It’s been a long time. Too long. I guess the only excuse I have is that I’ve been very busy. I’ve decided to stay on campus this summer for an easier commute to the city for my internship.
I’m currently interning for a foreign independent film distribution company called Film Movement. It’s a pretty cool gig and has definitely been very educational. One awesome perk about working there? Getting to see a bunch of foreign award-winning films. What film lover wouldn’t want that?!
Working at Film Movement and working for Res Life has completely drained me. I’m always SO exhausted and rarely have time for much else! I did manage to go see a couple of movies though in theatres – you know, getting the full experience. Yea, I know these days people have their own home theatre systems and I’m sure I’ll save up and spend the first five paychecks or so when I grow up and have a real job on a super cool state of the art screen and speakers for my living room. But seriously – nothing beats going to the actual theatre – the silver screen.
Hot from the Twilight phenomenon, Robert Pattinson’s next major release is Little Ashes, the story of famous Spanish Catalan surrealist painter Salvador Dali.
I’m a sucker for biopics. I usually get really psyched for them and am the first one in line to see the movie. But for some reason, (actually I know the reason) I’m not looking forward to this one. Okay, so here are the reasons: first, the trailer is not impressive. It’s an independent film (produced by APT Films, Aria Films, Factotum Barcelona S.L., Met Film Production, and Met Film) but I still expect high quality trailers. I’m sure the film will draw Robert Pattinson lovers but what about real film lovers? The trailer looks amaterurish and choppy. I didn’t even get the clear picture that Dali was a painter (except for a few short shots where he is painting furiously).
Second, accents are SO off. Dali is Spanish – why cast an up and coming British actor as a Spaniard? Why not an actual Spaniard? Nothing bothers me more than a period piece with inacurate information. My friend and I were talking about the research that needs to go into making a biopic. Not only is this research important on the part of the screenwriter, director, producer, etc., but it is most noticeable in the actor. Every movement, every word and action should mean something – it should reflect the time and place of the film. When Keira Knightley walks, she walks like the women in the time period she is portraying walk. The actors walk the way we walk today. It’s kind of annoying.
Third, Robert Pattinson is 23 years old. How could he possibly portray someone who is many years older than him? He’s too immature and does not have the life experience to take on the role of someone several years his senior. It’s easier for actors to play someone younger than their age but very rarely (if ever) have I seen an actor portray a character older than him/her. He’s too young and not experienced enough to take on such a big role!
Anyway, if the movie is anything like the trailer, I am going to be very disappointed. I’m already walking into the theater with the lowest expectations. I might just wait for the film to come out onto DVD.
Summer blockbuster season is just around the corner! May marks the month of action packed movies sure to sell out tickets. One of the films that I am looking forward to this summer is X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I love the X-Men series (minus the last one – it wasn’t that great). I like to watch the movies over and over and sometimes like to pretend that I’m a comic book nerd and then go discuss the series with actual comic book geeks. (This doesn’t really last that long because about ten minutes into the conversation, they realize I’m a fake and don’t know anything about the characters outside of the movies). You would think this would slow me down and take a huge hit on my ego but that’s not the case. I just get more and more excited every time a new movie comes out. (Oh yea, I’m so psyched to see Star Trek too – and you guessed it – I’ve never seen a single episode of the series.)
The first time I saw the first X-Men movie was on a school trip to Boston in seventh grade. The three plus hours bus ride was excruciating and full of obnoxious kids trying to get the rest of the bus to sing along to “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” so when the teacher popped in the movie, it was a relief. Jane, one of my closest friends ever, had seen the movie and had passed out. I was all alone and it is definitely not like me to pass up a chance to watch a movie so there it was – my first X-Men experience. Just me and the small little 17-inch bus TV. That’s all that was needed actually. I’ve seen movies on airplanes with much smaller screens.
Ever since being introduced to Rogue (who has the lamest super power ever by the way), Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Professor X, Magneto, and Jean Grey, I woke up each day hoping that my genes would have magically scrambled around and a wonderful mutation had taken place that would give me the best super power ever. And each day, I woke up realizing that I was just human. What made the movies even cooler to me was that X-Mansion was located in North Salem in Westchester County! I LIVE in Westchester County! That may not be such a big deal for many, but it definitely made me feel cool. I was already so close to the mansion – just needed that damn superpower first…
I’m older now and I should know better than to dream unrealistically, but somehow, whenever a new superhero movie comes out, I find myself wishing for a new super power each time…
All the results on the first page talk about Drake’s performance at our annual music festival ‘Culture Shock’. Apparently the publicists for Drake (AKA Aubrey Graham, or as I know him – Jimmy Brooks from Degrassi ) thought his performance at Purchase was an open show and advertised it as such in many radio stations and public forums. The security at the entrance were checking for ID and guest passes and had to turn away many people. Yea, the people were pissed, but it gave us a lot of publicity and definitely put us on the map.
Although he was on stage for less than 30 minutes, I thought he did an awesome job. But don’t totally trust me on that one because I’m a bit biased. The last song he performed though (“Every Girl” with lyrics – “I wish I could fuck every girl in the world”) was definitely offensive. But overall, I was pleased with his performance. Jeff had given me Drake’s song “Best I Ever Had” a couple of weeks so I had plenty of time to learn all the words to his song simultaneously driving my roommate crazy since I had the song on repeat.
Yea we had to wait about 45 minutes for him to come on stage, and yea I was pulled to the middle of the crowd and in the middle of one of the songs, a guy attempted to crowd surf and fell down right next to me – bumping heads with mine. But at the end of the night, it was so worth it.
Apparently, headlining at Culture Shock was Lil Wayne’s protegee first live performance. Well, I hope he remembers his roots so when we becomes BFFLs later in life, I can tell him that I was there for his first major gig.
The trailer for Sam Mendes’s latest movie Away We Go has got all the aspects of an ‘indie’ movie. The really chill indie music, “Juno”-style graphics/writing, and “Little Miss Sunshine”-esque blank faces one scene juxtaposed with overly silly expressions and scenes of mayhem. Topped with an all-star cast, I think this looks like a movie that I would be willing to go see (esp. since it’s starring my favorite paper salesman John Krasinski). One thing is holding me back though. And that’s Maya Rudolph. She was just okay in SNL but now she has to be cast in what seems like an otherwise awesome movie? I can’t take her seriously and I know I’m being dramatic when I say that she turned me off from the entire movie from her scenes in the trailer. Krasinski’s natural goofy charm works with what I can see as his character and the other actors seem to fit in nicely too. It’s just Maya who doesn’t seem to fit. I think I just may be very cynical today but I want to laugh everytime she says “All we can do, is be good for this ONE baby… We don’t have control over much else”
Of course, I say all of this now and then I probably will end up loving the movie. We’ll see. I don’t have control over much else (HAHAHA).
Before I knew it, the weekend came to end and so did the Festival. I have never been happier ever. Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s an exaggeration but I’m not happy the festival came to an end, I’m happy that I pulled it off and it was a success. I spent the past couple of weeks stressing and pulling my hair out trying to please my bosses and making sure everything was on track. Well, on Sunday, I found that it was all worth it. Pulling off this festival was a real confidence booster. Maybe the feeling will die down in a couple of weeks, but right now I feel like if I work this hard later, I can pull off anything (and I sort of feel on top of the world right now haha).
Three important things happened this weekend that have made a significant impact on my life:
1. I have the support of many of my friends and professors – and their praises helped me continue working through the festival
2. I can actually pull off a festival of this size and help make it a success
3. I got to know some of my friends/volunteers better and forged stronger friendships
Anyway, all in all, solid weekend.
Thanks to Everyone Who Helped Make This a Big Success!
