(G) New Order + Chemical Brothers (29 April, Oakland) grade: B

So we arrived during the Chem Bros set (after touring Oakland looking for a place to eat). I must say, I was impressed by their "performance"; I imagine that's what it's like being at a rave. If I were drunk and/or high (like most people there), I'm sure I would have enjoyed it much better. It was also very funny watching white people attempt to dance. Chem Bros grade: C

Moving on to the reason I went to the show: New Order. This was a great show, far better than I expected. I have seen them on their live DVDs, which were rather bland, but to actually be at the show is a whole different experience. They started with Bernard Sumner bringing up the old band and playing a tribute to Ian Curtis with "She's Lost Control"; (other JD tracks included "Love Will Tear Us Apart" & "Transmission"). They seemed to play rather popular songs: "Regret", "Bizarre Love Triangle", "Blue Monday", "True Faith". They played a few songs from the new album, which I didn't care for much. Some highlights for me were "Crystal", "Love Vigilantes" (which Bernard dedicated to our "boys in Iraq", a very touching song indeed), and "Temptation". Peter Hook also seemed like a nice character, being the only one walking around stage (except for Bernard's "dance" moves) and interacting with the audience. All in all, a good night (except for the stupid drunk white bitches being retarded, there always has to be at least one trying to ruin my night. she got pushed around by some other chick, good for them). I'm glad I got to see them at the convention center in Oakland and not at Coachella, where it will be hot & crowded, yuck! New Order grade: B+

silence and crickets..................................

New Wave Girl, please forgive me.

Until last night Constantine and Carrie were the only two who have not been in the bottom three. How then does one of the those people drop past 4 people and get kicked off? First, I thought Constantine's performance was gawd awful tuesday night... but if you combine all his performances, he's entertaining to watch, and his Queen song blows away anything Scott or Anthony have ever done combined.

I wouldn't have voted for Constantine Tuesday night anyway.. but... Vonzell was in the bottom 3? OVER SCOTT!? Honestly I really don't get it but I trully am finding it very humorous because whoever wins... it won't be Scott. These results have created drama which is fun and this has taken away the predictability factor which is good for reality tv as well. I believe people will be tuning to not see who wins each week, but to now see how long will Scott last. It sorta changes the dynamic of the show.

When they asked Constantine and Scott to pick which side they should go to, I laughed when Scott went to the winner's side... I thought he figured he'd be booted off and was being funny (and he probably was joking) but I give him credit for believing in himself enough to not resign to defeat, that's something to be admired.

Anyway... for the last 3 weeks I've been saying "Bye Scott", so now this week I'm saying "Goodbye Anthony" and maybe Scott will finally get the boot.

Okay seriously, I HAVE to blog about American Idol because WTF?! Why didn't Scott Fatso get kicked off this week? I'm not a big Constantine fan but I don't think he should've been kicked off this week. I think everyone was surprised - so who the heck is voting for lame Scott? Grrr! I hate him - he's just a placeholder with a permanent smirk. Ugh!

I was watching tonight's episode with Rancid Girl and Cup o Noodles and they will attest to how much I was hating on tonight's results.

This show is like crack. I can't help myself.

To: New Wave and Sex is not the Enemy

What about Spain Janet? What about helado y cafe? What about freson con nata? What about following the troll up the hill? What about absynthe? (Gag) What about tortas?
GOOD TIMES!

yes i agree bo did great. i think either scott or karrie will go. i like karrie but i think there are stronger personalities on the show that will overpower her. she will probably get a country record deal. i sadly have been watching it since first season. EVERY season i tell myself i'm not going to watch it, but then i get sucked it. it's so sad.

No no, let's play the Talk about American Idol Game. Bo did great last night. Sayonara Scott! (Note: I swear this is the first real season that I started watching American Idol.) And Darth, if you're gonna hate on American Idol, at least do it publicly and not anonymously. Heh.

(TV) I want a Famous Face: Britney Spears (MTV, April 26, 05). Grade: F.
Well, okay I guess I'm giving the girl on the show an F. Perfectly cute with a nice body, this girl wanted to get plastic surgery (rhinoplasty, cheek implants, and breast implants) to look like Britney Spears and "cure her shyness." She used to be outgoing, but after being in 2 really bad relationships, she lost her confidence and became extremely shy. She had no self esteem whatsoever. All her friends and family told her she didn't need any surgeries, but she didn't believe them. ALSO she wanted to become a stripper to cure her shyness. It was one of those episodes where you're yelling at the television. (Hellooo, becoming a stripper and changing your appearance isn't going to automatically change who you are inside. Now you're shy and sweet, but you look like a whore!) Her new face came out nice (she was already cute to begin w/), and her boobs were HUGE.....Sigh. When will girls understand that you can't buy self worth and esteem?

Where is everyone?

(O) April 22 weekend. (2005) Grade: A
This past weekend, I was able to catch a multitude of bands (and it's not even Coachella yet). On Friday, I saw Aqualung's instore at Amoeba, Joy Zipper/Dogs Die in Hot Cars/Phoenix at Avalon and The Blood Arm at Echo. Crazy! Aqualung was fantastic: a child prodigy who composed music when he was 4 and has a great sense of humor. Phoenix was very lively, despite a somewhat short set. I especially enjoyed when they said, "Merci beaucoup!" And TBA was always fun. It got pretty crazy; I fell down at least once. Saturday I caught Swedish mope rock group The Perishers at Spaceland. Although their album is bit too muddled (the drums are lost in production) and excessively melancholy, the music sounds significantly better live. Plus the lead singer looks like a Swedish Roddy Woomble. Heh.

(G) Phoenix. (2005, Avalon) Grade: A ; Grade for venue: F
Thoughts: I guess not all French people are bad. :P Phoenix rocked the house at the Avalon .... good times had by all. Their new song Jetplane was pretty good. I'm looking forward to their new album. As for the venue, I knew the Avalon (use to be the Palace) sucked but seriously, I mean seriously people. I hate LA shows with all my heart. On a side not Dogs Die In Hot Cars are terrible and Oingo Boingo and Talking Heads did the music better the first time.

random thoughts:

- i love spain. to think this time last year dorkus, FTC and I were all in spain. oh spain. LOLA !!!

- cup-o-noodles you are dangerous close to being banned from the page with all your american idol talk. okay but i will admit anwar being voted off was wrong.

- dorkus you know the sad part is i'm not even watching all the movies i could be. lately work been taking up so much of my time that i'm behind on my movies-watching. this week alone i could have watched like 3 or 4 films (sigh). work sucks. i'm going to try to catch up this weekend and plow through 6 ... we'll see if i can do it.

- so i know no one will believe this but i need to start saving money. apparently working and getting a paycheck has spoiled me and i'm getting a bit careless in my spending and am now just realizing how bad it has gotten. recently i blew 100 bucks on season 8 of the x-files and lone gunman series, 100 bucks on random cds and at least 150 on tickets to upcoming shows (phoenix, lucksmiths, sleater kinney, get up kids, and maybe oasis). it is getting to be a bit much and with gas prices on the rise i'm not sure i want to drive anywhere but to work now. (sigh). i need to save money.

So someone at my office told me that Anwar Robinson was gay. Is that true?

wow, cant believe its been a year now!
i ♥ España
i ♥ my mini-tripod
"no me llames dolores llamame Lola"

(click to enlarge)

Segovia

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Barcelona

Random thoughts:

-So yeah, I know everyone loves it when Cup o Noodles and I talk about American Idol. Hehe. It sucked to see Nadia and Anwar go before some other less talented contestants. Oh well. The exposure alone is prize enough.

-New Wave and Sluts Like You - remember that Salvador Dali exhibit we saw in Barcelona? I think the same exhibit is at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (the only US museum to show his artwork for this exhibition.) And the thing that sucks is that I'm going to be in Philly the day before it ends (May 15), but I have to work! Boo!

-Also, New Wave, how do you watch so many movies?! That's ca-razy! (said like Brian Fellow).

-Phoenix tonight at the Avalon - yesss!

I don't know what the hell is going on with American Idol (though I'm completely addicted). Anwar now? Before Scott and Anthony? SERIOUS PEOPLE!??!!? If I could have picked how I wanted American Idol to turn out, here would be my list:
12 - Mikalah Gordon

11 - Lindsey Cardinale

10 - Nikko Smith

09 - Anthony Fedorov

08 - Constantine (double chinned) Maroulis

07 - Scott Savol

06 - Jessica Sierra

05 - Anwar Robinson

04 - Carrie Underwood

03 - Bo Bice

02 - Vonzell Solomon

01 - Nadia Turner (Mario Vasquez if he hadn't quit)

HAPPY 46TH BIRTHDAY ROBERT!!!

Those down days
When you felt so young
And everything seemed

You saw the people
Around You
Getting old

You wake up
The teenage yearn is
Gone for you

It happens to others
It happens all the time
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you

The candles on the cake
Waiting to be blown
Wish I was
An other

(M) Shan-chung ch'uan-ch'i (Legend of the Mountain). (1979, King Hu) Grade: C
Thoughts: An old old Chinese film. Slow and strange ... pretty much just weird.

(M) Ge ge de qing ren (Three Summers). (1992, Lawrence Ah Mon) Grade: C+
Thoughts: A teenage coming of age Chinese film. The movie was a bit too sunny/happy for my taste but Tony was in it.

(M) Woodsman. (2004, Nicole Kassell) Grade: B
Thoughts: A dark, scary, gritty look into the mind of a pedophile. It is difficult to watch the movie due to the subject matter but Kevin Bacon as Walter did a superb job. The rest of the cast which included Kyra Sedgwick, Eve, Mos Def and David Alan Grier were great. The director never made you feel bad for Walter like he was a victim ... but more made you look at him as a disturbed indiviual trying to make sense of everything.

(M) Oldboy. (2003, Chan-wook Park) Grade: A-
Thoughts: Korean people are fu*ked up! I've officially decided this. This movie is so sick and twisted and jacked up ... it really makes you wonder about those Korean. All jokes aside though, the film was well done and the acting, especially by Min-sik Choi (Dae-su Oh aka Oldboy) was wonderful. I won't go into too much detail about the movie for those interested in seeing it but be warned the subject matter is disturbing and there is quite a bit of violence. However after watching as many Asian films as I have you get use to that part.

Just in time for Earth Day.

(O) Built By Wendy. (2005) Grade: Yippee!
The NYC boutique has finally opened its own West Coast-L.A. store. 7938 W. 3rd Street.

Ostrich Land - A+

So this past weekend I went up to Santa Barbara for a little ol' vacation. Hit up some wineries, Chumash casino, the beach, etc...oh and in case some is reading this Freebirds. Hahaha. Anyways the highlight of the trip was Ostrich Land. This place rocks! It is an ostrich/emu farm right off the side of the road along the way to Solvang and Chumash. So Pauline and I stopped by the most magical place on earth and got pretty up close with the ostriches, and she told me to get closer, but I feared that ostriches were really dumb and that they would peck at my head, so I was very hesitant to get near them. We then go into the store and buy some ostrich feed and head back over to feed the ostriches. They then proceed to pick at the food in the little trough they gave us to use. So I get my picture taken and then I tell Pauline to try it and she does, and while she is doing this she tells me to take her picture. She turns around and as I am taking the picture, sure enough I see an ostrich staring at her head, but alas it is too late, before I can say anything and while pressing the button for the picture, the ostrich picks at her head. Luckily she was okay because it pecked at her hair tying thing, but that was probably the best thing I have ever seen live in person. HAHAHA. Please go to Ostrich Land.

(M) Palindromes. (2005, Todd Solondz) Grade: B
In Todd Solondz's world, little, if anything, is distinctly black and white. His latest film, Palindromes, is neither pro-choice or anti-abortion nor is it an out-right attack on Christian fundamentalism. The central theme of the film, as so succinctly stated by the eldest Weiner brother, revolves around the ability to change yourself and the existence of free will. Thus, Aviva, a palindrome herself, harbors the same mindset throughout the film, even when her outward appearance changes. As expected, Solondz achieves his usual uncomfortable sense of humor and introduces several extremely troubled characters. Some imagery is more difficult than Dollhouse fare considering the subject matter but a stronger film overall than Storytelling.

(A) The Emancipation of Mimi. (2005, Mariah Carey) Grade: B
Thoughts: Aside from me and FTC, I doubt anyone bought this cd which is fine. Over the past few years my affection for R & B and hip hop music has faded. Mariah's last cd Charmbracelet was pretty disappointing but she comes back with Emancipation of Mimi. Much like FTC I found more tracks to listen to and with Jermaine Dupri (how about dating Jermaine Dupri Janet) as prodcuer the hits keep coming. Stand out tracks: It's Like That, We Belong Together, Shake It Off and Stay the Night.

(A) White People. (2004, Handdome Boy Modeling School) Grade: A-
Thoughts: I'm still trying to figure out how I missed the boat on this cd. It came almost six months ago and I barely found out about it. The entire cd is collaborations with people like De La Soul, Jack Johnson, Cat Power, Pharrell Williams, Black Sheep, Mars Volta, Jamie Cullum and Tim Meadows. Seriously some great stuff. Stand out tracks: Breakdown, If It Wasn't For You and I've Been Thinking.

jason bateman is so cute. :) watch the last (of the season and hopfully not the series) arrested development this sunday at 8:30 pm.

I just saw PALINDROMES and it was very very entertaining. Good and humorous. It's by Todd Solondz who did Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness and Storytelling. This was very fun to watch, and disturbing.

I'm not sure if someone has reviewed this album yet, but here goes anyway:

(A) The Emancipation of Mimi, Mariah Carey (2005) B+

So this album was released the same day as garbage's Bleed Like Me (April 12), which made for a nice post-bday gift for me :) anyways, a few months ago, two tracks were leaked on the internet: "Say Somethin' (feat. Snoop Dogg)" and "To The Floor (feat. Nelly)" (called "Tonight" back then), both produced by the Neptunes. I enjoyed these tracks very much, and couldn't wait for the album. Then there were the first two singles: "It's Like That" and "We Belong Together", both produced by Jermaine Dupri. Four awesome tracks from an album, thats unheard of nowadays! The other tracks on the album are also great, they have a nice old-school R&B feel to them. All the hype surrounding this album is well-deserved, Mariah has returned to proper usage of what her voice can do. Instead of her sultry sugary whispering that she had resorted to, she actually sangs on this one. This album is better than Charmbracelet but not as good as her best, Butterfly. Other notable tracks include "Shake It Off", "Your Girl", and "I Wish You Knew" (which seems like it was recorded before a live audience, giving it that "Woman To Woman" feel).

(M) Sin City. (2005, Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez) Grade: C

Thoughts: I thought it looked pretty cool in the previews, dabs of color on black and white...and that part is cool...but the novelty wears off relatively fast and then you are stuck with a movie that jumps around, has no real redeeming characters, or even developed characters. The three stories jump out at you and run around really fast leaving you dizzy and mostly annoyed. I almost fell asleep on two occasions, but LOUD NOISES (thanks brick) kept me from falling completely asleep. This may have something to do with earlier festivities....

(O) Santa Anita Microbrew. (2005, Santa Anita Racetrack) Grade: B+

Thoughts: What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon then going to the race track and enjoy a beer....or 13....haha. They aren't full pints they are about 7-10 oz each, but still cool. You go in and buy tickets rather than give each station money. Less hassle and keeps the lines moving. For the most part it was pretty empty, til about an hour before it closed and everyone lined up to get those last drops of precious beer....mmmm beer.

(M) Closer. (2004, Mike Nichols) Grade: B

Thoughts: I liked this movie cause i thought that each of the actors played their part how they were supposed too. Julia was a cold bitch, but thats how i perceive her to be so it works out...haha...I agree that this would be a cool play to watch but i thought that it was an above average movie nonetheless.

(O) Dodgers Opening Day. (2005, Dodger Stadium) Grade: A+

Thoughts: Got tickets to the game the day before and after trying to call some friends to go, no one was available so I went with my mom. Quite possibly the greatest game that I ever went too. Comeback in the bottom of the 9th to score 4 runs. Great way to end it. Crowd was somewhat rowdy, saw a couple of fights, and of course there were a lot of drunks, but that what makes Dodger Stadium the great place that it is. Dodger food still great!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FTC !!!

sorry i'm a few days late with this :)

the line up for 2005 Glastonbury Festival is sick ... fuc*in' sick. It is unreal all the great super acts they got. Oh and it sold out meaning over 112,000 tickets were sold. WTF. Check it out here.

Couple of side notes:

-Shirley Manson IS smoking hot as New Wave says, and even way hotter when she's performing. Damn, it's enough for someone to cross over to the other team. I'm just saying. It's too bad I didn't go to their show this week.
-Sin City was blah okay. Great visually, but overall nothing to write home about.
-Waking up earlier than you are used to everyday sucks.
-Looking forward to Palindromes, the new Todd Solonz movie. Hope it's not as bad as Storytelling.

(Sluts like You - What about crazy Janet? What about show your boob Janet? What about I'm so sick of your cleavage Janet?)

(G) garbage at the Warfield, San Francisco, April 10, 2005. A+
Absolutely SMASHING! this may have been the best show i've ever been to. garbage is such an amazing band, and as if that weren't enough, the lighting was awesome, very hot. they only played 5 songs from the new album (not including my favs: "Metal Heart" & "Run Baby Run"), but still the new songs sounded great. they tended to play their more rock-sounding songs ("Supervixen" & "Hammering in my head" were of special note). I did, however get to converse with the great Shirley Ann Manson, as I yelled out "APRIL TENTH!!!!" (which is a b-side off the "shut your mouth" single, one of my favourite b-sides, and also happened to be the date of the show). she then asked, "pardon", and i yelled it again! she then looked over to duke on guitar, as if asking him if they should play it. they didn't. but i understand, it doesnt seem like a song they can just play without proper rehearsal, considering it seems to have a lot of keys on it, plus they had a new bassist.
so, needless to say, anyone who hasnt caught garbage on this go-round is soooo missing out. and yes, pick up the album , its fantastic.

FOR THE CHEESE! see, i blogged!
oh yeah, and what about mtv icon janet?

on a side note - the news we all have been dreading to hear has been confirmed. oh good grief !!!

(M) Liu mang yi sheng (Doctor Mack). (1995, Chi-Ngai Lee) Grade: B+
Thoughts: A funny little Hong Kong pic starring my favorite actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai. Despite the simple and somewhat silly plotline, there was a serious and touchy point to the movie. The + is only because of Tony. :)

(M) Wild Strawberries. (1957, Ingmar Bergman) Grade: A
Thoughts: My first Ingmar Bergman film but if they are as wonderful as this one I might become a huge fan. The movie dealt with death and the life a person chooses to lead. Professor Isak Borg (Victor Sjostrom) makes a journey to Lund to accept his award for being a renown doctor and along the way realizes the choices he has made in life may not be the right ones. I enjoyed the simple storyline as well as the powerful and effective message. They do not make movies like they use to.

(M) Closer. (2004, Mike Nichols) Grade: B-
Thoughts: Beautiful people doing horrible things to each other for the sake of doing horrible things to each. I would have enjoyed the film more as a play and with the originial ending (the film took out the last scene). Julia Roberts' character Anna was wooden and cold hearted and dull, Jude Law as Dan was pathetic and weak and Natalie Portman as Alice was decent at best. I am not sure why she got best supporting actress nod for that but whatevers ... sorry Darth Bronger. Now Clive Owen as Larry, that was where the movie shined. The one scene where he calls Anna (Julia Roberts) "a fuckin' slag" has to be the best performance. I could watch that over and over again. My new favorite word ... slag :)

(M) Sin City. (2005, Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez) Grade: C-
Thoughts: I almost want to give this film a D but visionally it was pretty awesome. It did look like you were watching a comic book come to life which is credit worthy. Aside from that the only strong storyline of the three was Marv (Mickey Rourke) because he had the most character development. In the end you sympathized with him and related to his ordeals. The Dwight (Clive Owen) & prostitues and Hartigan (Bruce Willis) /Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) stories were dull and dry and tiring. Like Cup-O-Noodles, I think most of us were ready to leave after 90 mins of the film.

(G) Garbage. (2005, Wiltern) Grade: A-
Thoughts: Shirley Manson is SMOKING HOT. I do not care if others disagree because they are wrong, wrong, wrong. After seeing her do her thing on stage to a sold out crowd at the Wiltern I know I am right. Sadly they did not play enough of their new album but that was alright. It pretty much was a Garbage best of show and seriously what is wrong with that. If you haven't already I would suggest picking up the new album Bleed Like Me in stores now. Check out tracks - Run Baby Run, Why Do You Love Me, Bad Boyfriend and Right Between the Eyes.

Hey New Wave... where's your review of that so-so movie that I almost fell asleep to twice... Sin City, I am curious for everyone's opinions on it.

(O) Blogger. (2005) Grade: F
I don't have a Word processor on my computer at the moment, so I was using Blogger to type up my Ray LaMontagne review, saving every so often. Then, just as I try saving again, the screen flashes "Internal Error" and I lose my nearly completed copy. So frustrating.

i just read they are remaking oldboy and my sassy girl, two korean films, into american version. WTF. SERIOUSLY!!!! why do they insist on doing this lest we forget shall we dance. ugh. i'm just starting to accept the remake of infernal affairs with martin scorsese. good grief. one plus is the director for oldboy will be justin lin who did better luck tomorrow.

(A) I Love My Jean. (2005, Camera Obscura) Grade: A-
Oh who could dislike Tracyanne's sweet voice? Although she is now sole lead vocalist since John's departure, I suspect it will sort itself out in the end. This EP features two of Robert Burns' poems set to music and a third Camera Obscura original. A bit twangy, country but it still follows the path expected of these Scots.

(G) Ray LaMontagne. (April 7, Avalon) Grade: A
Thirty-one-year-old musician Ray LaMontagne's appearance belies his true age. In dress, he resembles a wizened traveling troubadour, sporting a bushy beard and bowler's hat, complete with red feather. He shuffles on stage, quietly asking how the audience is doing. The audience responds with more excitement than Ray seems capable of returning. But then he begins to sing with such stunning sincerity, emotion and heart that you might turn away and blush.

Trouble is an amazing debut for a musician who was so taken by a Stephen Stills song he heard on the radio that he decided to quit his job and sing, despite no prior experience. Ray explains, "I taught myself to sing from the gut and not from the nose." So true is his method that the album's emotional intimacy becomes near suffocating in a live setting. From the troubling desperation in "Hannah" (I'd walk one mile on this broken glass to fall down at your feet) to the political anger in "How Come" (Everybody trying to reach out to each other/But they don't know where to begin ... It's just man killing man/Killing man), it becomes quite apparent that this unassuming, slight man best expresses himself through his music.

When Ray sings in the title track, "Trouble ... Trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble/Trouble been doggin' my soul since the day I was born," many (including his back-up band) nod along, sympathizing as well as identifying with his life stories. He achieves such lyrical poetry through honesty and simplicity, without ever becoming unnecessarily abstract. Ray is as accessible as his music is affecting; he held the rapt attention of the usually fussy, talkative Hollywood crowd. At one point, the weighty silence inside the Avalon was so palpable that you could hear the distant sounds of street traffic.

Compensating for the singer’s shy demeanor, stand-up bass player Chris Thomas is more visibly excited. He drums his hands against his instrument, providing impromptu beats, and moves as though the music possesses him. The five-member string section also rounds out the night, particularly the violinist.

For those already eager to hear the Trouble follow-up, Ray includes a few non-album tracks that are on par with his released offerings, demonstrating that he's still ripe with ideas.

Hope to see everyone at Ray's next performance: July 18 @ the Wiltern with Rachel Yamagata (!). It should be a brilliant evening for emoting.

(M) Melinda and Melinda (Woody Allen) Grade: C-
If it wasn't for the dialogue written by Woody Allen for the character that Will Ferrel played then this movie would have been an F in my book. However, thanks to those one-liners that I love by Woody Allen, it made it tolerable. I'd like to rent it and fast forward to all the Will Ferrel scenes. It's a rental if you're interested in seeing it.

(M) Drugstore Cowboy. (1989, Gus Van Sant) Grade: B+
Thoughts: A realistic look at drugs and its addiction. Matt Dillion was great as Bob the leader of a gang of drugstore robbers. The film was quiet yet effective and you end up rooting for Bob to put his life back together towards the end minus his wife Dianne (Kelly Lynch) and best friend Rick (James LeGros). The real treat of the film was William S. Burroughs' role. He was only in the film for less than 20 minutes but he made a huge impact.

(M) I Heart Huckabees. (2004, David O. Russell) Grade: D+
Thoughts: I am stupid. That's what it must be because I do not for the life of me understand why people raved and loved this film. I would love to explain what the film was about but it would make my head hurt. The only positives for me were Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin as Bernard and Vivian the married existential detectives and Mark Wahlberg as Tommy Corn. Their roles and characters made the film semi watchable. I found Jason Schwartzman's Albert Markovski ... ANNOYING.

(M) Gong Fu (Kung Fu Hustle). (2004, Stephen Chow) Grade: A-
Thoughts: Silly is the way I would describe this film. Sing (Stephen Chow) along with his sidekick want to join the Axe Gang lead by Brother Sum (Kwok Kuen Chan). Brother Sum is more concerned wtih the poor folks who have extraordinary powers. While watching the film I realized much of the humor got lost in the translation. I found myself laughing over things that others might not have gotten just reading the subtitles. One of the drawbacks of watching foreign film though. The movie is a huge huge hit in Hong Kong and won best movie at the Hong Kong version of the Oscars.

(M) Fever Pitch. (2005, Bobby and Peter Farrelly) Grade: C
Thoughts: The movie didn't suck ... it was just a typical romantic comedy. Drew Barrymore was great (as always) as Lindsey Meeks who falls for Ben played by Jimmy Fallon. Although I think this role would have been better for Adam Sandler, because of his chemistry with Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon surprisingly was not bad. I guess I was expecting much worst. It was nice to Ione Skye acting again.

have you guys been watching arrested development or office? if not check it out. funny programing ... well not the office so much but arrested is on fire.

(O) Carnival Cruises (Paradise, March 2005). Grade: F
Would NOT recommend this cruiseline to anyone, as the staff/crew were all rude and incompetent. Bossy and rude photographers, waiters who conveniently forget to take your order, hostesses who give you rude glances for no reason, information desk people who ignore you even though you are standing in front of their faces, crew members who literally push you out of the way when you are standing in line to disembark. I could go on and on. RUDE RUDE RUDE.

(O) My Family (on Carnival Cruises, March 2005). Grade: A+
Having sooo much fun w/ your family (all 25 of them) on a cruise, despite the rude service, gets an A+ in my book. My cousins (age 8 - 29) are all so damn funny. And the scavenger hunts that we made up were incredibly fun too. I could go on and on. FUN FUN FUN. They are the best.

Random Thoughts:

Hey, I didn't get a death threat from New Wave. No fair! Wait, I received enough of those to last a lifetime. Remember back in the day when they were much worse?

The fact that Guess Who is currently the #1 movie in America, that Jessica Sierra got kicked off American Idol before Nikko Smith or Anthony Federov, and that Arrested Development is on its way to cancellation just proves that people are stupid.

Cup O Noodles and I were at a friend's poker night, and someone mentioned that the new Ashton Kutcher movie (the other bad one, w/ Amanda Peet) looks really funny, and we just turned and looked at each other, like did someone actually just say that? Ugh! Why do people have such horrible taste in movies? Does anybody find it as disturbing as I do that White Chicks made more than Million Dollar Baby?