(M) Pan's Labyrinth; Grade: B+
As I know this movie has been reviewed I shall just say that I enjoyed the film. I think it's the first movie I've seen in a theater since July or something like that. Aspects of this movie reminded me of other movies. The beer bottle beating reminded me of a scene in the movie Irreversible which is a pretty messed up film, the facial wound one of the characters receives reminds me of the Joker's smile in Batman and the Labyrinth pursuit reminded me of The Shining (or as in the simpsons, The Shinin'). I liked the idea of the film. However, there was really only one "evil" character in the fantasy realm and I guess I would have liked more of that character or just more fantasy characters in general. The fascist regime was of course evil enough in the human realm. Overall though, quite an enjoyable movie.


(M) The Secret Of NIMH; Grade: B+
I just re-watched this childhood favorite movie and I still love it. The black crow Jeremy is hilarious. Just a cute movie with themes I never picked up on as a child. I never knew NIMH stood for the National Institute of Mental Health and the theme of the movie was animal experimentation. I guess as a kid the politics in movies aren't something you're aware of.


(M) The Chosen; Grade B-
This book is AMAZING, but the movie is ok. There is so much in the novel about father and son relationships, divergence in religious opinion, and the bounds of friendship. The book is one of my favorite books I've probably read in the last 5 years. The movie however tries to wrap up all these themes in an hour and 40 minutes and of course that is not enough time. I didn't feel I could relate enough to the characters or care as much about them as I did in the novel but it could have just been me being too critical and not just enjoying the experience.

Although it's not my cup of tea, just figured i'd share with the house anyway.
The teaser and 3 trailers are up (click on pic), and also downloadable for your iPod.

(G) Camera Obscura @ El Rey, Feb. 17 Grade: B+
I’ve been lucky enough to see this Scottish band perform in support of each of their albums, and tonight they were the happiest I’ve ever seen them. It probably helped that their latest album, Let’s Get Out of This Country, topped a lot of 2006 “Best of” lists and this 800-capacity theater sold out. Most of the crowd were newbies, but as the set was almost entirely the new material, it worked in their favor. The highlight of the night was set closer “Eighties Fan.” Second highlight: Nigel the percussionist didn’t go on tour to stay at home with his newborn baby girl, so his replacement was French musician Francois Marie. Ooooh la la! He was dreamy!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!! GUNG HEY FAT CHOY!!

Year of the Pig

Breach (2007, Billy Ray) - Grade: B

This movie is based on the events surrounding former FBI agent Robert Hanssen. For those of you who forgot, he was a double agent who sold secrets to the Soviet Union for many years. Chris Cooper plays Hanssen, to perfection, as an arrogant, paranoid man out to teach the US a lesson. Ryan Phillipe plays his assistant Eric O'Neill, a young, naive wannabe agent, who agrees to assist the FBI. It's a bit slow moving, but the story is very interesting and keeps you wanting to see what happens next. Cooper's portrayal is by far the key to the movie, he captures every scene he is in, and makes everyone on the screen with him better. When I came home after the movie I rushed online to read up more on Hanssen. You can only find so much, as much is still classified.

(M) After Hours. (Martin Scorsese) Grade: B-

Thoughts: Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) is have one bad night. After meeting Marcy Franklin (Rosanna Arquette) in a coffee shop and getting her number, he decides to head to SoHo in New York City to see her late at night. The movie is funny and very New York. It was nice to see Catherine O'Hara in it. Trivia - Martin Scorsese told Griffin Dunne to refrain from sex and sleep during filming in order to get a more realistic feeling of paranoia.

(M) This Film Is Not Yet Rated. (Kirby Dick, 2006) Grade: B+

Thoughts: An informative and interesting documentary into the rating system for movies. Not surprising is how political and corporate the whole process is. The fact that violence is not considered NEARLY as bad as sex is disturbing. It is like the government is trying to make us think guns and death are okay but never sex. Hence, why I love foreign films so much because violence is curbed and sex scenes are open.

(M) Kramer Vs. Kramer. (Robert Benton, 1979) Grade: A-

Thoughts: Yuppie, workaholic Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman), is left to raise his young son (Justin Henry) after his wife Joanna Kramer (Meryl Streep) walks out on him. This was a fantastic film about family and dealing with divorce. The acting from both Hoffman and Streep was great to watch.

Movie count: 6

I am having a not so great day. Dang it! I messed up and am now kicking myself in the butt. Oh well.

Hey for the finetune thing ... if you sign up add me as a friend so I can listen to your playlist. Good stuff.

My new favorite site - finetune. Basically you make playlist from what they have and you can listen it to whenever ... well I mean as long as you have your browser open. The only downside is you have to load up on 45 songs (too much) and you are limited to 3 songs from the same artist but otherwise it is pretty sweet. I have already made 3 mix tapes/playlist. Check them out and start making your own so I can listen to them at work :)

Update: Driving home on the 101 fwy I see the following sign hanging from an overpass - Jenny I promise ... I will never do it again. CLASSIC :) What again we may never know but I'm going to go with cheating. Valentine's Day RULES!!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Nothing is better than a sham holiday. Personally, I prefer Love Day.

Its 11:30 and no one has blogged today so I thought I would do my part. New Wave can thank me later.

- Finally got my car back after 1 1/2 months. Needless to say I am relieved and glad the whole ordeal is finally over.

- Did my taxes more than 2 months early, usually I do them in April right before the due date. I think I like finishing them early.

- I think I almost cried when I saw Norbit was the #1 movie of the weekend. Then I did cry when I saw it made $33 million.

- 2 more weeks to Vegas, I can't wait.

Thats all for now, I just wanted to keep the blogging everyday thingy going.

(B) Slapstick (Kurt Vonnegut, 1976) Grade: B+
An entertaining book, moderately humorous and most of all, a fun read. The prologue leads one to believe this is an autobiography, but of course, this is Vonnegut, and more accurately, he writes: This is the closest I will ever come to writing an autobiography. The book is actually about genius twins who are ostracized from society for their freakish looks. One of the twins becomes the U.S. president. Oh, and the Chinese are far superior to any other race in this (perhaps) near-future, because of their ability to shrink themselves to miniature size and think collectively. Yes, it’s all a bit strange, but that’s Vonnegut for you.

(M) An Unreasonable Man (Henriette Mantel, Steve Skrovan, 2006) Grade: B+
Nice case of serendipity this weekend: I was bored on Saturday so I decided on a whim to see this film, which I had heard about when Ralph Nader was on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. Since it was only playing at the Nuart, I figured it might sell out. But it didn’t! Even better, Nader was there in person. He introduced the film with the filmmakers, which was a nice little surprise. Say what you will about the 2000 election (did he affect Al Gore’s chances or not), Nader is admirable for his consumer advocacy work. And this documentary was pretty even-handed, giving supporters and naysayers their chance to speak. Plus, there are cameos from historian Howard Zinn, politician Pat Buchanan and others.

UPDATE: Because I'm a fat lazy turd I did not run. Basically because it was raining that morning and my friend and I found no interest in running in the rain. I feel super bad and according to the website over 2,000 people showed up to run. Good for them ... Bad for me :(

I'm doing the 29th Annual Chinatown Firecracker Run tomorrow. It should be fun. This will be my second year doing it. I hope it does not rain but if it does ... oh well. I'm just hoping to beat my time last year ... which was a long long time to run 3 miles. Hee hee.

Keeping up with the bowling topic, I bowled my first Turkey this morning!!!

The past few days I have been working like crazy to get stuff done and coming home and sleeping early because I felt the early stages of a cold coming. Well that is over now, both the cold and work, and my prize is bowling during work hours. Today I get to go to Lucky Strikes at Hollywood and Highland from 1 to 4 pm and bowl and DRINK!!! That's right ... OPEN BAR people. OH YEA!!! Thanks to all the service fees people pay ... we get to drink for free. Hee hee.