ago, when it came out, everyone was raving about it. About half way through the movie I was wondering why. But now I know. This movie is gooooood. The way everything works together and winds up at the end is just great storytelling. Period.

It follows this genius teenager as he follows a rock and roll band around the country, writing an article about them. Along the way he becomes immersed in the 70s world of drugs, sex and rock and roll. There's so many minor conflicts all going on at once, it really does seem like real life - I mean, come on, only reality could be that complex. One tiny thing, followed by another tiny thing. First it's how far he should go in his "partying", then it's whether or not to become friends with the rock group, then it's him falling for this girl, then it's how the article it's going to turn out...but the way they managed to have all these things going on at the same time, fully develop them, and still find a way to resolve them in a way that will satisfy the audience is incredible. My props to the writer.

*sigh* Ah, the 70s. A time I never saw. This movie made me feel like I was really there. It is about what people today are still doing: looking for meaning. Whether it's through music, drugs, sex, or any number of other things, we as a species just can't stop trying to find that one thing that will make us feel we have a purpose. Everyone can relate to these characters in one way or another. In that way, the movie was kind of depressing. Yet by the end, I felt like it was actually pointing people, in one way or another, towards God. In the midst of all the confusion that was the seventies, God was still there, after all. Although He is never specifically mentioned in the film, the movie ends on a rather hopeful note. As one character tells another, "There's still hope for you..."

In terms of a message, that's a rare thing for Hollywood these days. And in terms of script, themes, directing, and basically everything else, this movie is top-notch. I fully recommend it to anyone.

I also just saw 30 minutes of The Crow before turning it off. I don't see why some people love it so much. It's basically just this dead guy killing the people that raped and murdered he and his wife. Woohoo. In the mean time, the people he's killing get to do drugs and have lots of sex. This guy I met in the US named Jason Ford was right: this movie is basically just a really long and dark MTV music video. The plot was stupid. And overall, it's the closest movie I've seen in a while that I might actually refer to as "demonic". I've got no problem with dark, gritty movies, but this went overboard. Too gothic for my tastes. I don't think I'll be watching the rest any time soon.

But go rent Almost Famous. It's a good movie. Whoever that main actor was, he rules.

Now I want to be a journalist.

Quote of Da Moment:
"The only true currency in this bankrupt world... is what you share with someone else when you're uncool."
--Almost Famous

I am now officially on break for Christmas.

I have tons of work to do. I don't care.

Today I slept late and watched High Fidelity again. It was better this time, and now one of my favorite "relationship" movies.

Tomorrow I practice driving. Monday I take the test.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was not nominated for Best Picture at the Golden Globes. I hate them. It must win at least a few awards, especially Best Screenplay.

Christmas is a week from today.

I love you all.

Quote of Da Moment:
"If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad."
--Herodotus

Finally, it's the weekend. But I still have lots of work to do. Extended Essay...Group 4 diary...college essays...English presentation...

IB stressed by the IB program.

I really don't feel like doing anything right now. I just want to relax, eat, and sleep all weekend. But that probably won't be happening until Christmas break, and maybe not even then.

The Group 4 presentations went well, I guess. Our PowerPoint was horrible, as expected, but our display hopefully made up for it. If I don't at least get a reasonably good grade on it, I'm going to crawl under my bed and die.

But let's move on to a better topic: movies. What else? I forgot to mention that last weekend I saw Hero.

Sweet-butter-and-garlic-bread, that movie rocks! Definitely my favorite Chinese movie of all time now. Forget Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - that movie's overrated. This movie is not. I watched it while eating dinner, and there were many times where all I could do was stare blankly at the screen with my mouth hanging open, a forgotten fork between my fingers. Everything was fantastic - the action, acting, cinematography, directing, everything. It was like watching a dream. Each scene had its own particular color palette. One minute you'd be seeing grays and browns everywhere, and the next thing you know you're bombarded by a plethora of reds, oranges, and yellows. There is a reason it's called martial arts, people.

As for spiritual content, it has a lot to say about themes such as honor, sacrifice, and morality. I really wasn't sure what I thought of the overall "message" of the film until I got to the last 5 minutes. That was when out of nowhere my brain started screaming, "Christ imagery! Biblical allussion alert!" I was surprised I'd find stuff like that in a Chinese film. Of course there's always the chance that it was coincidental, but that doesn't seem likely to me.

Last night I finally got to see Quentin Tarantino's first film, Reservoir Dogs. This movie has been sitting on my shelf since the summer. When it comes to Tarantino, you've basically got two extreme opinions coming from people. The first goes something like this:

"Quentin Tarantino is a sadistic maniac obsessed with blood and guts and cussing, and his movies have no redeeming quality to them whatsoever! Just look at Kill Bill!"

Then you've got the other crowd, which basically says:

"Quentin Tarantino films are among the best ever made. His dialogue is witty, his style is unique, and they frequently have positive messages."

After watching Kill Bill, I myself was somewhere in between those two points of view. But now, after watching Reservoir Dogs, I'm happy to say that I'm sliding closer to the second. This movie was awesome. It follows 5 thieves who, after a job goes horribly wrong, rendezvous in an abandoned warehouse and try to figure out who set them up. Let me address the various concerns people have with this movie:

Is there a ton of swearing? Yup. But after the first two minutes I was too caught up in the characters to notice. That's how they talk. Period. It didn't feel out of place.

Is there a ton of sex? No. But, this being a "guy movie", the topic is frequently brought up in conversation. As with the profanity, however, it didn't feel out of place. The script = incredible.

Is is violent? This is a Tarantino movie, so of course it's violent. But after watching the last five minutes, I realized that this truly is a film with an anti-violence message to it. Violence is portrayed as being cruel, unnecessary, and just plain stupid.

This movie has style oozing out of every frame. From the code names of the characters (Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, Mr. White, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Blue, etc.) to the torture scene set to 70s music, this movie is at least interesting to watch, whether you like it or not. The first five minutes involved the true meaning behind "Like A Virgin", and whether or not waitresses should be tipped. Whether you love it or hate it, you definitely won't be bored. And there are definitely worse movies out there in terms of content. This one actually seems to have "offensive" material in there for a reason, even more so than Kill Bill. I'd recommend it to everyone.

Quentin Tarantino is Da Man of Da Week for making this movie. 'Nuff said.

Also: here's a random picture that makes me wince.


Ouch!

Quote of Da Moment:
"If you shoot this man, you die next. Repeat. If you shoot this man, you die next."
--Reservoir Dogs

Hm...what's new...I'm still stressed. End of story.

I managed to get QuickTime Pro which reeeeally improves the quality of compression of my videos. Unfortunately, I'm still figuring out what settings to put in order to get the best quality for the smallest file size. That's part of the reason I stayed up until 4:30 Sunday night working with my History video.

But oh well. At least I finished it, and my Biology one too. There's still a few bugs to work out, but nothing too big.

Tomorrow I do the Group 4 presentation. May God have mercy on my soul.

Quote of Da Moment:
"SANTA! OH MY GOD! SANTA'S COMING! I KNOW HIM! I KNOW HIM!"
--Elf

IB stressed.

The IB program = too much work.

At the moment I am working on:

1. Freakin' huge science project that's required and makes up around 25% of my final grade, I think. My team cannot function. We're so screwed.

2. Presentations. English, History, Biology. That's three presentations coming up in the next one to two weeks, all of which in my case involve editing videos. Oh, and a huge TOK presentation coming up in a few weeks.

3. Coursework. A history report on Nazi propaganda. Boring.

4. SAT on Saturday for the third time. I need to improve!

5. College essays. Ugh.

6. Extended Essay. 4000 words about "Dubliners" by James Joyce.

*sigh*

I really hope I can get all that finished by the Christmas holidays. I need a break, before I go crazy.

Quote of Da Moment:
"Liking both Marvin Gaye and Art Garfunkel is like supporting both the Israelies and the Palestinians."
--High Fidelity