Topic: Coachella 2009

*Frak .. now I want to go on Sunday to Coachella. Dang it.

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - watch more funny videos

(M) Wendy and Lucy (2008, Director: Kelly Reichardt) Grade: B+
Unlike some indie films that can be tricky to explain (i.e. Synecdoche, New York), Wendy and Lucy is surprisingly simple. Michelle Williams stars as a woman named Wendy, who is traveling to Alaska to look for work. Along the way, she loses her dog, Lucy, and spends most of the film in search of her only companion. Though simple, the film explores such themes as isolation and sacrifice in an all-too realistic way. This isn't escapist fare, and what ultimately happens to Wendy depends on how optimistic you are.

Lots of bad economic news on the job front today. Yahoo reported (link) tens of thousands of jobs were lost, with ranges between 60k to 70k today alone. Insane. Variety (link) just had a round of layoffs today, about 7%. This is the second round in less than a year, which I guess is to be expected as publishing is pretty down across the board (L.A. Times, anyone?). I don't know where all these unemployed people are going to go for work. Even coffee houses aren't hiring. My local Starbucks has been empty as of late. Depressing news. Glad I still have my job for now...

Side note: I found this interesting article about how Dark Knight being snubbed at the Oscars is related to the Variety layoffs (link).

Topic: Lost, Raveonettes

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!! GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!!
Year of the Ox.
*I am almost done with season 4 of Lost then I can finally start season 5. I still have to watch the rest of season 3 because I skipped some eps but it is all good. I have to say I enjoy the show much more than I thought BUT there are still some issues I have with it. It is no 24, BSG or Stargate Atlantis but it entertains and I love love love the Koreans on it. :)


*I saw the Raveonettes for the hundredth time on Sat. Man, I really heart them.


*7. The Visitor Dir: Thomas McCarthy 3 stars
8. Man On Wire Dir: James Marsh 3 stars
9. The Wrestler Dir: Darren Aronofsky 4 stars
10. Flashdance Dir: Adrian Lyne 4 stars

Topic: 81st Academy Awards Nominations

*The awards will be handed out Feb. 22 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Here's the complete list of nominees:

-Best Motion Picture of the Year
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

-Achievement in Directing
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

-Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

-Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

-Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Kate Winslet. The Reader
Meryl Streep, Doubt

-Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

-Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

-Original Screenplay
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin McDonagh, In Bruges
Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon, WALL-E

-Adapted Screenplay
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
David Hare, The Reader
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

-Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

-Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
James Newton Howard, Defiance
Danny Elfman, Milk
A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
Thomas Newman, WALL-E

-Original Song
"Down to Earth," Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; WALL-E
"Jai Ho," A.R. Rahman and Gulzar; Slumdog Millionaire
"O Saya," A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam; Slumdog Millionaire

-Achievement in Art Direction
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

-Achievement in Cinematography
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

-Achievement in Costume Design
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

-Best Documentary Feature
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

-Best Documentary Short Subject
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness—From the Balcony of Room 306

-Achievement in Film Editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

-Achievement in Makeup
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

-Best Animated Short Film
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory—Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

-Best Live Action Short Film
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)

-Achievement in Sound Editing
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

-Achievement in Sound Mixing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

-Achievement in Visual Effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

Topic: January 20th, 2009

*It is finally here. The swearing in of our new president Barack Obama. The media coverage for this has been INSANE. I'll be getting up around 7 am to watch some of this though I'm sure they will playing it ALL DAY long. At LegoLand, they did a mini version of what the swearing in will be like. Cute :)

Topic: Movies, Lost

*Hedwig and I did a double Kate Winslet feature on Sunday :) We were cool.
5. Revolutionary Road Dir: Sam Mendes 3.5 stars
6. The Reader Dir: Stephen Daldry 4 stars

*So I finished season 1, 2 and 3 of Lost, although I had to skip 9 eps of s3 to finish. I started season 4 but I doubt, given my work schedule as of late (booo), that I can be ready for season 5 by Wednesday. I'll have to watch one of those recap things :P

Topic: Radio R.I.P.

*Today Indie 103.1 announced it was going off the air and exist solely on the Internet.

"Indie 103.1 will cease broadcasting over this frequency effective immediately. Because of changes in the radio industry and the way radio audiences are measured, stations in this market are being forced to play too much Britney, Puffy and alternative music that is neither new nor cutting edge. Due to these challenges, Indie 103.1 was recently faced with only one option — to play the corporate radio game."

I've had a love/dislike relationship with this station. Love because they play some great music and had decent programs like Big Sonic Heaven and Joneys but dislike because of the snobbery about how great they were. Now we are only left with KROQ, which plays some gosh awful music at times. Remember the days when we use to have Y 107.1. (sigh) Oh well.

I just want to say to all the readers on here, go see The Reader and Doubt. Both are incredible movies.

Topic: Movies

*4. Milk Dir: Gus Van Sant 4 stars

*According to the Jan. 9th issue of Entertainment Weekly these are the 25 movies to watch before the Oscars:

- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Slumdog Millionaire
- Milk
- Frost/Nixon
- The Dark Knight
- Doubt
- Revolutionary Road
- WALL-E
- The Wrestler
- Gran Torino
- The Reader
- Rachel Getting Married
- Changeling
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona
- Tropic Thunder
- Happy-Go-Lucky
- The Vistor
- I've Loved You So Long
- Frozen River
- Nothing but the Truth
- Man on Wire
- Syncdoche, New York
- The Duchess
- Defiance
- Australia

So how many have you guys seen? I've seen 14 out of the 25. I am not too excited about most of the films listed, it seems like a slow year.

Topic: traveling, resolutions

*Happy 2009 to all!!

*Pigern and I got back yesterday afternoon from our fun trip to the motherland (Shanghai and Hong Kong). Good times was had by all ... well until Pigern got a bad case of the stomach flu the last two days we were in Hong Kong. Boooo. Poor Pigern :( but she is all better now. Oh and Pigern and I did get to experience airport hell while trying to get home. I am not traveling during the holidays again, there are just too many people. Pictures of our adventures coming soon.

*Instead of reviewing movies I'll just list them as I see them. Let's see what my movie count will be at the end of the year.
1. Mei Lanfang (Forever Enthalled) Dir: Chen Kaige 3.5 stars
2. City of Ember Dir: Gil Kenan 2 stars
3. The Longshots Dir: Fred Durst 3.5 stars

*2009 New Year's Resolutions:
1. Eat better, less meat and run more.
2. Buy property - I would like this to happen this year.
3. Save even MORE money.
4. Travel more to places.

2008 New Year's Resolutions:
1. Eat better, less meat. I don't want a lot of health problems when I'm older. (eh didn't really do this)
2. Buy property - I would like this to happen this year. (nope to this, still waiting)
3. Save even MORE money. (more like lost thanks to the suck economy ... my poor 401K)
4. Travel more to places like Hawaii, Florida, Scotland, China and HK. (did the China and HK part and threw in a trip to D.C. and NYC)
5. Read the entire Dune Chronicles, which is 6 books. (didn't do this but i did start reading the Sookie Stackhouse and Stephaine Plum books so I have that going for me)
6. Watch 125 movies and more tv shows like Roswell, Sopranos, Stargate SG-1, The L Word, Dexter, and Damages. (no clue on movies but i'm sure i got close to 125, i did watch Lost, Dexter and Damages)
7. Attempt to lose a few pounds, though if I did no. 8 I doubt I can. (did this a bit thanks to running cause i thought i was going to do a half marathon)
8. Finish my Crown City Brewery Beers of the World. I need to drink 100 beers and I'm at around 65 so getting there. (couldn't finish this cause the place closed down in May)

*I toyed with the idea of ending this blog. I was just getting tired of writing about my random junk, espeically since I do not review movies on here anymore. After some thought I decided to keep it going for a bit longer but we'll see. Ha ha.