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+

I saw this image and thought it was interesting seeing an asian woman partake in a Jewish ceremony. The article was in the New York Times.

Why is American Idol so boring this season? I didn't watch last season until the very end, so maybe that was my mistake this year. There's just no UMPH anymore. blah blah blah.

You know what show is NOT boring? HEROES! too bad it's gone until April 23. boo.

Failure To Launch (B-)

I worked from home yesterday and decided to watch this since I received it from Netflicks last week. Overall, it was a decent movie. The premise is that a 35 year old man, Tripp, (played by Matthew McConaughey) who still lives at home, meets a charming woman, Paula (played by Sarah Jessica Parker Matthew). He has commitment issues and every time he wants to break up with a girlfriend, he takes them home to meet the parents...cause he still lives at home and that would freak the women out. However, the twist in the movie is that the meeting between Paula and Tripp isn't a chance encounter. Paula is a relationship consultant hired by Tripp's parents to start a serious relationship with Tripp, so he would move out of the house. Of course Tripp finds out the truth and breaks up with Paula, but in the end, they both love each other and want to stay together.... so predicable!!!

Music Tidbits:

- Apparently the indie music world is a buzzed about the new Arcade Fire Neon Bible album. I love love love this band but I'm starting to see the crazy fandom that is building around them and it is too much for me to handle. I'm too old for this stuff.

- Tori Amos - American Doll Posse (songs leaked)


- This makes me sad ... Korn and The Cure ... why Robert why :(

(M) Stranger Than Fiction
Grade: C
I assume most of you know what this movie is about. I think the idea behind it is always a good idea, that whole live your life while you can thing, but the execution wasn't that great and everytime I see Maggie Gylenhaal I think of her in the movie 'Secretary' fully naked and getting spanked or nailed up against a tree.


(M) Au Hasard Balthazar
Grade: B
Oh I looooooooooooove Balthazar, he's such a cute donkey! Yeah, Balthazar is a donkey whose life parallels that of this woman and both are beaten by the people closest to them and suffer at their hands. This is a foreign film that has a religious aspect to it, I can't describe it but it's kinda sad.


(M) Who Killed The Electric Car?
Grade: B
I hate large corporations and this movie goes on to increase my hate for them as well as my disdain for George W. Bush, and two-faced Bill Clinton and out of his mind Ronald Reagan and government organizations all together. I think all presidents suck actually. But this movie isn't about presidents, it's about electric cars and they should still be available to anyone who wants them and for those who don't want one, don't buy one.

Movie count: 17

There are a lot of movies I have not seen that everyone has seen. Examples:
- Top Gun
- English Patient
- American History X
- A Christmas Story
- The Goonies

I guess it is not too bad considering I have a friend who has never seen The Wizard of Oz and another girl who has never seen It's A Wonderful Life.

What movies have you guys missed that everyone has seen???

(M) Half Nelson. (Ryan Fleck, 2006) Grade: B+

Thoughts: The movie should get a B but I really enjoyed Shareeka Epps performance as Drey, a junior high basketball player whose mother works a lot, brother is in jail and only friend seems to be her history teacher Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling). Unfortunately, Dan is a crack addict who claims he only uses to get by. I liked the relationship Drey and Dan form and how quiet the whole movie was.

(M) Il, Postino. (Michael Radford, 1994) Grade: B

Thoughts: I thought the movie would be more lighthearted romance in Italy but surprisingly it was quite political dealing with Communism and exile. Mario Ruoppolo (Massino Troisi) falls for Beatrice Russo (Maria Grazia Cucinotta). With the help of exiled Cuban poet Pablo Neruda (Philippe Noiret), Mario wins her love. What makes the film more profound is Massino Troisi died making this film. Apparently, he had a heart condition and was told he need to get treatment for it but insisted on making the film. He died 12 hours after the cameras stopped rolling.

(M) Quinceanera. (Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, 2006) Grade: B

Thoughts: I've actually been to a quinceanera so I saw first hand how important it is in Mexican culture. As Magdalena’s (Emily Rios) 15th birthday arrives, she learns she is pregnant and is kicked out of her house to live with her great granduncle Tio Tomas Alvarez (Chalo Gonzalez) and gay cousin Carols (Jesse Garcia). I really liked Chalo's character. He was such a simple man who loved his family regardless of the mistakes in their lives. Oh and the shots of Echo Park and Silverlake were cool. The only thing that puzzled me was how Magdalena got pregnant. In the film, she claims she never had intercourse and the most the guy did was ejaculate on her leg. So the sperm swam up and impregnated her. I find that almost impossible to believe but I guess you can get pregnant in the strangest ways.

Movie count: 15

(M) The Departed
Grade: B-
I found this movie enjoyable but I DO NOT think it deserved Best Picture... though that is an unfair statement as I only saw one of the other nominees. I am curious how the asian film version is and how it ends but I may just ask New Wave for that info. I wasn't expecting much from this movie as I had heard it was over-hyped and so I hoped that not expecting much would make me like it more but I don't think it helped. I give it a C among all of the director's previous work but a B overall because it was enjoyable and I planned on turning it off at midnight to finish later but I was too hooked to stop it so I stayed up until it ended.

It is Friday :) Thank goodness. So here is a funny story for today. A few weeks back Blockbuster was doing a President's Day promotion where if you bring in the red tear away from a Netflix mailing you get a free rental. Well being the cheap arse I am I had been saving up my tear aways for the past few weeks because they did this same promotion back in December and I figured they would do it again.

I go to the store and ask the guy working the counter how many I can rent with the tear away:

Guy: I don't know.
Me: Is there a limit?
Guy: I don't know.

So being as awesome as I am I check out EIGHT dvds. Hee hee. Hey the guy said there was no limit.

The next day I go to the same Blockbuster to check out some more dvds :)and I go to the counter with 5 dvds in hand. This time the situation was much different.

Guy: You can only check out 2 dvds with this promotion.
Me: Oh really. The guy yesterday told me it did not matter.
Guy: No ... ONLY two.
Me: Oh okay no problem. (I select the two I want).
Guy: Did you return any of the dvds you rented because you can only have 9 out at at time.
Me: Yup I returned 4 today.
Guy: You should really switch over the Total Access because the program is great.
Me: No thanks

Things I learned - 1. I love ripping off Blockbuster 2. I love disgruntle workers 3. I love being a freak who rents 8 dvds.

Oh and a side note I think I might be addicted to Netflix according to this. My answer to all of these is YES!!

Do you check your Netflix Queue more than four times per week?

Have you cancelled plans with Grandma just to make sure you finish watching a disc so you can send it back?

Do you watch the DVD the same day it arrives so you can send it back the next day?

Do you cry and curse the Netflix gods if you don't get a DVD in the mail on the scheduled date?

(A) "Beatiful Liar" by Beyoncé & Shakira
from the forthcoming re-release of Beyoncé's B'Day, this duet is sure to be a hit. I like the song, the video could have been much better, but it is the pinnacle of what a HOT video strives to be (with 2 sexy ladies shaking their ass in sync). As I told New Wave...if Maxim magazine made it a video, this would be it.

Ok am I a complete dork for being excited about this? lol. I saw the preview last night on Fox or some random channel and I reverted to my 9 year old self. Anyway catch the trailer here.

(Leonardo was my favorite...can you tell?)