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Now Playing: Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs …. I’m kind of jumping on the MTV bandwagon here, but I like them nonetheless |
So I’ve been 17 for a while now and I have to admit that it is quite different from any other age. The fact that I can drive by myself hasn’t quite sunk in yet …. I always imagined myself taking these little roadtrips in the rain listening to music. I don’t think I’ll be doing that anytime soon … I’m terrified of driving in the rain. I really am. One word – Hydroplaning. Driver’s Ed will scare you poopless.
Now that I am 17, I like to look back on my childhood now. And when I see pictures of myself when I was little, I think to myself “Ahhh yes … I was young once … and hyperactive … and flexible” (really … I was … I could practically do a split). And I would remember when my sisters and I would videotape our renditions of “The Twilight Zone” ….. something we called “The Toilet Zone”, where a man would be taking a crap and be sucked in by a toilet monster. Needless to say, I was the toilet monster …. at the age of 6 … my how I’ve grown old.
Go Red Sox:
Can’t say I’m much of a baseball fan … but as our Constitution states(?), it is our duty to watch baseball …. and watched I did. I gotta hand it to the Red Sox though …. they played great …. especially the Jesus man. I knew it was over after that grand slam in the second inning off of the first pitch of the pitching change …
My condolences go out to Kevin Brown. Its sad when a great pitcher gets hurt and deteriorates before your eyes …. I’m sure Steinbrenner’s writing his ticket out of Yankee-ville right now.
After the game, I could only wonder how my Yankees loving grandmother would take this. I felt I should call her to console her … I would imagine the conversation going like this …..
me: Ah poi (grandmother) …. it’ll be alright. They’ll get em next year.
ah poi: Oh … I know. I just wanted to see them go to the World Series this year.
me: Just think of it this way …. over the off-season they’ll make a lot of changes to their lineup and they’ll be better than ever.
ah poi: Thanks. I feel much better now. My love for the Yankees will never falter.
But get this … she doesn’t know an ounce of english. HOW FREAKY IS THAT?! (note: this whole thing sounded a lot better in my head)
School anti-violence week
This week is anti-violence week for our school and this basically entails that we attend assemblies on violence and such. Having gone through this last year, I knew what to expect.
I’ve come to learn that this week is the week where they tell the guys that when a girl says no … it means no …. and when they say yes …. it also means no …
And unlike the guys, the girls are told to defend themselves in a threatening situation …. which basically translates into “Here. Take these lessons from Tiger Schulman’s Karate. Make sure that if a guy touches you, you kick him real hard in the balls.”
My how I love our school system.
Filmeezy Fo Sympeezy (aka Filmmakers’ Symposium):
Fifth week of Symposium has come to an end …
This week’s film was called Sideways which has also been an eagerly awaited film of mine …
All thanks to my Fox Searchlight film scavenging … 
Something I feel I must add …
is that this film is THE best reviewed movie of the year …
topping that of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind …
And the fact that it was the closing film of the New York Film Festival …
is also something that I must not forget to mention …
Thanks IMDB *hi five* …
(yes I am aware that I just hi five’d IMDB)
But I also believe that this film deserves much more than some vague review … so I guess I will start here.
Sideways is the newest feature film by Alexander Payne (director of the recent hit About Schmidt) and while I was aware of its acclaim amongst critics everywhere before watching the movie …. I really wasn’t sure what to expect. Being a semi-fan of About Schmidt, I expected to laugh a little while watching Sideways, but honestly … nothing more. Needless to say, the film was nothing short of hilarious and genius.
The premise of the movie isn’t anything attention grabbing or something to gloat about. In fact, the premise of the movie is downright boring. “Miles Raymond, a recently divorced failed writer, takes his old pal and formerly famous actor pal Jack on a weeklong drive to ‘wine country’ in California, where they explore their failed relationships and lives.” A plot so boring that even I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst of enemies. The way Payne manifests this movie into an endearing film still boggles me ….
What was most odd about this film …. was its casting. And its not to say that the casting was bad …. in fact, it was actually phenomenal. Its not everyday that a director of Alexander Payne’s stature decides to go from a movie, which achieves high esteem at the Oscars, like About Schmidt to a movie like Sideways from a casting point of view. Payne could have easily gone with the high profile stars to market this film than to have stayed true to the movie. As a matter of fact, the night’s guest was the casting director … and she mentioned that George Clooney, Russel Crowe, and Jennifer Connelly all expressed interest in being in the film.
It seems that Alexander Payne’s decision to stay with his original cast was a very good one …. considering the oscar buzz that this film has been getting – Best Picture (huge longshot in my opinion, but what do I know) and Best Actor (Paul Giamatti). Oscar buzz seems to have become my favorite thing these days … Curses!
Projected release date: October 22nd
Final Verdict: Highly Recommended A-
vctrw 