Saturday, December 11, 2004
I Don't Want To Do Anything
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
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
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 12/11/2004 04:15:00 PM 
