So because I didn't have much to do today between a short audition and 8 o'clock, I went to Blockbuster and rented two movies- Pulp Fiction and Benny and Joon. Mostly so people will stop telling me I have to see them every time I mention I haven't.

Blockbuster also had Plunkett and Macleane, which ZOMG FLAIL YAY. Assuming the disc's in good shape, I'll be forking over the extra $10 so's I can keep it.

Update on the freak-out scenario from a few days ago: someone crossed their name off in the 5 o'clock slot, so now I can have my B-Fest and audition too. :D Joy and jubilance!

Tonight there will be more clubbing as we go downtown to celebrate a birthday. Goooood times.

<3

Two World Series wins in 4 years?? Red Sox fans must not know what to do with themselves.

Had a good weekend: the Halloween party was a success; people came, a few people even dressed up, and one person took off thier pants. Apparently that's a DCP party requirement now. We watched 3 movies: Tales From the Crypt (British 70's movie, not the TV show with the punning corpse), The Master of Disguise, and finally I introduced DCP members to the glory that is Zardoz. Really, THAT is a party movie. Hilarious quotable lines in the beginning and then the dialogue descends into drawn-out psychobabble, but that's okay because no one's paying attention anymore, and the visuals are enough to make people look at the screen every so often and go, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!" Plus, Sean Connery in red underwear.

Sunday morning, went to Le Peep for breakfast (banana milkshake. nummmmm) and spent the early afternoon watching football and futzing around on the internets with John. Then I went to an acting class meeting. Everyone's getting geared up for this New Leagues thing: an audition to go to New York and be part of an industry showcase. So, that's that.

Can't believe it's already the 6th week of the quarter.

Finally, as others have mentioned, one of the spiritual communities I belong to has been really active this past week and that makes me very very happeh. Probably a combination of the new members we've gotten recently, plus the fact that Halloween is coming up (thin veil and all that). Whee!

For some reason, it seems the only type of scary movies I not only mind seeing, but are compelled to see, are the ones starring John Cusack. Because the last horror flick I remember really wanting to see before '1408' was 'Identity'.

I'm pretty sure it's not just cause I think he's cute, because there are plenty of other cute actors who've been in scary movies that I haven't been compelled to see. So go figure.

I saw '1408' today by myself. Dad, who is a complete chicken about horror films (as chicken as I used to be, and still almost am), thought I was insane for wanting to do this. But he bought me a ticket anyway :P

Non-spoiler review: '1408' is scary in a fun way, as in a way that doesn't make me want to scrub off my brain just to get the images out of it afterwards. But still pretty freakin' scary (I wish I could remember which scene I put my hand to my face and discovered it was shaking). And that's all well and good, cause that's what it's supposed to be--if it weren't, it wouldn't be worth even half the ticket price. But it's worth seeing on the big screen for the visuals, which are at times eerily pretty and Tim Burton-esque. As for the acting/writing, the characters are about what you'd expect from their respective actors--Samuel L Jackson is well-grounded and kickass, Cusack is a wounded puppy--but they do it well and make it believable because it's their shtick.

Also, Tony Shaloub is in it for about five minutes even though he gets billing right at the front of the film. Now that's a good agent.

( Spoilers within )

I'm not even a member of fiery_inception yet, and already I'm getting plot bunnies.

Outrageous plot bunnies. Paradigm-shifting plot bunnies.

And if for some reason I can't play it out, I'll just have to write it as a fic that no one will read cause no one knows who the hell Stephen Stebbins is. :P

ALSO: OotP International Trailer = Totally Hot. F&G are so much pwnage.

HOT FUZZZZZZZZZ.

I got to see an advance screening thanks to a contest through the Onion. It was technically free, though getting to the theatre and back cost me four bucks, but still, cheaper than a movie ticket. Thanks, the Onion!

Anyway, it was, as expected, So the Awesome. This is the kind of violent movie I can get behind. I only had to cover my eyes twice, and even then it was still-kinda-peeking-through-my-fingers style. ^__^;;;

( Slight spoilers within )

Also, Sally Peep from 'The 10th Kingdom' is totally in it. I'd recognize that voice anywhere. IMDB confirms this.

And now I am for sleeps. I dun wanna Japanese test tomorrow... -_-

'Grindhouse'!

Planet Terror: Naveen Andrews I liked. Freddy Rodriguez (who I remember from 'Six Feet Under') being a complete and total badass I liked. The gun-leg was cool too. But overall Not My Kind of Movie, as in lots of burying my face and covering my ears. Yeeah.

Death Proof, though, was pretty freakin' sweet. Action! Suspense! Karma! XD

And the fake previews! *cackles* On top of that, the actual previews. Especially '1408'. Extra interest-points for starring John Cusack, but it just seems overall really, really cool.
HOWEVER, it being a horror movie I will probably read the book and get good and spoiled so I'm not hiding my eyes every five minutes. ^__^;;;

I thought that since Departed won Director, it wouldn't win Best Picture.

Bah. :\

Anyway, what really matters is they won SOMETHING. Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor, w00t!

Actually, what REALLY matters is that my uncle was on worldwide TV like FOUR TIMES. He was sitting right behind Steve Carrell. Twice the camera was right on him: once during Alan Arkin's speech and again when they won again.

EEE!

Correcting my typos this time because it is serious business,
Emily

Also, HOW AWESOME WAS THE WILL FERRELL/JACK BLACK NUMBER? Hehehehehehe.

"Lost" was AWESOME tonight. Desmond-centric episode that also largely features Charlie? YES PLEASE.
All except for the ending. Roomie!Em and I were both squealing out, "NOOOOOOOOO!"
Sadface.

....Anyone wanna guess on how many Des/Charlie slashers are gonna come out of the woodwork after that ep? XD (I may not write a lot of slash, but I know the earmarks when I see 'm)

Also, "The Prestige" = a great, great movie. Although it makes the big assumption about its viewers that they're...er... more skeptical than me. But aside from that, it's well-shot, well-acted, and most of the twists (most) blew my mind.

Anyway. Enough about things that other people have acted in, cause I just got cast in a SHOW!!!

Not just any show (though what show, really, is "any show?"). "Travesties", by STOPPARD. I have a huge love for Stoppard, mainly based off of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern", but what more do you need, really :P I am playing Lenin. That's right, I am playing a dude. A revolutionary communist dude. Who hangs out in the library and gets to make a huge speech in Act 2. In a Stoppard play! EEEE.

The shocker was that Gabe was not cast as Tzara. I dare anyone who reads this and knows Gabe to admit, truthfully, that they did not read that character description and think it was a no-brainer. Not that Shane (who did get cast) doesn't fit the description as well, but maybe since Gabe's in my acting class my brain went to him first.

Anyway, I am way too hyper for 1 AM, especially since I have to get up early tomorrow.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

ETA: Oh yeah. It goes up at the end of May. ^__^

Anyone else ever feel as if the birch trees are watching you?

I have a cold. Nothing too doomy, just a sore throat and fatigue. Poppin' the zinc tablets. I'm writing this from my bed. May take a nap before B-Fest.

Mmmm, B-Fest. 24 hours of bad-movie badness. Er, goodness?

50 BOOKS 2007
3)) Fuddy Meers, David Lindsay-Abaire

"Little Miss Sunshine" is nominated for Best Picture of the Year!!! This is important not just cause it's a great movie, but cause my uncle produced it. ^__^ Let's go David!

Soooo, obligatory State of the Union commentary. I ended up going with Roomie!Em to watch it with the College Democrats, which turned out to be a good idea. It was like a B-Fest preview. We had bets on which words would be said most and every so often shouted commentary at the screen. "Terror" or "terrorist", by the way, garnered 21 occurrences.

And I counted 21 standing ovations not counting the end, though I may have stopped counting at some point. ^__^;;

I found watching this one a lot less painful than last years have been. There was a lot less stuff said that I vehemently disagreed with, and more "Well, if you actually PLAN to do any of that, Gods bless." Like giving aid to people in Africa. Or forming a realistic plan for handling illegal immigration.

I didn't understand the stuff he said about taxes and health insurance. I dunno whether that means he explained it badly or it won't work. Both?

Neatly steered clear of any mention of abortion or the right to marry.

And now for some frivolity: my favorite quotes of the evening.

"An epic battle." We will witness an epic battle! The Sunnis are gathering their orcs as we speak!

"You did not vote for failure." Headdesk. Just..........headdesk.

"...and began filming children's videos in her basement." OH MY GOD. SOUNDS. SO. WRONG.

'aight.

So any of you who may have read my movie reviews in the past know there's almost nothing I don't like. I can find something to appreciate in everything I see.

So when my roommate Jessie told me today that we had to see "The Black Dahlia" because of how terribly, horrifically bad it was, I thought, 'It can't be THAT bad.'

But it IS. IT IS REALLY THAT BAD. Bad-to-the-point-of-being-hysterically-funny type of bad.

We're talking every noir cliche in the book, plot points that make no point, Fiona Shaw playing a character with (apparently) severe brain damage, rampant gratuitous lesbianism, and lots and lots of blood. We're talking Grade-A B-Fest material, peoples.

One reviewer on IMDB says the reason it's so campy is because every one of De Palma's movies is like an inside joke. Well, maybe he should work on some OUTSIDE jokes for once. It'd be much more enjoyable than witnessing a joke that THE AUDIENCE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND. To expand on an old saying, it's less like the guy who doesn't know he's wearing a silly hat, and more like a guy who, when you tell him he's got a silly hat on, refuses to believe this because it amuses him to do so.

And now I really wanna rent "Thank You For Smoking" so I can be watching Aaron Eckhart in a good movie again.

Wow. Just.... wow.

Oh, and also:

50 BOOKS
33)) America (The Book), The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Yep... I read the whole thing. XD

Yoinked from scytheandroses. This is the first time I've ever had the desire to do onna those "guess the thing" memes. Ahwell, first time for everything.

A. Pick 16-20 of your favorite movies.
B. Then pick one of your favorite quotes from each movie.
C. Post the quotes in your journal.
D. Have those on your friends list try to guess what the movie is.
E. Strike out (or bold) the quote once it has been correctly identified and place the guesser's user name directly after the quote.

All character names replaced with X, Y, and Z.

( On to the quotes! )

EDIT: Added two more cause I thought of them on the way to the bank :P

Oooookaaaaay.

So last night I dreamt that Saddam Hussein was launching nuclear missiles toward all the major cities in America. And they hit.

This morning on Japanese TV news were memorial services for Hiroshima.

I didn't even know, consciously, that August 6 was the day. My subconscious musta been reaching back to high school history.

...

yeah.

50 BOOKS
27)) The Pirates! In an Adventure With Ahab, Gideon Defoe
28)) A Scanner Darkly, Philip K Dick

Scanner is pretty good, though I think it'll actually work better as a movie. Especially in the format they've done it in. All that's required is for Keanu Reeves not to fuck it up.

Also, the website says it was released in America on July 7. So it may not still be around by the time I get back. BOOHISS. :(

The homestay was pretty rockin'. Too tired to write about it in detail, but... I saw the Naruto movie! :D

( Quizzish )

Now, see, with Pirates 2, one might expect it to be like its predecessor: a fun little fling in movie form, that swoops you off for a while and has you feeling exhillerated and giddy at the end. Much like an amusement park ride, actually.

But not so. This movie bitch-slaps you, throws you down, shags you mercilessly, and leaves you exhausted and gasping for air.

Or maybe that was just me.

I will say this from a technical standpoint: IMO, the one thing a sequel should do to be successful--if it's not following some pre-concieved plot, like a novel--is have some good character development; go deeper into the characters' lives and minds so that we don't feel like we're seeing the Same Old Stuff All Over Again (tm).

Does Dead Man's Chest do this? HELL YES IT DOES.

At the movie, me, lanthiriel and starryelle were by far the most fandomy people there, which kind of made me sad. But we were all three of us thoroughly piratey in our garb, and while waiting on line, we sang "99 Bottles of Rum On the Wall", in three-part harmony. We got applause for it XD And then in the theatre we sang "Yo ho, etc". No one else in the theatre sang. That was the sad part. :( Also that there was no one dressed as Captain Jack except a woman who'd brought her kids, and we couldn't exactly go up and slap her as we'd been planning.

But yeah. Then the movie started.

( Here there be Spoilers. I mean it. )

And after all that, I just felt like I needed to collapse. Or run around screaming. One of those.

And I want to be Jack Sparrow. Whatever that means, because I don't even know what it means when I say I want to be Jack Sparrow, but I do. Sobad.

...Arr.

Saw two movies last night: Superman Returns, and Interview With A Vampire.

First, Superman. Hurray for Bryan Singer. That man can make a comic book movie, boy. :D

( Thoughts of a Super Nature )

As for Vampire, I'm glad to have finally seen it, aside from all the OMG GUY CUT IN HALF there is in it. Tom Cruise as Lestat? Guh. In a good way. I don't much like the character--he complains about how much Louis whines, but maybe he's that way cause you never told him anything, you bastid--but it was a perfect acting job.

So far Armand is my favorite. He is just coolness. Also I'm intrigued by the biographer... apparently he has stuff to do with Armand in other stories. Yay!

On a less frivolous note, my cousin Sandy is now here, drinking coffee with a deep voice, and taller than me. Another sign that everyone around me is getting older, yet I don't feel any different.

I was going to write stuff about Superman, but I'm too tired and whacked-out to think straight, so I'll just say this:

Comic book movies, or at least this one and the two Spider-Mans, seem to have me walking away feeling incredibly evil and plotty. I simply find the villains fascinating... That's something to be thought about at further length when I'm not so tired and don't have Kevin Spacey trilling in my head.

NYACKERS: Anyone planning on watching the fireworks on the 4th in Memorial Park? If so, let's meet up. :)

See "Click".

Being tissues.

50 BOOKS
21)) A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin
22)) The Jerk With the Cell Phone, Barbara Pachter and Susan Magee
23)) Dave Barry's Greatest Hits

I would've liked to get to 25 by the end of June. I dunno how much reading I'll be getting done in July and August (Japan-time). Of course, there's always the flight there and back...

*points to subject line* Saw Nacho Libre yesterday. The most objective review I can give is that if you like Napolean Dynomite, you'll like it (and vice versa). Same brand of dead-pan comedy. Non-objectively, I thought it was lots of fun. ^__^

So. I'm in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Hangin' out with John's fambly. His sister is way into soccar, so I'm getting pretty informed about the World Cup. We're watching the the USA/Ghana game right now... It's 1-2, Ghana. BOO.

A Ghanese (or however you'd say it) guy just fell down.....
Wow, he looks really hurt. o_O

Well anyway, the game's only just started the second half, so America has time to pull ahead. USA! USA! :P

Today we're going to a town called Frankenmooth. It's supposed has a lot of cool stuff there, though I think their main attraction is to sound like the name of a moose monster with a lisp.

Memeage from lassarina. Comment and say so if you want me to answer for you:

1. I'll respond with something random about you
2. I'll challenge you to try something
3. I'll pick a color that I associate with you
4. I'll tell you something I like about you
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of
7. I'll ask you something I've always wanted to ask you (answers in a comment, or email to e-mark@northwestern.edu if you want privacy)
8. Repost this if you fancy.

WARNING: Response time may vary and may possibly take a day or two.

So I finally get to check off of my list* one of the "great movies I had yet to see". And that movie is.... the first 'Batman'.
I'm really glad I didn't see this, say, 10 years ago, cause it would've given me nightmares like woah. As it was, I was only mildly creeped out. Most of the time was spent marveling at Jack Nicholson's brilliance, and the rest was spent either giggling at or approving of Michael Keaton as Batman.

See, as cool as Christian Bale is with his "ZOMG crazy martial arts!", I kinda dig the idea of a Batman who, y'know. Falls down every now and then. Because, as I remember one of my friends saying way back when, the thing that sets Batman apart is he's a superhero without any extraordinary power or fighting ability. He just has a lot of money with which to buy "wonderful toys."

Speaking of which, the old-school Batmobile? Pff on your modern black "tanks." That there is a sexy car.

The giggling part was because it's hard for me not to see Keaton as the guy from 'Multiplicity'**.

So yeah. Batman never really was my guy (more of a Marvel girl myself), but I liked that.

*I don't actually have a list. But I do know there are a lot of them.

**Y'know, I forgot until just now that he was Beetlejuice. Which jives a little more with the grittiness and the "wooo, creepy." But still. 'Multiplicity'.

( Quizzes!" )

^ overheard yesterday while walking up Sheridan.

Okay, so I didn't make a drunk!post yesterday, but I really never got too drunk to begin with. Dillo Day was still tons of fun.

One of the best parts was the X-MEN SHOW at Shanley. It was at 11 AM, but as was to be expected the crowd was absolutely insane. Free pink hats were passed out along with plastic megaphones and whistles.

( X-Pictures! And Videos! OMG! )

And then it was back to the Whale for drinkies and funtimes.

Today we saw X-3.

I'd post more, but I'm tired.