Post-Summer Mayhem-ism

Finally.

My summer movie is done. After 18 filming days, and a glorious 1 hour movie. Sure, it’s funny and all, but it’s not my greatest work. It depresses me that there are other kids my age who are rich and get fabulous cameras and win festivals.

But apparently my feat is pretty impressive here in Olympia. There are over 300 coming to see it in the festival Friday and the Olympian (local newspaper) interviewed me for a story. Not bad!

I haven’t watched a lot of movies since I’ve just been editing. But I did finish The Departed, and I watched Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park (just for fun, love it), Kill Bill Vol. 1, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Pulp Fiction, and Se7en.

To start things off, I LOVE MARTIN SCORSESE. I am a very squeamish person, and I can’t stand blood, but he (and Tarantino) make blood… Fun! Sadly, I watched the TV version of Goodfellas, but I was hooked on the beginning:

“As far back as I could remember, I always wanted to be a gangster” -Slam trunk, music, freeze frame, title. BAM. That is the best title sequence I’ve seen. It just… Grabs you!!! My gosh, that is one masterpiece. Scorsese had my respect from there on out.

Taxi Driver was ok. Kind of boring, but a masterpiece none the less. I watched it after Goodfellas so my mind was on gangsters not pimps.

And then there’s The Departed. Wow. Fantastic ending. So many good lines worth repeating, except they’re sprinkled with F-bombs. But it’s so acceptable when Mark Wahlberg says it. Anyways, great movie. Violent. Love it.

Schindler’s List. Words cannot describe it. An epic movie that hits you right in the heart, POW. I was in awe the whole time. As far back as I could remember (tee hee, Goodfellas) I’ve always had a fascination with World War II. Spielberg answered all my questions. I didn’t cry in the entire movie UNTIL the saved Jews made Oskar the rings. Then, I just burst out hysterically. Isn’t it amazing how a movie can do that to you? Yeah, that’s Spielberg for you.

Se7en. Just finished it today. Very nice. David Fincher never disappoints. And it’s true what my film friends said: Watch it, and for the rest of the week, you just feel like life sucks. Clever story.

And the finale: QUENTIN TARANTINO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Warning: I only watched the TV version of Kill Bill, and trust me, I plan to watch the DVD for extra gore ;).

Well I watched Kill Bill. Hearing that it was a kung-fu/samurai/anime/spaghetti western movie made me skeptical at first, but within the first five minutes I was hooked. It was so interesting and so great! There is… There is no words to describe it. You just need to go see it. And it’s so cool to see a lead female fighting. Uma Thurman is WINNING in this movie. Even better, they’re making a Kill Bill Vol. 3 in 2013.

Some people say “How will there be a third one?!” but here’s my take: The daughter of the black girl who The Bride killed is going to get revenge on The Bride sinse she watched her kill her mother… Ooooooh, story!!

Pulp Fiction was amazing too, but I didn’t think it was as good as Kill Bill. I know, I know, shame on me! But I still LOVED Pulp Fiction. I mean, come on. It’s a random mesh of stuff that just works! Best screenplay ever! Hit men and hamburgers. Nuff said.

So, soon to come: An early look at possible Oscar booters. Stay tuned!!

I Ate Air With a Spoon While Nerds Ceased Their Riot

Just to let you know, I FINALLY finished Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and sent it back to Netflix after having it for five straight months (I’m sure many angry nerds wanted to torch my house) and I must say, It was really good. Very powerful with those iconic huge Peter Jackson-esque pans across the landscape.

So before that, I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. What an amazing movie. I love how Jack Nicholson is completely normal, and helps the mental patients. It was just so, so, SO happy until the end. What the heck. Billy died, the evil nurses gave McMurphy lobotomy and pretty much ripped out his soul, so the Chief indian guy had to suffocate him. I was on the verge of tear. Those evil, evil people! Overall, it was beautifully worked out and amazing how that little movie made me feel things so big. It’s so cool how movies can movie you like that. That’s all I can say.

Then I watched Up In The Air. LOVE IT.

It has that minimalist feeling like The Social Network that I love so much. And, I love going to airports and traveling. I could totally relate to Ryan Bingham. Here, you have George Clooney’s charm (attractive even if he’s 50. Yes, I think so!) and relaxing voice, Vera Farmiga’s great acting, Anna Kendrick’s enthusiastic and clean personality, a well written screenplay, some delicious cinematography (I could just eat it all up with a spoon), some absolutely magnificent editing, and this is all conducted by Jason Reitman. Did I mention that the opening song and title sequence is genius?

I have already watched it twice in one week. I have that weird thing where I feel like I need to watch a movie more than one… I don’t know. Must be a filmmaker thing.

But anyways. Up In The Air is AMAZING. It’s just so… Yummy. I can’t really describe it. Like a feast for your eyes. And your ears. That screenplay is so well written. Some fantastic quotes, like:

(This is when Ryan talks about getting 10,000,000 miles)

Ryan Bingham: “And they put your name on the side of a plane.”
Natalie Keener: “Men get such hardons from putting their names on things. You guys don’t grow up. It’s like you need to pee on everything.”

(Ryan on getting through airport security)

Ryan Bingham: “Never get behind old people. Their bodies are littered with hidden metal and they never seem to appreciate how little time they have left. Bingo, Asians. They pack light, travel efficiently, and they have a thing for slip on shoes. Gotta love ’em.”
Natalie Keener: “That’s racist.”
Ryan Bingham: “I’m like my mother, I stereotype. It’s faster.”

(The company is changing to firing over the internet, which Ryan doesn’t like. Natalie’s boyfriend had just broken up with her, so Ryan and Alex are helping her through it.)

Alex Goran: “He broke up with you by text message?”
Ryan Bingham: “Wow. That’s kind of like getting fired over the Internet.”

As you can see, it’s a total dramady. I love it. Go and watch it.

Then I watched An Education. It’s sweet. And kind of creepy. But sweet. David is a charming man and Jenny is mature enough for him, but he’s such a cheating, lying, horrible guy! I mean, wow, date a girl and get ENGAGED to her while you’re still married?! Think man, think. It was a good movie still. Very nice story and simple camera angles. Cute. I’d recommend it.

So yes. I’ve been using my time wisely.

Sometimes Running Can Be Hazardous to One’s Health

So I have had a concussion for the last two weeks (still do) and therefore I have not been able to go on the computer for more that 5 minutes at a time.

So you’re thinking, “You watched a lot of movies, right?!” and the answer is:

No. I had a concussion because some girl in soccer thought it would be fun to tackle me. Long story short, I landed on my head and neck, had to go to the ER, CT scan, ended up with a sprained neck and a concussion, no school for a week (was supposed to be 2, but I just couldn’t do that), so sports for a month, ect.

Basically, when you have a concussion, you just lie in a dark room ans sleep. And that was my mom’s intentions. Otherwise, I was able to sneak a few episodes of 30 Rock in between there. And three movies actually.

First I watched The Silence of the Lambs with a friend. And I must say, wow. Usually thrillers made in the 1990s are kind of, overly dramatic. But this was, wow. A horrific thriller drama crime mystery. An amazing one. Sir Anthony Hopkins was outstanding. Out. Stand. Ing. He was a total creep. Sadly, this was the day after I had gotten trampled by that brute, so I didn’t exactly process all the symbolism. I plan to watch this movie again to see what the moth and the lambs mean.

Next watched Chariots of Fire, which is a very good movie. Again, I was a little out of it, so I didn’t get to pay much attention to the movie. But it was still really great. Happy and inspiring.

And finally, I watched Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. It was, as people say, a cinematic masterpiece, but I am not really fond of those super-fantasy movies. For me, I felt like a super-nerd for watching it. But hey, aren’t I already a super nerd?

On Saturday I saw the new Pirates movie, but that will be a whole new post. Look for that soon.

And for the sad news…

My movie didn’t make it into the Seattle Times contest. Why?

Oh I’ll tell you why.

They weren’t professional judges obviously. They gave awards to 5 year olds (um, can you say PARENT HELP!) and a 9-year-old who had his dad’s help and composed a song called “We Love You Seattle” and sung and danced to it. I am pissed. The movie sucked. Mine was 10000000000X better. Well, I can get into some more professional festivals and get some more professional results.

Especially since my NYFA camp is paid for the plane tickets are bought.

Twilight’s Redemption?

We have all read the Twilight books (and by ‘we’, I mean all teenage girls). They were quite amazing, and everyone knew the movies were short to follow. But the first one was… A fail. I mean, I read the Director’s Notebook, and well… Catherine Hardwike had an unusual vision. After all, she’s one of those funky-indie type.

Her vision of Edward was so askew it was… Askew. She imagined him with long hair. LONG HAIR. No teenage girl in America wants an Edward with long hair. Basically, she based the whole movie off her daughter’s funky art.

How did she mess up the series for life? Lets start with casting. If you use the cast in the first movie, they’re stuck with all four (five now, since Breaking Dawn is in 2 parts). And one big casting mistake: why oh why did you cast Kristen Stewert as Bella! She’s such a bad actress, and it’s bringing down the movie!

And just the whole feeling of the movie was… Off. Which set the rest of the movies off-course. But, there is hope.

The movies are getting better. They’re improving, and I think this is because they use a different director for each movie (and I think this is because the first movie was so bad).

So let’s hope Breaking Dawn Part II is better.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Twilight, and Catherine is like an idol to me as a woman director. I think she needs a bit more experience, and all will be well.

Best of the Bad: ‘A Younger Demographic’

“To me, funerals are like bad movies. They last too long, they’re overreacted, and the ending is predictable.”

~George Burns

Hm. Driving off a cliff in a bad movie would make for a pretty predictable funeral then.

I was watching TV the other day, and Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 (BHC2) was advertised. And I thought: How can these people make money off of this?! I mean, this movie wasn’t even in theaters.

Once upon a time a few years back, my grandparents were really excited about Beverly Hills Chihuahua (BHC. They are Hispanic, and I guess it looked good to them.), and asked my brother and I if we wanted to go. Being polite, we went.

All I have to say is that it was one of those “talking dog with George Lopez cracking off juvenile jokes” sort of movie. I can see how the little kids loved it… And some girl in my grade said it was her all time favorite movie (um, no!).

But what really irks me is when people make sequels. And what really, really irks me is when people make sequels of not very good movies. WHY oh WHY did they make a BHC2?! And if you listen to the commercials, BCH had Drew Barrymore, and BCH2 doesn’t even… The only star is George Lopez. This, I found, was majorly depressing.

Think about it. Every kids movie that had a sequel failed sadly (besides anything from Pixar. They work some magic there.).

And has anyone seen the commercial for ‘The Chaperone’? Again, wasn’t even theaters.

Please.  This movie looks so depressingly bad. There are 5th graders running around, and it’s PG-13! Like THAT will attract my age group! Then they make some crack about hugging a guy and “I hope that’s your fanny pack.” Ew. Come on.

So be glad that we are all out of those talking-dog-meets-desperate-middle-school-kid-who-just-wants-an-acting-career-meets-cheesy-animated-comedy movies. There are the kind that skip the DVD Netflix phase and go straight into watch instantly with all the others.

Now for Gigli… Just Kidding.