(M) 21 Up. (Michael Apted, 1977) Grade: B+

Thoughts: The third installment in the Up series where Michael Apted follows a bunch of Brits from 7 years old and on. I enjoyed 21 Up quite a bit because some of them were cynics while others were positive about the outlook of their future. This is the time in your life where you are not as insecure as a teen but you have no idea what you going to do with your life. I’m anxious for 28 Up because I want to see how they are dealing with thing, especially since I am of that age.

(M) Jane Eyre. (Franco Zeffirelli, 1996) Grade: B

Thoughts: Dramatic romance set in old time Britian is my cup of tea. I’m such a sucker for the “Austen” type films. However, this time it is Bronte’s famous Jane Eyre that takes movie form. The film follows Jane Eyre’s life from a young girl played nicely by Anne Paquin to the older version played by Charlotte Gainsbourg. I liked William Hurt as Mr. Rochester but I did find him a bit old. Overall, a classic book made into a well-done film.

(M) The Namesake. (Mira Nair, 2006) Grade: B+

Thoughts: Based upon the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, the film is about a young couple’s struggle to live in America. Ashoke Ganguli (Irfan Khan) weds Ashima (Tabu) and they move to New York from India to begin their life. Soon they are starting a family and living the American dream. It was interesting to see what happens to children who are raised entirely in America. It was like looking in the mirror a bit because myself and many people I know are products of this where you try to hold on to your heritage culture at the same time assimilate yourself into American culture. Kal Penn plays their son and he does a nice job but he will always be Kumar to me. The director Mira Nair does an excellent job in telling the story with great characters and nice pacing. It never felt the movie drag or get dull. Her other film Monsoon Wedding is great as well.

Movie count: 34

(M) Corpse Bride. (Tim Burton and Mike Johnson, 2005) Grade:B+

Thoughts: Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) is set to marry Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson) but can’t seem to do his vows correctly. He practices in the woods and ends up wedding the corpse bride (Helena Bonham Carter). The story in this film was more interesting to me than A Nightmare Before Christmas. In addition, the stop motion animation was better.

(M) Que He Hecho Yo Para Merecer Esto!! (What Have I Done To Deserve This?). (Pedro Almodovar, 1984) Grade: B

Thoughts: Gloria (Carmen Maura) is stuck in a small apartment in Madrid with her husband, two sons and mother in law. A pretty standard Pedro movie with odd storylines but I stilled enjoyed it. Much of Pedro's earlier work which I have seen shaped much of his later masterpieces.

(M) Real Genius. (Martha Coolidge, 1985) Grade: B-

Thoughts: A fun and interesting 80’s movie. Mitch (Gabriel Jarret) is accepted into a university at a young age where he meets Chris Knight (Val Kilmer), a science club legend. Together they develop a high-powered laser that is used as a weapon by the government, unknown to them. Trivia: The film was inspired and based loosely on actual events at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California and the coordinates in the film is to somewhere in an area of farmlands east of Oxnard, California. The script gave a slightly different set of coordinates: "Thirty-four degrees, ten minutes, fifteen seconds North; one hundred eighteen degrees, nine minutes, three seconds West." The building at that location is a mortuary in Pasadena, a few blocks north of Caltech.

(M) Hija Del Canibal, La (Lucia, Lucia). (Antonio Serrano, 2003) Grade: C+

Thoughts: One day at the airport, Lucia (Cecilia Roth) learns her husband has been kidnapped. With the help of Felix (Carlos Alvarez-Novoa), an old man and Adrian (Kuno Becker), a young handsome man, Lucia must try to save her husband. The film was a bit odd because it went back and forth from thriller to comedy to drama. Cecilia Roth is great here and Kuno Becker is very, very, very good looking. Honestly, I think I watched the movie just for scenes of him and Cecilia because the story was pretty weak.

Movie Count: 31

Mulder and Scully back together for a movie??
*fingers crossed* PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!

Good Night, and Good Luck
Grade: B+

What I think is important about this movie is not just the issues of being able to confront your accusers, protecting your rights, and not being swayed by government officials instituting fear into the public by threats of foreign invaders and ideals, but really what stuck out the most was the critique of television. The way television could be used versus the way it is actually being used. After just taking a course last semester on the media and having just finished half of Neil Postman's book 'Amusing Ourselves To Death' (a critique on television culture) this movie does a good job of being in your face at pointing out the nature of television and how it is being used. Sadly, I think television culture is only bound to get worse.

(M) Why We Fight [Documentary]
Grade: B

This was an enjoyable documentary about the engagements of America in military action. Its focus begins with the warning of Dwight Eisenhower when he left his office to be wary of the military industrial complex. He feared the day when somebody went into office that didn't know as much about the military as he did. Ever since he left office every single president has taken America into some military action somewhere or another and we've gone somewhere almost every single year. It focuses on the business of war and how much money is made from it and why we have incentives to go to war. It mentions how after Sept. 11th the whole world was behind America and supported America until Iraq and now we're almost hated everywhere. It talks about how Rome's mistake was trying to build up a strong enough army to control all the territory it could and how we are basically doing the same. The threat to our power at the moment is that if oil is not available our entire global military operation and control will cease and leave us exposed and how as the powerhouse that America is, maybe we should be using our strength for different objectives. It was interesting, I basically have heard all this before but it was all summed up in a nice package here.

Fun with Numbers!!

So I was super duper bored at work one day and wanted to see how many blogs have been posted. This is what I found out.

June 25, 2002 (the birth of this blog) - 190 days and 377 post.
2003 - 365 days and 662 post.
2004 - 366 days and 345 post.
2005 - 365 days and 397 post.
2006 - 365 days and 457 post.
2007 - 87 days and 136 post.

Notice in 2003 we posted 662 times. I'm not sure what was going on that year but man ... we were rolling. I think this might have been due to not having a comments section until later on.

In 2004, we died down but by 2006 we picked it up. It looks like if we average around 140 post in 90 days we will do 580 for this year. Anyways I just thought if anyone cared to see how many times we blogged. Please note there were also a LOT more people on this blog back in the day that I have kicked off so go figure.

TEXAS + Guns = R.I.P.

AUSTIN -- Criminals in Texas beware: if you threaten someone in their car or office, the citizens of this state where guns are ubiquitous have the right to shoot you dead.

Governor Rick Perry's office said on Tuesday that he had signed a new law that expands Texans' existing right to use deadly force to defend themselves "without retreat" in their homes, cars and workplaces.

(M) Alphaville [Criterion Collection]
Grade: B
What threatens the world in 1965? Communism, Socialism, Fascism. In this movie that is supposed to be Sci-Fi you see a detective sent from another galaxy to destroy the creator of a computer that is controlling what citizens are allowed to do, think, and know. It's a political commentary on society at the time and it is beyond odd. It is entertaining but... odd.

(TV) 24, Season 1 (2001)

Grade: A

This show is highly addicting. I finished the season in less than a week. My favorite characters: Jack(obviously), Teri Bauer(she rocks!), Tony, and David Palmer. I HATE SHERRY!!! I didn't give it an A+ because some parts of the writing was kind of cheesy, but overall, strong work for the cast and writers.

Season 2 here I come....

(M) Closely Watched Trains [Criterion Collection]
Grade: B+
This movie is awesome. It's very funny as well. A young boy gets a job at a train station during world war 2. It's a coming of age story of a boy obsessed with sex and becoming a man. However, he suffers from a sexual problem that he is more than willing to inform everyone of so he can fulfill his desire. It's very funny but the unique thing is it all takes place during his countries occupation by the Nazi's. The movie plays out in an excellent fashion and the B&W footage is fantastic. The movie also won best foreign film in 1967.




(M) Band Of Outsiders [Criterion Collection]
Grade: B+
This was an excellent foreign film about two men who both love the same woman and are trying to gain her assistance to steal money from her father-in-law. It's a classic film, it has great interaction among the characters and there's this little dance scene that is awesome.






(M) A Brief Encounter [Criterion Collection]
Grade: C
I have a feeling this movie carried MUCH more weight when it was made. It's the story of a married woman who by chance meets a married man and they spend a brief moment of theirs lives together falling in love. It's a theme you see a lot more these days, the idea of falling in love with somebody else after you get married. However, after watching it I thought of other movies where two people fall in love with each other and want to be with each other but can't, most specifically 'In The Mood For Love' which is far better than this movie in my opinion.

This is going to be a total nerd blog BUT tonight was the season finale for Battlestar Galactica and it was GREAT!! There has been a lot of discussion in the forums about this season ... some good, some bad but honestly TV is hardly this well written and acted anymore. Yea so I'm having a big nerd overload now ... I should calm down in a bit. Hee hee. One bum part is the show will not start its fourth season until 2008. We just started 2007 so yea it is going to be a LONG 2007 for me. :(

Sorry for this lame blog but this is all I could do on a Sunday.

(M) Boogie Nights. (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1997) Grade: B

Thoughts: Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg) goes from waiter at a club to Dirk Diggler, famous porn star with the help of Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) and Amber Waves (Julianne Moore). The film was pretty good and filled with P.T. Anderson stars. It was a bit long but it was a good look into the porn industry and how the business has changed.

(M) Reno 911!: Miami. (Ben Garant, 2007) Grade: C+

Thoughts: A movie version of the TV show with more sex, violence and strong language. The Reno police dept. head to Miami for a police convention they were not really invited to. It was silly and funny and wrong with lots of random cameos like Danny DeVito, the Rock and Paul Reubens.

(M) Gwoemul (The Host). (Joon-ho Bong, 2006) Grade: B+

Thoughts: A Korean horror film similar to the Godzilla’s of Japan culture. A mutant emerges from the Han River and kidnaps a young girl whose family springs into action to save her. It was a funny, silly, scary, interesting and very, very, very Asian film. The movie did run longer than I would like considering most horror movies should only be like 90 to 100 mins AT MOST. The film did insanely well in Asia and is nominated for Best Asian film by the Hong Kong Film Awards.

(M) Ying Hung Boon Sik II (Better Tomorrow II). (John Woo, 1987) Grade: A-

Thoughts: Classic John Woo and Chow Yun Fat film. I could go on and on about this film but I won’t since no one will care. I will say no one does a gun battle shoot out better than Hong Kong films; some of the best work. Chow Yun Fat makes for a badass good guy and Leslie Cheung was such a wonderful actor. It will be 4 years since his suicide death come this April 1st. :(

Movie count: 27

I felt pretty lucky today. At work, I won the drawing to see the Anaheim Ducks play the Dallas Stars at the Honda Center. The only bum part was driving from LA to the OC. It was ONLY 39.09 miles in Friday traffic but yea. :(

In addition, they were giving away screening passes on KCRW to see the Namesake at the Arclight and I won!! I'm pretty happy cause I get a free movie with a Q and A with Kal Penn after and the book the movie was based upon along with the cd soundtrack. Good stuff and all free. Man I love free.

I was watching this Filipino news show with my mom and they were talking about medical tourism, specifically in Thailand. I've known about Filipino's going back to the Philippines to get plastic surgery and what not, but I never imagined American's and Europeans going on a "medical vacation." The news segment also showed what kind of rooms patients stay in after surgery and I've never even stayed at hotels that were this nice! I was also surprised to learn that people don't just travel for plastic surgery, they travel to get other surgeries such as open heart.

The reason I blog about this is because the Philippines is trying to get in on this industry, but they want it to be on a Thailand scale. At first I thought that this would be good for the country. Doctors would be motivated to stay in the Philippines instead of going to the US. (see my blog about this doctor drain) Good for all right? Wrong! Yeah, the doctors will stay and practice in the Philippines, but for TOURISTS. What about all the medically underserved in the rural areas? That's where most care is needed, but if this whole medical tourism thing blows up in the Philippines, every doctor graduating in the country will be pulled towards these hospital/hotels leaving the poor worse off than they were originally.

Hopefully next year I'll get to go on a medical mission to the Philippines in my moms province. I'm really looking forward to it.

Thoughts:

- An article about how as bad as bands like Hinder and Nickelback are people love them. It is kinda of funny.

- Offical album cover and tracklisting for new Tori Amos album in May.


- I thought I was a loser for all the movies I watch but this guy is trying to go to all the Starbucks!!?? I like all the HK and Spain ones.

- Why is Sanjaya still on American Idol?? It is pretty messed up because now he is just a joke but apparently some lady is straving herself until he gets voted off. Check out her MySpace page.


- I know no one cares but they picked up Battlestar Galactica for a fourth season wtih 22 eps and a two hour movie :) YAY!!

(M) An Affair Of Love (French)
Grade: B+/A

I JUST finished watching An Affair of Love and I LOVED it! I thought it was an excellent film and it's only like an hour and 18 minutes long. I like how they talked about how getting sex out of the way right up front allowed them to get to know each other rather than project some false image so you can get the person into bed. If you've already accomplished the goal of getting laid then you can move forward and it allowed them to skip the mundane what do you do for a living type of conversations.
Of course it also brings into play the power of sex and how they couldn't just let it be absolutely meaningless. I also like how they didn't tell you what the fantasy they wanted to act out was so you can let it be whatever you want. Their talk about how in the movies sex is either mind-blowing or horrible but never portrayed as in-between and that's what sex usually is was cool. I don't know, I could go on. I liked that the guy cried when she made her declaration of love and she made it without expecting reciprocation but just put it out there to let him know how she felt and how deeply those words can affect somebody. I liked how he felt he finally felt complete with her when he saw her grimace during orgasm and that there was finally no more holding back anything from him. The movie was a great exploration piece.

(G) The Bravery
Grade: B

My friend is BEYOND obsessed with The Bravery and she needs professional help. I went with her to this show last night and I had a good time but it was really entertaining to see how much she is obsessed with the bass player (Dirt) from this band. I had some yummy Pho before the show as well.

The most interesting thing about this show was that my friend and I sat at a table with two other girls, I'll call them Sara and Kelly. Sara just admitted to Kelly that she's in love with her. Sara and Kelly both have boyfriends. Kelly didn't know what to do because she likes Sara but is REALLY in love with her boyfriend also. What to do, what to do? I know. You do what Kelly did. You drink about 11 beers, get beyond hammered and spend the night rolling around on the floor and grinding on the girl who likes you in the seat and basically get as close to sex at the show as you can before probably going and having real sex later and then saying "I was so drunk, I don't remember a thing that happened last night." Which in reality may be true because she was sooooooo hammered. At the table next to us was a mom with what looked like her junior high son, I can't imagine what the mom and kid were thinking at these girls actions.

Blog....just to blog.

Booked my tickets to NY...sweet.

(O) Wicked (Pantages, 2007) Grade: A-

I really wish I hadn't read the book before the musical. Needless to say, the musical was very loosely based on the book. I don't want to ruin the plot for everyone, but there was really only one detail in the musical that left a bad taste in my mouth. This was a direct result for my having read the book and expecting things to happen that didn't. Despite that one detail, I thoroughly enjoyed this play.

We already know that I love the music, but watching the play in it's entirety added texture and even more feeling to the music. This musical was cleverly written and really funny. The cast was AMAZING. Eden Espinoza was a wonderful Elphaba, but the real treat about the Los Angeles production of "Wicked" was Megan Hilty(Glinda). Hilty played the saccharin, spoiled "good" witch, who befriends Elphaba. From listening to the CD, I expected to be annoyed, but Hilty's charm shines through and you just can't bring yourself to hate her.

"Will I see it again?" really isn't the question; it's "How many times are you going to see it?" For now, the answer is: 2(August 2007), but I'm predicting more. Let's not forget, I saw RENT 3 times in a year!

(B) Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Gregory MacGuire, 1995) Grade: C+

I read this a while back, after I listened to the Wicked musical soundtrack and before I watched the full play. Unfortunately, I began this novel thinking that I would get the full details of what would happen in the musical instead of going into it with a clean slate.

Pros:
The premise of the entire book is awesome. It takes a beloved and well known tale like "The Wizard of Oz" and presents it in a totally different perspective.

Cons:
The story was very slow in parts. The ending left me with this empty feeling and it really didn't seem like anything was resolved in the witch's life.

Honestly if I could mesh parts of the book and the musical together, I would be happy. I guess in the future I will try my damndest to treat musicals/movies and the books they are based on as separate entities to avoid any further heartache.

(M) A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. (Dito Montiel, 2006) Grade: C

Thoughts: Based upon the memoirs of his real life - Dito Montiel, this coming of age story is about him growing up in Astoria, New York during the 80’s. The film could have been better if they focused more on Dito as an adult (Robert Downey Jr.) and less as an immature teen (Shia LaBeouf). At least, Dianne Wiest and Chazz Palminteri were great.

(M) Breach. (Billy Ray, 2007) Grade: B

Thoughts: The actual Robert Hanssen case is much more interesting than the film itself but it was still a good movie. Darth’s review is pretty complete so I’ll just add that Chris Cooper did a wonderful job and Ryan Phillipe wasn’t too bad but what was that big lump on his forehead.

(M) American History X. (Tony Kaye, 1998) Grade: B

Thoughts: Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) is an ex neo-nazi skinhead just released from prison for killing three black men. Derek is trying to steer his younger brother Danny (Edward Furlong) from picking the same path he did. It was an interesting film but very frustrating because there is so much ignorance and racism out there. People like to think they are not racist, but in reality we all are and it just depends on what we do with the negative thoughts that matters. Trivia: Edward Norton gained 30 pounds of muscle for his role and the film uses the word "fuck" 205 times.

(M) Field of Dreams. (Phil Alden Robinson, 1989) Grade: B+

Thoughts: Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) and his wife Annie (Amy Madigan) live in Iowa raising their daughter Karin (Gaby Hoffmann). One day while in the corn field, Ray hears a voice and so begins a classic cult baseball film. I thought it was a really sweet movie with a good cast. I know most guys love the baseball / playing catch with your dad aspect but I like the family and desire to hold onto your dreams aspect more. Trivia - Then unknown, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are among the thousands of extras in the Fenway Park scene, and are uncredited and the studio built the baseball diamond on an actual farm in Dyersville, Iowa. After the filming was completed, the family owning the farm kept the field, and added a small hut where you could buy inexpensive souvenirs. As of 1990, visitors were free to come to the field and play baseball as they please.

Movie count: 23

WHAT THE F!!!!!



Ticketmaster is OUT OF THEIR MIND!!!!
Notice my ticket cost... $12, notice the service charge total: $14.25!!!!!!!!

Why did Tower have to close. I need a place to get my tickets at for cheaper!

Aaaahhhh!!!!! The Cure + Hong Kong = ME GOING!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day
I know that is late. I should have posted that on Sat. Thanks for the last minute post FTC. You are the best !!!!

(O) Wicked. (Pantages Theatre, 2007) Grade: A

Thoughts: Wicked fun! Wicked clever!! So on St. Patty's Day, Hedwig and I went to see Wicked at the Pantages and it was wonderful. The musical is fun and witty and extremely enjoyable. Hedwig is already going to see it again in August and I'm trying to think of when I can go again :) If you can fork over the dough I would highly suggest seeing this.

this is a blog
about nothing
a blog for Saturday

OH yeah, New Wave, did you notice that Arcade Fire has the top 8 tracks played on last.fm?
theyre taking over!

Anyone going to see this???

MATCH DAY
This will be a quick one because it's been a long day, but:

I matched at....POMONA VALLEY HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER in Family Medicine!

Congratulations to all my friends. I'm so proud of you all! And remember....we all end up where we are supposed to. Divide and conquer!!

Thoughts:

- Earlier this week, I wrote Arcade Fire's Neon Bible was blowing up. Well according to Billboard it was no. 2 this week. WTF!! It just beat out the DAUGHTRY. AF is big time now.

- Today Darth and I will be going to the Simpsons MTR Paley Festival event. I'll let you know how that goes.

- Today is free coffee day at Starbucks. I'm too lazy to wait in line.

- Wicked is this Sat. and Hedwig and I are pretty pumped. Not only is it St. Patty's Day but we get to watch something about a green witch.


- I was reading old blog entries from back in the day and apparently I use to send out a lot of death threats to blog so ... sorry. Ha ha.

update on the forthcoming film about Joy Division's Ian Curtis, Control:
The Killers have covered JD's "Shadowplay" for the soundtrack. Not sure what I think about that. I wonder if they'll get Interpol or She Wants Revenge on that action. Also, New Order are re-recording some JD songs.
Set for a Sept 2007 release, this is a movie I definitely want to check out.
read more here

(B) Ham on Rye (Charles Bukowski, 1982) Grade: A
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, considering the protagonist is a somewhat uncouth, alcoholic male. But the character felt real; I could picture him in my head as an actual person, and that’s what really struck me. Well, that and the fact he enjoyed reading and writing: Words weren’t dull, words were things that could make your mind hum. If you read them and let yourself feel the magic, you could live without pain, with hope, no matter what happened to you.

Am I allowed to do a book count New Wave? Book count: 5

February 14th has come and gone and the women got their day that's been set aside for them. Apparently somebody has decided to make March 14th the male version of Valentines day. Click here to find out more

(M) The Conformist
Grade: B

This movie is based on a novel about a man who feels so different inside that he wants to try to conform to the most normal person he can be in society. The film is set in Italy during the time of Fascism and the main character is a fascist. It's an interesting story but what is amazing is the cinematography. The film is shot so incredibly that it makes me want to watch all the films this cinematographer did, however he's done TONS! The main character has married the most normal girl he could and sets off to Paris on a secret mission to kill his beloved teacher who is an anti-fascist. I can't speak enough about this movie visually though, it's amazing.

WOWWWWWWWWWWWW
So I was watching tonight's episode of "I Love NY", when, during commercials, a teaser for a new show appeared..."The Flavor of Love Girls: CHARM SCHOOL starring Mo'nique"!!!!
I can't wait. The show includes:
Goldie (my favorite)
Bootz
Buckeey
Rain
Hottie
Pumkin
Smiley
Like Dat
Saphyree
Krazy
Buckwild
Serious
Toastee

I watched the middle of "The Shining" this weekend. I was searching for a place to watch the beginning and the end, when I stumbled upon this great "preview."

"Shining."

This is a cheap blog only because while trying to find pictures for the blog, I found an entry that said everything I wanted to say. I was watching TLC's "My Unique Family" this evening and Bree Walker and family were being featured. What makes them unique is they have Ectrodactyly. I remembered her from when I lived in San Diego, where she was a newscaster.

So...here's the link. I just thought it was really interesting, and I totally agree with what the author has to say.

Bree Walker

You know you've had too much plastic surgery when Wikipedia says so....

"In recent years, it has been observed that Walker seems to have undergone visible facial plastic surgery; her lips especially, appear to have been injected with collagen. It is estimated five quarts of collagen have been used."

I use to be obsessed with Travis but after 12 Memories my love for them faded. Their new album The Boy With No Name comes out in May and I'm a bit excited. Here is a video for their single "Closer". I forgot how much I love the band ... they are so cute :) Oh and watch for Zoolander to show up in the video.


I actually like this song more.

(A) Neon Bible. (Arcade Fire, 2007) Grade: B+

Thoughts: Three years ago, Arcade Fire released Funeral and the indie world embraced them. This week Arcade Fire released Neon Bible and everyone went insane. The amount of press over the group and album is huge. This is a great album but I don't see it sticking with me as much as Funeral. The track No Cars Go is better on their EP compared to this new version. Fav. tracks - The Well and Lighthouse, (Antichrist Television Blues) and Windowstill.

(A) Carnavas. (Silversun Pickups, 2006) Grade: A-

Thoughts: Talk about coming late to the party ... Silversun Pickups have been around for awhile and I'm just barely realzing how amazing they are. Based out of LA (I think the Silverlake area), this group has put together one KICK ASS album with an Smashing Pumpkins/My Bloody Valentine/guitar distoration and fuzz influences. I can not stop listening to this album. In addition, I give the band props for really working hard on their sucess and opening for many artist like Brendan Benson, B.R.M.C and recently Snow Patrol. Fav. tracks - Common Reactor, Melatonin and Waste It On.

this one is for New Wave... (click links for more pics)

Pics of one of the new stadiums being constructed for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympicsand the "bubble building"

FYI ... these were part of the eight films I rented from Blockbuster. Ha ha.

(M) School for Scoundrels. (Todd Phillips, 2006) Grade: C-

Thoughts: Roger (Jon Heder) is a loser until he starts taking these classes from Dr. P (Billy Bob Thornton). The movie was so-so but what I really enjoyed was the cast. Todd Louiso (the nerd from High Fidelity), Paul Scheer (Best Week Ever), Horatio Sanz (SNL) and a few others. I’m sure they had a good time doing this movie just goofing around. Billy Bob is always entertaining as jerk. I want to watch the UK film they based this upon.

(M) Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School. (Randall Miller, 2005) Grade: C-

Thoughts: Frank Keane (Robert Carlyle) is a widow baker who helps a man Steve Mills (John Goodman) when he gets into a bad car accident. Frank has to go to Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School to meet Steve’s long time love. Instead, he finds love himself in Meredith Morrison (Marisa Tomei). I wanted to like this move but it was very dull and pointless and I didn’t care of any of the characters. Oh well.

(M) Palwolui Christmas (Christmas in August). (Jin-Ho Hur, 1998) Grade: B

Thoughts: Typical Korean movie where lead character dies never telling the girl he loves how he feels. Apparently, it won a lot of awards and is beloved as a Korean film so that’s cool.

(M) Jesus Camp. (Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, 2006) Grade: B+

Thoughts: A documentary film about children and Christianity in the Mid-West. The film dragged a bit at some points but overall it was interesting. Personally, the film had a strong effect on me because I found it extremely relatable. I was one of those Evangelical Christians who surrounded themselves in their faith, so much so that I was actually isolating myself from the rest of the secular world. I was not as extreme as in the film but I did do the church retreats and passing out pamplets. One of the flaws in religion, in my opinion, is the separation from the world to this narrow-minded view, which alienates you from everyone else. The term "Christian" is viewed in so many different contexts that it makes it hard to talk about faith/religion anymore. I know I’m a Christian but in a way I feel like I need to tuck it away as a side note if I hope to relate to people who are non-Christians. I agreed with the points Cup had as well regarding the impact on these young children.

Movie count: 19

(M) Jesus Camp
Grade: B
This look into raising young fundamental evangelical christian children was quite interesting. It reminded me of three other movies I've seen, Death In Gaza (where young Palestinian children are raised to hate and prepare to kill Israeli's), Stevie (which has scene's with an evengelical church), and Searching For The Wrong-Eyed Jesus (which also deals with ultra-religious people).
What is frightening about this movie is that young children, who are the most impresionable people, are being raised and indoctrinated with certain religious and politcal beliefs. Now, whether these beliefs be good or bad or true or not is not the issue I have as much as the children are kept out of public schools where other schools-of-thought are present. Because of this the children can't make their own decisions about things.
Moments that disturbed me were when the camp teacher referred to Islam as the enemy, when a girl told a story of how when her father goes off to do missionary work they yell out "MARTYR! MARTYR! MARTYR!" as he leaves because to die for Jesus is the best thing that could happen to their father, the extremely intense emotional states the kids are put through, and that Ted Haggard came off as the biggest fake in the world and I don't mean cause he's gay and wants people to think he's straight but he comes off as using his position for power and not because he even believes anything he is teaching. Finally, I got the impression that the children don't know anything about the bible but are just taught Jesus Saves you from eternal hell and damnation and so fear is being used to discipline and control.

just an FYI for all the children of the 80's out there...
VOLTRON is on Cartoon Network's [Adult Swim], weekdays at 5:30 am (yes, it's early, but that's what TiVo is for).
"...and I'll form the head."

grade: A+