Ramblings of a Constipated Mind

So this is it. In a few hours, I will be off to Nashville for a week of Sales School, and then Wisconsin for the summer. I don't know if I will have access to a computer, so this may be the last you hear from me for a while. It's going to be good.

Things I Have Learned So Far This Year:

1) It's true. Turning twenty changes everything, and makes life a lot harder and more complicated.
2) Love (of all types) is the greatest force in the universe, and the easiest to misinterpret. As a result of learning this, I am now no longer a romantic, but I am also not a cynic. Rather, I'm a romantic cynic. Odi et amo: quare id faciam, fortasse requiris. Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.
3) The problem with time healing everything is that it takes time. Also, I have yet to discover whether that is true, or if certain wounds never fully heal. I guess it depends on who you ask.
4) Things get better.
5) God is faithful (I think and trust - if I knew for certain, I'd be moving mountains).
6) My greatest sin is pride.
7) I don't know much.

Who knows what the summer may show me?

Random movie notes: Deliver Us From Evil is a very good, very dark documentary about the Catholic Church sex scandal. It's very heavy. Every time the main priest was onscreen I got this weird feeling that I was looking at something purely evil. He claims to want forgiveness and resolve, but there's something about his eyes and his tone of voice that say otherwise. It's creepy. If you rent it, be sure to check out the deleted scenes for what appears to have been a fairly indepth tangent about the contradictions between the biblical church and the Catholic Church in general, not just in regards to sexuality.

I also just finished watching Russian Ark. This film is a technical and artistic masterpiece. Unfortunately, it's also extremely boring. I had no idea what was going on in terms of the narrator and his friend (basically, how we're supposedly back in time looking at 300 years of Russian history to begin with) and don't know enough about Russian history or culture to really care. There was a period of around one minute about 3/4 into the movie where I was like, "Hey! That's Anastasia! And Tsar Nicholas!" Then they were gone. Blegh. Still, the sheer fact that this movie was made is in itself a miracle. I don't want to think about the amount of planning that must have gone into it, and what it would mean if a single detail was out of place...

Hm, okay. Well that's it. Time to get a few hours sleep before driving for hours and hours. I wish you all a good summer. Have fun!

So, on Tuesday, I woke up at 8:45. At night. That makes for a total of 18 hours of sleep straight.

Why is it that after that much sleep, plus frequent naps, I still feel exhausted? I don't get it. This semester must have killed me more than I thought.

Haven't been doing much except getting ready to leave and watching movies.

The Devil's Rejects really, really sucks. I have no idea why people like Rob Zombie. At least the first one was kinda campy fun and had Dwight from The Office in it.

The Holiday, on the other hand, is very good. The best romantic comedy I've seen in quite some time. It actually showed some originality in terms of characterization. Jack Black should do more serious roles - he can handle it.

I checked out Bram Stoker's Dracula since I remembered it being mentioned here and there in my screenwriting class in a discussion about the vampire genre. Wow. What a mixed bag. This movie is incoherent and acts as though it's more interesting than it really is. However, visually, it has some really, really cool shots. Oh, and Gary Oldman proves once again he's one of the greatest actors alive. Somehow he managed to pull off an actual performance in that makeup. The movie can't decide whether or not it wants to be an homage to old 40s and 50s vampire flicks or its own movie. After the first sequence with Keanu Reeves, I was thinking to myself, "You know, this isn't half bad as a parody or a tribute to the genre's roots." Then a little later, when things started not making much sense, I realized that it was taking itself seriously. Still, at least my eyes were entertained by some really good makeup and shot composition.

16 Blocks is better than I thought it would be. All of the performances were fantastic. Mos Def is one of the few musicians out there who can actually act, as movies like this and The Woodsman have shown.

The Prophecy is at least entertaining. Christopher Walken as a fallen angel? Viggo Mortensen as Lucifer? Count me in. The story is a bit weak, but Walken steals the show, and I enjoy movies exploring theological issues, no matter how unrealistic. Kinda like Constantine. That was a fun movie, too.

Also: I got my autographed DVD of Crank in the mail today. Yay.

Oh, and I got my screenplay back. I made an A. Booyah.

One more day until I'm out of here.

Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I'm free at last!

I am in High Point. I am finished with my exams. I have escaped.

This was the semester from hell. I am so glad that it's over. It sucked both in terms of academics and life in general. You can give me all the jazz about how things get better, suffering happens, whatever. You know what, you're absolutely right. But that doesn't change the fact that it sucked! I want a t-shirt that says "I SURVIVED THE SPRING OF 2007."

Things I am grateful for:

1) Everyone who supported me. I barely made it as it is.
2) That I am not of legal drinking age, and did not encounter any open containers of alcohol. There were moments when if I had had the opportunity I would have gotten as drunk as possible and probably wound up in the hospital. No joke. It's weird to not have any desire to drink and then out of nowhere get this huge temptation.
3) That it's over.

The peak of the bad stuff was passed a few weeks ago, and now this is another important step. I'm so excited. Life is good. I am free to leave this whole semester behind and start fresh. I'm off to Wisconsin and then China. Basically: I will not set foot back on the NC State campus for seven months. Hallelujah. It's time for a change in scenery, mind, heart, attitude and spirit.

Woohoo!

***

I went to see Spider-Man 3 again. I think overall I liked it a bit better than the first time. It seemed more... stable. Not quite as uneven as the first time. It's still a very flawed movie, but overall I like it. Hey, it's a comic book movie. It won't win any Oscars. And it's at least a little better than the mediocre X-Men: The Last Stand.

I also saw The Last Kiss. It was so-so. The ending is really good, but it's extremely unrealistic. That would never happen. I mean, hey, I'm a romantic and I'm all for trying that, but it's not going to turn out well. He would get the cops called on him. If you've seen it, you know what I mean.

I also just finished watching House of 1000 Corpses. I had never seen a Rob Zombie movie, but I know a couple of people that really like him, so I decided to check it out. I was just looking to turn my brain off and have a little gory horror fun. The verdict: the characters are interesting, the dialogue is pretty clever at times, but it's just not that scary. I was expecting something a lot creepier. However, I've heard the sequel is better, so I'll probably give that a chance.

Oh, and Rocky Balboa is overrated. Some good characterization, but overall, I didn't see what the big deal was. It's good, but it's not fantastic.

***

The following video is dedicated to Karen, who loves all things emo. It also seems appropriate in light of Spider-Man 3 (Emo Pete). I love his facial expressions.



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And speaking of Spider-Man 3:




***

It's time to sleep for a few dozen hours.

My screenplay is done and turned in. I am proud of myself. It's not as good as it can be, and I'd like to back in the future and re-work it, but for a first draft I think it works alright. I have tentatively titled it No Room In Hell, and it is 78 pages long. Woohoo!

Also: Spider-Man 3 is simultaneously the best and worst of the series. It's just as good as some people say it is. And it's also just as bad as others claim. More on that later.

I sense a long night ahead. Ah, well. It'll be worth it.

The majority of my screenplay is written. I am still in the process of putting it all together and fixing things as necessary. In approximately one hour, Morgan and I will be leaving to go attend a midnight screening of Spider-Man 3. I'm excited. It'll be a good way to get my mind off zombies and job work and how tired I am. Afterwards, it's back to finishing my screenplay, so I can turn it in tomorrow before packing up a load of stuff and heading to High Point.

Will post a review shortly.

Interesting article on Obama and Christianity. I still need to do more research on this guy, but I am rapidly becoming a fan.

Also: Aronofsky + The Bible = Best Movie Ever?

I really, really hope that this gets made.