Ramblings of a Constipated Mind

I'm sleepy, so I'm going to make this brief. Here's a summary of what I did for Thanksgiving:

Wednesday: Picked up Miguel. Browsed stores at the mall. Picked up Souwa. Watched Snatch. Laughed.

Thursday: Thanksgiving Day. Micro-review of Harry Potter went online. Ate lots. Got fat. Survived having 22 people in the house. Went to see Walk the Line, which was good, but not as high-quality as the critics seem to be suggesting. Come back. Watch Crash, which is quite possibly my pick so far for best movie of the year now that I've seen it twice.

Friday: Got up early to go shopping and hit the sales. Miguel bought nothing. Souwa bought a CD and a gift for her roommate. I bought...considerably more. Mainly, two new toys: a portable DVD player and a Gamecube. Figured I wouldn't have to get an external harddrive for at least another few months, seeing as how I didn't get into a film class for next semester. Came back. Played. Watched The Empire Strikes Back. It still rules.

Saturday: Slept in. Went to see Harry Potter again with Sherri and Terri. Came back and saw a so-so girl movie (Dirty Dancing) and an awesome guy movie (Sin City) that I still think deserves Oscar nods for its technical accomplishments. It has "study me in film class" written all over it.

Sunday: Came back. Chilled. Watched Team America: World Police. It was raunchy, as expected, yet extremely funny at times. The best part was the soundtrack. Audible hilarity ensued. i don't even want to think about the various political messages running through it. Suffice to say it is designed to offend everyone of any political viewpoint ever. Which as a side effect means that you'll find it agrees with you. Weird.

So yeah. That's it. Tomorrow I start classes again. Blegh. Die school. Die.

Quote of Da Moment:
"Last year I went to Iraq. Before Team America showed up, it was a happy place. They had flowery meadows and rainbow skies, and rivers made of chocolate, where the children danced and laughed and played with gumdrop smiles."
--Sean Penn in Team America

I'm away from school.
Got no work to do.
Movies to watch.
Souwa is here.

All is right in the world.

It's not the best thing I've ever written, but it was evidently good enough for the school newspaper. I'm not sure I like how they edited the paragraphs, but then again, I'm not used to writing for newspaper format. Now that I look back, I want to shoot myself for not switching the second-to-last and third-to-last sentences around. But oh well. I guess I'll improve through time. Also, I'm listed as a "Staff Writer" rather than a "Guest Writer", so I guess that means they want me to do this regularly. Yay!

Clickie for online version.

Oh, and The Edukators is a fairly decent German movie. 6/10.

Details here.

Basically, I review Jarhead for 5 minutes. Then Erik, Jeff and Brian discuss the new Harry Potter movie.

It's a good show, and I'm proud to be a part of it. Erik has mentioned the possibility of having three separate podcast feeds: one for full-length reviews and discussion, one just for my microreviews, and one that serves as a combination of both. We'll see what happens.

My review of Chicken Little should be on the site shortly. I'm also going to record a microreview of Harry Potter today so those of you who want to know whether or not it's good but don't have time to sit through a 30-minute discussion will be able to hear my thoughts.

That's all for now. Please send podcast-related comments and suggestions to andrew@moviesurvivalguide.com.

Oh, and Stripes is a fair movie. Overrated.

The second season of the Movie Survival Guide podcast didn't launch today like it was supposed to. I'm disappointed.

I have a Calculus test tomorrow which I'm probably not ready before. I'll study in the morning.

I have a written exam for Social Dance on Tuesday. Gotta study for that too.

Wrote 2 Harry Potter reviews for the Technician. They can choose which one they like best, if either is printable.

Got job work to do tomorrow.

Can't wait until Thanksgiving. Must get away from school. Must see Souwa. Must watch movies. Must sleep.

Must sleep now.

I love the weekends. Especially this one, since it's the last weekend before our 5-day Thanksgiving weekend.

Right now, it's 5:45 on Friday. The plan:

1) Hang out with an acquaintance from middle school whom I just found out recently goes to UNC.
2) Do job work.
3) Either watch a movie or write a review of The Jerk to record for the podcast. Perhaps both.

Saturday:
1) Sleep in.
2) Go see Harry Potter.
3) Write Sociology paper.
4) Do some Calculus.
5) Write first draft of review for Harry Potter.
6) Write separate comments about Harry Potter to record for podcast.
7) Watch movie.

Sunday:
1) Go to church.
2) Do some more Calculus.
3) Listen to launch episode of podcast (and you should too!)
4) Edit the crap out of Harry Potter review.
5) Turn in said review to the staff of the Technician (campus newspaper).
6) Watch movie. Chill.

Yes, I'm writing a review for the school paper. In an attempt to do yet something else that involves movies, I went by their office on Monday and asked about becoming a regular contributor. The editor in charge of the movie section looked at my movie reviews site and my blog. He then handed me a ticket to a special screening of Yours, Mine and Ours for Thursday evening.

Thursday evening came. Mason and I spent an hour trying to find the theater. To make a long story short, we got there late, they wouldn't let us in, and I didn't get to see and review the movie. That was annoying. So I went back today and asked for another chance. He told me to go see Harry Potter on my own time this weekend and to hand a review to him by 8 PM Sunday. So, that's my plan. And this time the theater is within walking distance, so I don't plan on missing it.

I saw Cheaper By The Dozen. Fair movie. Not deserving of the sequel that comes out in a month.

I also saw The Jerk, Steve Martin's first starring role. This movie is fantastic. It is absolutely hilarious. It's definitely one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, ranking up there with Airplane! and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was great. Steve Martin is Da Man of Da Week. He's awesome. The funny part is that I can see my dad pulling off the same role.

I'm going to have quotes from this movie going through my head for days. I think Aaron and I almost had an oxygen overdose from laughing so hard.

Quote of Da Moment:
"It was never easy for me. I was born a poor black child."
--The Jerk

I have some important stuff going on. Here's the deal.

Firstly: The Act was scheduled to film this weekend. I haven't spoken to Deej yet, but if everything went smoothly, then by the time you read this principle photography should be complete. Reshoots, if needed, will take place around Thanksgiving, after which the footage will be mailed to Canada for post-production. I'll try and obtain some stills from the shoot, since I know you want to see what the movie is going to look like. And frankly, so do I.

Also: I bought a computer mic yesterday because I'm going to be working on a podcast. For those of you who don't know, a "podcast" is the current online fad. It's basically Internet radio. Podcasts are used for anything from personal audio blogs to shows about specific topics to music programs like the radio.

I'm going to be working with Erik Blythe on his podcast over at Movie Survival Guide. This podcast was previously at Random Chatter but recently was moved there. Erik was only able to record a few shows at this new domain, however, before he got to be too busy to update. The show went on hiatus, and he put out a call for volunteers to help out with the podcast. I happened to hear his call, and sent him an email volunteering. This was a few weeks ago.

Honestly, I didn't think anything would come of it. But Erik looked at my movie reviews site and this blog, and decided I'd be perfect for the show. I'm going to be in charge of recording "microcasts." Basically, I'll be doing brief 3-10 minute movie reviews which will be separate from Erik's main podcast, though at times he might include them in his main show. I don't know who else he's found to help out, or what they'll be doing. All I know is that that's my job. It's also possible that in the future I'll participate in some discussion-type podcasts or other things. We'll see.

I'm excited. Erik also records the official Star Wars podcast of TheForce.Net, which is probably the most popular Star Wars network on the Internet. Tons of people visit it every day - we're talking thousands. And it's possible that a great deal of those visitors listen to Erik's Star Wars podcast. Which means it's possible that a great deal of that group of people in turn have found or will find the Movie Survival Guide podcast.

My reviews could be heard by dozens of people. They could also be heard by hundreds. No pressure.

I'm psyched. Not to mention as nervous as a snail about to cross a freeway.

I've already recorded microcasts for Jarhead and Chicken Little, one of which will be included in the first podcast when Erik launches "Season 2" (everything after this hiatus). The first podcast is scheduled to be released within the next week if things go smoothly. I'll make an announcement when the first podcast launch and include instructions on how to download and subscribe to the podcast.

Oh, and before you ask: no, I am not getting paid for this. I'm doing this simply because I love all things film-related. I am a movie geek and proud of it.

Nighty night!

Last night I saw Mulholland Drive.

All I have to say about this movie is: What the heck was that?

That was bizarre. I have very little idea as to what was going on. David Lynch is one seriously weird dude. Good movie, but completely nonsensical during the second half.

I also saw Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. It was good, but probably my least favorite of Charlie Kaufman's movies. I guess just because it's so different from all his others. It's much more serious, and very dark. George Clooney did a good job for his directorial debut, though. It's a good movie, just slightly too serious and "mainstream" than what I was expecting from Kaufman. Not enough to analyze and make my head hurt, I guess.

Today, I slept until 1. Then I woke up and decided to see if I could register for classes. Supposedly, I'm not allowed to register until the 15th, and yet...what do you know, it let me. And all I have to say about that is: [expletive deleted]!

All my plans for this coming semester were flushed down the toilet...everything was taken. I don't even want to think about what it would have been like if I had waited until the 15th. Intro to Film, the class I wanted to take above all others this semester? Nope. Closed. There wasn't even a wait-list open. So now I'm gonna have to wait until my sophomore year to start taking film classes. Wonderful.

Intro to Elementary Chinese? Nope. They're only offering Elementary Chinese II, same as this semester, which makes no sense to me whatsoever. How can you get to part II if they don't offer part I?

Science with Labs? Nope. All the ones I'd be interested in taking were full. There's no way I'm going to take chemistry and physics - I'd rather wait in order to take courses that might actually be somewhat interesting (not to mention doable).

The only class I had planned on taking that I got into was E 115. That's a class for one hour of credit. Great.

I finally finished registering after an hour and a half. Let's just say I'm getting all of my social sciences out of the way in one semester. Plus one science (but not a lab one), that I almost didn't take but did once I realized Mason was taking it. And a religion class. No English. No film. No Chinese. No nothing I planned.

I'll post more details on my classes/schedule tomorrow. I'm still trying to get over my maniacal rage.

Anyways, after registering I went with Mason to Best Buy and bought a computer microphone. Why do I need a computer mic? Why is my built-in mic not sufficient? Because I'm going to be doing a significant amount of audio recording, that's why. What for, you ask? I'll tell you tomorrow. Bwahaha.

After that, I ate dinner and we watched Kinsey. Yeah. The one about the sex scientist. That Kinsey.

It was...interesting. Fascinating, actually. I didn't realize how little was known about human sexuality until the 30s and 40s when Kinsey showed up. It was all too taboo. Sex-ed classes consisted of lectures about how if you weren't abstinent you would get really weird diseases and deformities and die. Not discussions or lectures about actual sexual behaviour. Then this guy Kinsey shows up and decides to actually research it. Needless to say, it was extremely controversial. Here you have this guy going around and interviewing people about their sex histories in a time where you'd be looked at strangely if you even said the word "masturbation."

The movie provided an extremely interesting (and sometimes disturbing) look who this guy Kinsey actually was. He was basically the complete opposite of what society wanted - he was in your face, blunt, and extremely open and liberal. His methods consisted of anything from personal interviews to actually filming people having sex. According to the movie, sex really was nothing more than a scientific act for him. He experimented with homosexuality (I will never look at Liam Neeson or Peter Sarsgaard the same way again). He didn't care if his wife slept with other men, and even encouraged her to do so. It was all part of his research. There's one point in the movie when he is confronted with the idea that sex isn't just a scientific act. It's an emotional one. It can be a good thing, but it can also hurt. The movie really is a fascinating character study.

This movie was good. I liked it. However, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're prepared to sit through two hours of conversations and studies about sex. Because, basically, that's what it is. That's what Kinsey is famous for. He basically said, "Look! More people are having sex/oral sex/premarital sex/extramarital sex/masturbating than you think!" Some people will undoubtedly be offended because, basically, his reports took all the ideas about sexual morality and threw them down the toilet. He wasn't looking at sex from a moral perspective, he was looking at it from a scientific perspective. And from that perspective, sex is never wrong unless it hurts others. It is a natural biological act.

Anyways, yeah. That's it.

Quote of Da Moment:
"Sex is a risky game, because if you're not careful, it will cut you wide open."
--Kinsey

Right now, I'm just chilling. Thankfully, this week has been a whole lot less stressful so far compared to previous ones. I'm enjoying it.

Tomorrow I'm going to get up, go to Sociology, and come back and study for an English test I have in the afternoon. Why? Because I'm too lazy to study now. Simple. Besides, it gives me something to do for a few hours in between classes.

Today in Philosophy we started watching a documentary called Tying the Knot about homosexual marriage. And it provided me with a Thought That Makes Me Go "Hmmmm...".

It's a good documentary, and one that makes me uncomfortable. I support gay marriage, but it's one thing to support it and another to watch it happen. There were clips from a wedding that took place where some lesbian and gay couples were allowed to get married, and I found myself squirming. There was a big cake, and instead of the little figurines of a man and a woman standing on top, there were pairs of same-sex figurines. That disturbed me. Plus, there were ministers from various churches (universalists, etc.) dressed in robes and carrying Bibles that were voicing support for gay marriage and looked to be homosexuals themselves. I don't like that. I'm all for state-sponsored gay marriage, but adamantly against bringing religion into it. Keep it civil.

Anyways, one person said something I found extremely interesting. There was a man being interviewed, and he said something to the effect of, "I don't understand why conservatives don't support gay marriage. Marriage isn't easy. It involves commitment, taking responsibility, love... these are all values that conservatives support. And it's not like heterosexual marriages have any less liklihood of divorce - if anything, they probably have more."

It makes you stop and go, "Hmmmm."

And... Ronin is a good action movie. Has some awesome car chases.

I had a good birthday. Went to see Jarhead, which was a pretty decent war movie. Not great, but not terrible. Then I went to see Chicken Little, which is terrible. Then I watched Star Wars with Souwa and helped convert her to the light side. That movie is still freakin' sweet after almost 30 years.

Anyways. Yeah, I'm 19 now. Since the average male lives to be 76, that means 25% of my life is over. Done. Terminated. Finished. Can't get it back. Help! I'm having a quarter-life crisis!

Just kidding. That won't happen until I graduate from college and realize I have no idea how to live in the real world.

I saw The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. I liked it, it was funny. Stupid critics. They said it was terrible, and loved Melinda & Melinda, but I actually laughed harder at the former than the latter. Weird.

They're also stupid when it comes to Human Nature, which I just finished watching a few minutes ago. They don't know what they're talking about. I've said this before, but I'll say it again: Charlie Kaufman is possibly the best screenwriter in all of Hollywood.

This movie is freakin' hilarious, and has a ton of great quotes. And yet, I had to work hard not to turn the IB side of my brain on and start analyzing it. I have a feeling that that would just me a headache. Brain. Hurt. Too. Much. To. Analyze. Know what I mean? It was directed by Michel Gondry, who went on to direct Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. They make a good team. Now I just have to see Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and then I'll have no more Kaufman movies left until his new one in 2007.

Hmm. Human Nature has inspired me to leave society. Farewell, all. I'm going to go live in the woods and run around naked and embrace my natural instincts and impulses. The way God meant for it to be. The way it was originally. It's time to reject the consumerism of society and go back to being one with nature. Just like Walden and Fight Club.

Ooooh ooooh ooooh oooohh aahh aahh!

Quote of Da Moment:
"Apes don't assasinate their presidents, gentlemen!"
--Human Nature

I've spent a few hours every day since Monday working on this stupid Calculus assignment. And somehow I'm still only getting around 55% of the questions right. Maple sucks.

Thankfully, that's the last piece of work I have to do. So the plan for tonight and tomorrow is:

1) Do laundry while watching The Conversation.
2) Pack for trip tomorrow.
3) Sleep.
4) Get up early enough to walk to Cameron Village, return some movies, and go to the ATM.
5) Go to Philosophy class.
6) Call Aaron and see if he's having much luck with the Maple. If he is, get his help.
7) Get on train with Souwa and go to High Point.
8) Eat dinner.
9) Do interviews for my next Sociology report.
10) Spend the rest of the weekend relaxing and not thinking about school at all. Celebrate birthday on Saturday.

If it turns out Aaron can't help me with the Maple, I'm not going to do anything about it. It's not worth it. I keep doing worse and worse with each new homework assignment, but eventually you've just go to accept that in the end it's just some numbers, and it's not worth spending 15 hours on. I'll study my butt off for the remaining tests and hopefully do well enough that it won't matter.

That's all until next week. Happy Birthday to me.

That's how long it's been since I last slept. I've stayed up later (record is 42 for the IB computer project) but that's still a lot.

The result: I am caught in a place somewhere between sleep and awakening. My head hurts. I believe I might legally be considered schizophrenic. But I've done all the work I'm supposed to do this week, with the exception of a bit of job work and some Calculus that would have been finished if there hadn't been a problem with the online submission.

I have the endurance of a bear and the mental capacity of a retarded moose right now. But it was all worth it. Right now I'm going to crash. Then I'm gonna wake up, go to class, and come home and crash some more. And you know what? I think I'll crash tomorrow too. You know, since I don't have any work to do.

This was so worth it. I think I'm getting better at this - I didn't hallucinate this time around. That's an improvement, right?

Melinda and Melinda is a fairly decent movie. Not one of Woody Allen's best, but not terrible either. Will Ferrell seemed to act a whole lot like Woody Allen, which was surprising and kinda weird. During some scenes it was like watching Woody Allen in Will Ferrell's body. That's not a bad thing though, he did a good job.

Brotherhood of the Wolf is a movie I watched earlier this evening (I mean yesterday) with friends for Halloween. It's basically the French version of a B-movie. The story is kinda over-the-top and weird and all over the place, but it's decent fun. Has some pretty cool action scenes.

In other news: I am now definitely a college student. Why? Because I'm pulling my first all-nighter.

I've got a lot of work to do before I go to High Point for my birthday on Friday, and I didn't get as much of it done today as I had planned. I ended up having to work out some issues with Deej regarding script changes he had made which took some time. Basically, he was using his creative control as director to make some minor changes, which was fine with me. However, I have to approve all the major changes he makes, and there was one change that I really hated (once again, regarding the structure - I thought we had fixed this!) and wouldn't sign off on. If I had even had mixed feelings about it, I would have let him do it, just because I want him to want to make the movie and be happy with it. But I didn't have mixed feelings about this particular change, I was 100% against it, and couldn't see anything positive about it at all. So that caused some friction, and I spent a lot of the day working that out. Don't worry, I did. The original structure was kept, and Deej is allowed to do all the other stuff he wanted to change. Including the new-and-improved ending. Both of us knew something was missing from the last scene - he figured out what it was, and now it's totally awesome. I'm so excited to see what he does with this.

But anyways...yeah. It's past 5 in the morning, and I have class at 8:30, so there isn't much point in going to sleep. I've been getting a lot of work done though. I did 3 hours of job work (half the week done! yay!), English homework, Spanish homework...this is good. Right now I'm getting ready to mess around with my English paper some more, and figure out if I need to drastically re-structure it.

Now the only question is whether or not I'll be able to get through all my classes today. It's Terrible Tuesday. 5 classes. This is gonna be rough. And, if I can manage to do a Calculus assignment and finish up my job work...I'll pretty much be free for the rest of the week. That's my goal. Push myself to the limit today, and reap the benefits later in the week.

*starts singing I Will Survive*

Twenty bucks says I manage to stay awake through Calculus. No wait, I take that back.

Quote of Da Moment:
"I had no idea a Republican could be that sexy."
--Melinda and Melinda