Sucker Punch'd

This post should probably wait until morning, but I can't sleep and I'm pretty much writing it in my head as I lie awake in bed (which I seem to have a habit of doing), so I might as well do it now.

I keep saying this isn't a movie review blog, and yet this is the third such post in a row. Ah well, so is life. There'll be a more personal, relevant post coming at some point, along the lines of "so hey, I finally moved to California like I said I was going to..."


Anyway, Sucker Punch. The reason for this post.

I went into Sucker Punch with certain expectations. It's Zack Snyder, which means hardcore action and beautiful, if almost entirely digital, visuals. It's also Snyder's first movie that isn't a remake or adaptation, so I knew not to expect anything truly impressive story wise.

The result? Snyder met all of my expectations. The action sequences were stunning, featuring his trademark slow-motion long takes and his skillful use of color palettes. The acting wasn't great-- it's clear the actresses were chosen for looks over ability (Emily Browning was enchanting to look at, but ruined it every time she opened her mouth). That said, Carla Gugino, Jena Malone, and Oscar Isaac did fantastic jobs. Jon Hamm was good too, but he was in so little of the movie I don't dare count him.

I could go into more detail about the movie's failings at a coherent, understandable storyline, but I will spare you the spoilers because, if you like Snyder's aesthetic, you should see this movie. It's enjoyable and worth the price of the popcorn.


As I watched this movie, I realized something about Zack Snyder. Sucker Punch, like Watchmen before it, had an amazing soundtrack full of haunting covers of already classic songs (some of which, I just discovered, were actually performed by the cast, so, well done on your versions of 'Sweet Dreams Are Made of These' and 'Where Is My Mind,' Emily Browning. You have redeemed yourself.).

But think about this: Intense, picturesque, beautifully composed shots + action sequences which (thankfully) require little dialogue + quick, concise storytelling + music? Add those together and you get a pretty good music video!

Music videos, like other forms of short film, need to tell an entire story in a very short amount of time. This requires a condensed plot, increased stakes, and a reliance on visuals over dialogue to tell the story. You don't have time for a lengthy story progression or any in depth character growth. You need to say what you need to say without pulling any punches (pun slightly intended). I was not surprised to learn that Snyder has actually directed some music videos and commercials (often another example of short-form cinematic storytelling).

And, in the end, that's what Sucker Punch was: a series of really great music videos interspersed like commercial breaks or musical interludes throughout an otherwise raw and thought-provoking short film about lecherous men taking advantage of beautiful but otherwise empty and broken, weak-and-yet-strong women. That or it's making a statement on the horrifying treatment of the mentally ill. Not unpleasant, but not a cohesive feature-length film.


Now, you know me, I'm a stickler and a nit picker, so I couldn't finish this post without harping on about a few details. Feel free to ignore this next section.

Point 1: The movie takes place (at least in part) at "Lenox House for the Mentally Unstable" in Brattleboro, Vermont. Fun fact: there actually is a psychiatric hospital in Brattleboro. I realize that the movie is meant as fantasy, so they naturally portray Lenox House as harsh and seedy, entirely unlike the actual Brattleboro Retreat, which is one of the oldest, most progressive and patient-friendly psychiatric hospitals in the country. I'm not going to complain about that. I just thought it was interesting to point out.
If you want a movie about life in the loony bin, watch It's Kind of a Funny Story.

Point 2: Babydoll (Emily Browning)'s dancing is a major plot point in the movie, but all we see of her dancing is a few awkward shifts from foot to foot and maybe a little hip movement. Yes, the point is that her dancing is her escape into the fantasy world of her mind, but the fact of the matter is, back in the "real" world, her dance is apparently so wonderful that all men who see it are instantly hypnotized or some bullshit like that. If you want us to believe that, want us to suspend our disbelief on that point, you should have at least given us a little glimpse.

Point 3: The movie ends with a character (I won't say who) boarding a bus destined for Fort Wayne and leaving Brattleboro. The bus driver lies to some state troopers to cover the fact that she doesn't have a ticket by saying she's been on the bus since Hartford. Any bus route that would take you from Hartford, Connecticut, to Brattleboro, Vermont, then on to Fort Wayne, Indiana is a really fucked up route.

Point 3.5: As the bus drives off into the sunset (of course), we see a landscape of rolling hills covered in wheat. A very midwestern view, and one I would expect on a bus trip to Indiana, but NOT anywhere CLOSE to Vermont. I've driven through Vermont enough times to know that there are no rolling hills, and any amber waves of grain are few and far between. It's a stupid point to get bothered by, but it just feels to me like Snyder forgot where he set the movie in the first place, and somehow between the beginning and the end, Lenox House went from the oldest city in Vermont to rural Ohio.


Aaaaaaaaanyway, I digress. Sucker Punch was an enjoyable film. Wait, revise that. Sucker Punch was an enjoyable collection of music videos, trying to tell an Inception-esque, escapist story of a fantasy world within another fantasy world. Still, like I said, if you liked Snyder's other movies, you'll probably like Sucker Punch at least a little bit.

All I can say is that his Superman reboot will most likely be better, and he should probably stick to what he's good at and let somebody else handle the writing from now on.

The Green Hornet Review*

* The title of this blog post can be read as either "The Green Hornet-Review" or "The Green-Hornet Review", though only one of those readings makes any sense. Choose whichever one you prefer.

A Disclaimer
Let me start by saying I dislike movie review blogs. I tend not to read them, unless they are humorous and/or recommended to me by a trusted friend. My last entry could seem like a review of RED, but I'd prefer to think of it as a statement on "arte film" v. mainstream blockbusters and the qualities they each possess.

That said, I just saw The Green Hornet and, rather than immediately posting my thoughts on Twitter like I do for most movies, I decided to write a blog post.

So there you are.


The Actual Thing
To begin: some context. I firmly believe that the environment in which you see a movie has a lot to do with your experience of it.

I had a long day today. I work at Gap, upstairs in the Kids/Baby/Maternity department(s), and as usual, I was the only person up there. I had lines of people at my register, bratty kids to deal with, and carts stacked high with new merchandise I was somehow suppose to find a place for. As usual, the people working downstairs pretty much forgot I was there and didn't send me on my fifteen minute break until near the end of my shift.

I've been looking forward to Green Hornet's release all week. I've followed this movie since Stephen Chow was attached to direct/play Kato (we're talking 2008, when I first figured how who Stephen Chow is and how awesome he can be). It fell out of my mind for a while, but returned when it was announced that Chow had left the project and Michel Gondry had signed on to be the new director (2009). As I mentioned in a previous post, Gondry is one of my favorite directors, if not my outright favorite. So, in reality, you could say I've been looking forward to this movie's release for about a year, maybe more. It's been on the list of "movies I'm definitely going to see when they come out" since I first heard about it. After a shitty day like today, it was exactly what I needed.

I asked if anyone else in the house wanted to go (even though I usually go to the movies alone to get some kind of catharsis [or maybe because I have no friends]) because it seemed like the thing to do. My stepbrother and I then headed to the mall and paid the $13 for our spiffy 3D specs. I got a free small popcorn and a $4.75 soda, and our movie experience began.


The Actual Actual Thing (I really mean it this time)
The Green Hornet was... okay. It was fun. It wasn't a superhero movie, and it didn't really try to be. At times it was a bit overdone and began to lull, but overall I think it succeeded.

Seth Rogen's writing was great. His acting... not as great, but he did a decent job. He played the same character he always plays— himself— but threw in some punches. (Haha! punches! I'm hilarious!)
Relative unknown Jay Chou did a fantastic job as Kato. The trailer showed nothing of his personality, which was unfortunate for a trailer. It's hard for me to imagine Stephen Chow in the role after seeing Chou. Kato is a huge part, and whoever attempted it had big shoes to fill, but just as nobody had heard of Bruce Lee before the Green Hornet TV series, I'd never heard of Jay Chou before now, and was definitely pleasantly surprised. He was funny, talented, and believable. Well done, Chou.
Cameron Diaz was... I'm sorry, just thinking her name makes me want to throw up. I don't like Cameron Diaz. I find her vapid and unfunny, and not really that attractive. She wasn't terrible in this movie, but I think that was due more to how her character was written than how she played it. Rogen used cliché well. The female character drove the two male characters (and rivals in love) apart, eventually spurring the third act conflict that brings them back together stronger than ever before, but he avoided any actual romantic subplot, so way to go Rogen. And... I guess Diaz helped too. A little. Maybe.
By far the stand out performance came from Christoph Waltz as crime czar Chudnofsky. Waltz stole the show in Inglourious Basterds, and he did it again here. You got a sense of his swagger in the trailer, but just like Chou, his true character didn't come through until the final product. Luckily his entrance is one of the very first scenes, featuring a very pleasant cameo by James Franco, and introduces the character in an amazing way. He starts off quiet, understated, maybe even a little shy and insecure, but soon he becomes powerful, dangerous, and still insecure but in a fabulously evil way. Enough can't really be said about Waltz's Chudnofsky, so I won't say any more, and move on to...

Gondry. Yesssssssss, Gondry.

Green Hornet was a pretty big departure for Gondry, his first feature length film since Eternal Sunshine that he didn't write and direct. Maybe that was a good thing, because his two films after Sunshine and Human Nature (both written by Charlie Kaufman) felt a lot like Charlie Kaufman films, and while that aesthetic worked for Gondry, it's nice to see him work with someone else's material. That's part of what makes his music videos so great— shaping the look and feel to the story of the song, or at least the tone, rhythm, or intent of the song.

Green Hornet was also a lot shinier and a lot less "homespun" than Gondry's previous work, and yet it never lost his particular whimsy. There was a comically fast-motion sequence which served to both highlight Britt's party lifestyle and introduce the vast collection of cars which would later become part of the plot. During the first fight scene, when Kato sprang to action in super-kick-ass-mode, there was the "extend-o-vision" effect seen in the trailer (2:05).

By far, the most "Gondry" sequence comes when Chudnofsky tells his henchmen to spread word throughout the city that he wants the Green Hornet dead. In what seems like one take, a henchman speaks to two women, they nod, pick up knives, and walk their separate ways, going into splitscreen. They each talk to someone else, who talks to someone else, every time splitting the screen again until you have eight shots of people preparing to kill the Green Hornet, all in what looks like one take, before cutting to (full screen) scenes of actual violence taking place. It's very much like his video for Cibo Matto's Sugar Water, and I watched the whole thing with a giddy grin.

I took some issue with the plot, because even though Britt/Kato set out to do good and save people, they don't do much of anything. Sure, they shut down a bunch of meth labs and get all up in the face of the gangs, but no real benefit is shown, and they're portrayed as villains by the media, which is supposed to be a cover, but ends up being sort of the truth. The "big payoff" never really happened, but it didn't-happen in a way that was a little funny and off-beat and suited the style, if not my expectations.

Character growth happened startlingly late, which frustrated me a lot because it meant that the main character was a dick for the majority of the film. I guess he was supposed to be a lovable, humorous dick, but a dick is a dick and I had little sympathy for him. It was only made up for by the fact that Kato's character was awesome throughout.

The End Result

The Green Hornet was good. You should see it. Don't spend extra for 3D.

<3- Gaz

Review: Enjoyable. Discuss.

Time Magazine's Richard Corliss wrote a not-so-favorable review of Robert Schwentke's Red, the action comedy based on Warren Ellis' graphic novel of the same name, condemning the movie for many of the same reasons that made me like it enough to see twice. I contemplated sharing my thoughts via tweet, but then realized that it would take more than 140 characters (442 so far, counting html; 357 not counting it).

Corliss writes (and I apoligize if I end up quoting a huge block of text, but it's actually a fairly well-written article that I enjoyed reading):

A more thoughtful film might have investigated the chasm between the dreams older people have of reliving their youthful exploits and the exhausting reality of all that running, killing and flirting. But since this is not a movie about defining true-life heroes but rather about watching movie stars, the audience is instead asked to be impressed by the blinding whiteness of Dreyfuss's teeth and Borgnine's ability to look nearly as spry at 93 as he did in The Dirty Dozen and The Wild Bunch, back when he was a colt in his 50s.

Early on, Frank tells Sarah he hopes she'll look back on her kidnapping "as the great big adventure that it is." Red isn't great or big or much of an adventure; it's a movie designed with no loftier intention than to fill the hours on a long plane ride, and it need not be put on anyone's bucket list. Best to think of the film as Hollywood's latest contribution to the stimulus program: it provides gainful employment for some very pleasing stars and modest enjoyment for the rest of us.

This is one of the problems I had with many of my cinema studies comrades and with cinephiles in general. They make it sound like a bad thing to go to the movies, buy popcorn, and have a good time. I've quoted him before, and I'll quote him again, so like my professor/advisor Pat Day once said (and I paraphrase because he said this three years ago and I have a terrible memory), "Some movies are brussel sprouts, and some movies are twinkies. Some people like brussel sprouts, but some people like twinkies, and that's okay too."

My mom often makes fun of my for liking "bad movies." She says she questions my taste, and wonders if I learned anything from my four years at Oberlin. My response is that yes, I enjoy "bad" movies. I also enjoy great movies, and mediocre ones as well. Watching a movie is an enjoyable experience, and rarely do I leave a theatre/turn off my TV/computer thinking that the last ~2 hours were a waste of time and money-- M. Night Shyamalan's recent Airbender movie a glaring exception. That movie was just awful. Worst thing I've ever seen.

But I digress.

I liked Red. I realize it wasn't Oscar-worthy, but it was $30 worthy (which is about what I spent on tickets and concessions).

Take that, Corliss.

Six Directors I Like and Why

Hello again, I'm here with another post. I could start playing catch up and talk about everything that's happened since I last wrote, but I'll save that for another time.

This time I'm going to talk about, as you may have guess from the title, directors.

As I was formulating this post in my head last night when I couldn't sleep, I started with three directors, then moved to four, then five, then decided to round it up to six partly because six is my favorite number, and partly because I thought of someone else.

A note of clarification before we begin: this is not a "best of" list, nor is it a list of my favorite directors. This is a list of six (current) directors who I like and feel like talking about. They're not the only directors to display the traits I discuss, they're just the ones I decided on. They're in no particular order, other than the order in which I thought of them and an order which flows well one into the next.
That said, let's begin.


An Overview

When I tell people what my major is was (omg wtf past tense), they often ask me what's my favorite movie. This is a really hard question for me to answer. Maybe I'm taking the easy route, but mostly I can't answer because I like way too many movies. I enjoy almost every movie I see. That's why I love cinema, that's why I became a Cinema Studies major, that's why I've seen six movies in the three weeks since I graduated.

Similarly, people ask who my favorite director is. Here's what I usually tell them:


1. Michel Gondry

What I love about Michel Gondry, and what sets him apart from many other directors, is his limitless creativity. Most directors have an idea, then work with the tools and resources available to them to achieve it. Gondry has an idea, then creates a new method of achieving it. James Cameron did it by inventing a new camera / 3D motion capture technology. Gondry does it using cardboard and string. It's very kid-in-his-parent's-basement cinema.

Sometimes his ideas are the processes themselves, leading him to film something just to try out his new method-- as in tying strings to Bjork's fingers which were connected to bottles of paint suspended over a piece of paper, so that as she played piano, the camera (set to turn with the spin art turntable below) captured a painting in progress, timed perfectly to the music because it was created by the music.

Gondry's work is always whimsical and fantastical, but at the same time real and accessible. He makes me want to try a certain shot or effect, and gives me the confidence that I can figure out a way to do it. If I write more about Gondry than the other directors, it's only because I've written papers on him before and I absolutely love him.

Must-see Gondry: (movies) Be Kind Rewind, The Science of Sleep; (commercials) Smirnoff - Smarienberg (pre-Matrix era bullet time), Levi's - Mermaid, Diet Coke - Tingle & Bounce; (music videos) Oui Oui - Les Cailloux, Lucas - Lucas With the Lid Off, Cibo Matto - Sugar Water, The Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar, The White Stripes - Hardest Button to Button, Steriogram - Walkie Talkie Man, Kanye West - Heard 'Em Say


2. Guy Ritchie

Ritchie's work is impeccable. What I like most about him is his pacing. His writing, editing, and execution are flawless and compelling. He's only made 10 movies, but they're 10 fantastic movies. He's a perfectionist, and makes me want to be one too.

I don't have much to say about Guy Ritchie, other than I really like his movies.

Must-see Ritchie: Snatch, Rocknrolla, Sherlock Holmes


3. Tarsem (aka Tarsem Singh)

Tarsem is first a storyteller, second an artist, and third a director. His movies take on a scale that sweeps the globe and gives you the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. Where some directors would rely on special effects and CGI, you know Tarsem actually went to some far off country, constructed a 50-foot tall set, bought 80 yards of fabric, and got 100 people running, spinning, and dancing (numbers made up, and I'm talking of no one scene in particular).

Like Ritchie, Tarsem hasn't made many movies (a grand total of two, with a third filming), but he honed his craft in commercials. Unfortunately, this makes it really hard to track down a full list of his works. I met him last summer while I was interning at Radical (see July 21st of last year), and I highly recommend you check out his Radical site to see more of his work.

Must-see Tarsem: (movies) The Fall, The Cell; (music videos) REM - Losing My Religion; (commercials) Gatorade - The Quest for G, Nike - Good vs. Evil


4. Julie Taymor

No, I'm not including Julie Taymor just because she's an Oberlin alumna and she spoke at my graduation, or because she's a woman and the feminist in me needed a woman on the list. I'm including her because, like Tarsem, she's a storyteller who goes to great lengths to share an experience with the viewer. Taymor flawlessly blends Shakespearean tradition; Indonesian tradition; and her modern, liberal, Obie perspective to create one-of-a-kind, unrepeatable projects. I never got the chance to see her production of Lion King and boy, do I regret it.

Must-see Taymor: Titus, Across the Universe
I'm also looking forward to The Tempest and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark (there, I said it).


5. Takashi Miike

Where Tarsem takes years planning and Ritchie takes years perfecting, Takashi Miike just makes and makes and makes. He's one of the most prolific directors I've ever heard of: over 70 titles to his name, 15 in the years 2001-2002 alone. He doesn't pidgeon-hole himself, either. He is a master of horror, action, and not quite family-friendly fantasy, while maintaining in all of his films a bizarre dramaticism.

Must-see Miike: out of all his work, I've only seen Audition and Yatterman, but on my own personal must-see list there's Ichi the Killer, Zebraman, Crows Zero, and Crows Zero 2.


6. Jon Favreau

To be honest, I know way more about Jon Favreau as an actor as I do a director, but what I like about him is that he can do both (and do both well) without carrying around the cliché "actor/director" label. He's also very accessible, updating fans on his films' progress via twitter and responding directly to fan feedback (notably during last summer's Comic Con where he asked what people thought of the cut screened there).

Also, he "credits Dungeons & Dragons with giving him '...a really strong background in imagination, storytelling, understanding how to create tone and a sense of balance.'" (via Wikipedia). He's a geek and that's great.

Must-see Favreau: (as actor) PCU, Swingers (which he also wrote), Friends; (as director) Elf, Zathura, Iron Man, Iron Man 2





So, there you have it. Six directors I like and why. There are a lot of other people I could have included, but I'm happy with these six.

Chris out.

FX Wizardry!

I work 3 hour shifts at the Media Lab every Wednesday, which means a lot of time with not a lot to do.

So, I've decided to work on teaching myself how to do the Special Effects editing I'll need for my senior project, then uploading my progress onto YouTube.


last week




this week

Arrr!

I know it's been forever, and as I'm no longer in California, the purpose of this blog has changed slightly. I'm not going to explain why I haven't been updating regularly, other than to say that I suck at this and you shouldn't expect me to write very much very often.

That said, I was listening to Stephen Fry's podgram from the 2009 iTunes Live Festival, which got me thinking about piracy and copyright issues in the digital age.

In his podgram, the amazing Mr. Fry talks about the history of intellectual property, starting from the first homo sapiens telling stories to one another around the fire; to the invention of writing on clay, wax, and papyrus; to the church taking over and restricting access to language; through to Gutenberg's printing press, Edison's phonograph, reel-to-reel tap recorders, readily available cassette recorders; all the way to bittorrent, YouTube, and Napster. He expresses his somewhat controversial views that the recording/production industry is taking entirely the wrong approach to file sharing by coming down too hard on so-called "pirates." He says that certainly people who do it on a large enough scale as to make money off of bootlegging enterprises should be stopped and held responsible for their actions, but the average consumer, who is merely a fan of music or movies or whatever, but is either too poor or too lazy to buy something for themselves, isn't really doing anything wrong.

When cassette tape recorders and VCRs were first released to the public, people were able to start copying albums, movies, radio and TV programs, and sharing them with friends. This isn't so different than what goes on today, except with the World Wide Web, it's happening on a much larger scale. Now it's possible to listen to singles before the album is released, watch movies before they come out on DVD, or even while they're still playing in theaters. Yes, the quality suffers, but it's possible nonetheless.






I pirate music, movies, and TV.

There, I said it. I might get in a lot of trouble for saying it in a public venue, but it's the truth, and I don't think it's an unexpected revelation. (Besides, hardly enough people read this blog as to turn me in to the RIAA or MPAA or whomever)

I'll admit that some of what I download is stuff I should watch/listen to legitimately, but the majority of what I download/stream from less-than-legal sources I do because I can't watch it otherwise.

Those who know me know that I'm an Anglophile and Japanophile, but that I currently live in Ohio, which is almost as far away from England and Japan as one can get. I also don't own a TV, and even when I'm somewhere with a TV, I hardly have time to watch it. Still, there are shows/movies I want to watch, things I am a huge fan of! So I download as many episodes as I can get my hands on. Later, when I have the means, I very well might purchase legitimate merchandise from these people, but as a broke-ass college student who can't afford to import paraphernalia from Japan or the UK all the time, I have to make do.

Another thing I download a lot of are shows that are no longer on television, or backlogs of shows that I've only now jumped on the bandwagon of. Part of it is nostalgia for shows of my childhood, part of it are shows I didn't know about until years or even decades after they left the airwaves.

I don't think my actions make me a criminal. I think they make me a fan. The entertainment industry-- which I have the intention of entering as soon as possible-- survives on fans. Without fans, music, movies, TV, books, video games, et cetera ad infinitum, would serve no purpose and die out. Without people to watch/listen/read/enjoy their work, everything artists do is pure self-indulgence and wouldn't be able to exist in this world/culture/economy.

So you need me, entertainment big-wigs. I contribute.

...just, maybe not as much (financially) as I could or should.

The wheels go round and round

This is a little off topic, but I've been thinking for a while now about writing a post about riding the bus everyday. I mean, what am I going to do for the 1-2 hours a day I spend on the bus to/from work but think?

Anyway, this post will be split into two parts-- pleasant observations and annoyances/complaints. Might as well start with the bad news so that I can leave you on a happier note.


All in all, riding the bus isn't so bad. A lot of people complain about it being crowded, being late, or being full of smelly homeless people. Sometimes that's true, sometimes it's not. Those things don't really bother me.
There are, however, a few things that really annoy me about the bus, and because I have nothing better to do at the moment and I am hopelessly addicted to writing my every thought on the internet, I will share them with you now.

Bus Pet Peeves
Now, I'm going to cut the bus drivers a break because the majority of them are really nice and don't do anything that bothers me.
Passengers, on the other hand, can be infuriating.

Let me first explain what I like to call the Big Five. The Big Five is made up of:

1. the elderly
2. the handicapped/disabled/injured
3. pregnant women
4. people accompanied by babies/small children
5. people burdened by many bags/packages

The thing that differentiates the Big Five from the other bus passengers is that common courtesy dictates that you do certain things for them, such as give up your seat or let them go ahead of you in line.

So, Pet Peeve #1: being rude to/ignoring the Big Five.
Yes, this means you, blonde-with-a-tan-and-a-cute-pink-sundress. Stand the fuck up and give your seat at the front to the old woman who just boarded. Move back a row or two. It won't hurt, I promise.

Pet Peeve #2: refusing to push in.
This mainly applies when the bus is standing-room-only crowded (usually in the late afternoon when I get out of work). Scenario: the bus is full of people, with several people standing in the aisles holding onto the rail. A guy, 20-something with sunglasses on and headphones in his ears, sits comfortably in the aisle seat while his backpack occupies the inner seat.
WHY?? Your backpack is not more important than a human being (ESPECIALLY if that human being is one of the Big Five)! Put it on your fucking lap already!

Pet Peeve #3: riding for 1-2 stops before getting off.
Unless you're one of the Big Five, or these blocks are unusually long/cross an overpass or something, this is a total waste of your money. You can walk those blocks. There is nothing stopping you except your laziness and your careless attitude on spending money. There are those of us who scramble every morning trying to get the 75 cents we need to get to work, and you just casually take the bus from one boutique to the next. It pisses me off.


Phew.
Anyway, I've gotten the negativity out so I can carry on to part two.

I ride the bus every day, and even though depending on the day and the schedules I take the bus at slightly different times, there are a few people who I see more often than others. These people are...

The Regulars

Regular #1: the Grey Bag Man.
Morning commute. Boards at Santa Monica/Westwood, gets off at Sawtelle.
So named for the grey duffel bag he's always carrying, this guy at first reminded me of my grandpa for no reason other than he's old and wears old man clothes. I don't know much about him, but I speculate that he probably transfers to Line 4 at Sawtelle, because there's not many stops from where he gets on to where he gets off (although he is Big Five, so who knows).
The interesting thing about the Grey Bag Man is that sometimes he doesn't get on. A Line 1 bus will pass right by him at the bus stop, but he looks like he's waiting for a specific one. I'm not sure why, but it's curious...

Regular #2: Big Blue Water Bottle Guy.
Morning commute. Can't remember when he boards, gets off after I do so I don't know that either.
Also named for the big blue water bottle he always has with him, the first time I noticed BBWBG he was also carrying a bouquet of red roses wrapped in a black plastic bag. That afternoon he was on the bus again, sans roses, and I wondered who he gave them to and whether she (or he) appreciated them.

Regulars #3 & 4: the Asian Girls.
Morning commute. #3 boards before I get on and gets off at Cloverfield. #4 boards same stop as me and gets off around Westwood/Rochester.
I realize this name sounds really vague, as there are a lot of asian girls who ride the bus, but the distinctive thing about these two is that they always sit in the same place. I think they know each other, because when #4 and I board and #3 is there, they sit together and start having a conversation. They're not always there, sometimes it's just one or the other, but I think #4 is probably a UCLA student, and I just don't know about #3, except she doesn't talk to anyone after #4 gets off.

Regular #5: Comic Book Guy.
Afternoon commute. Don't remember where he boards, gets off at Yale St.
I know what you're thinking. No, not THAT Comic Book Guy. I call this one Comic Book Guy because he looks kind of geeky and he gets off the bus right next to Aero Hobbies, which isn't technically a comic book store, but caters to the same crowd.

Regular #6: Violin Lesson Boy.
Afternoon commute. Gets on before me, and I can't remember where he gets off.
To tell the truth, I've only seen this kid once or twice, but he must be a regular because he always stands up by the bus driver and talks to him/her. In my imagination, he wants to be a bus driver someday, but that's probably not it. He is named after the violin case he carries and since he gets off in a mostly residential neighborhood, I hypothesize he is coming home from rather than on his way to a violin lesson. When he gets off, he skips, rather than walks, across the street. He seems nice.


There. Pointless/not work-related entry over.

Chris out.

Go Long!

Sorry I haven't written anything in a while. I'm going to make up for it because I have a heckuva lot to write about.

Last Wednesday/Thursday I PA'd a shoot for NFL Apparel. It was a 2-day shoot, which was a lot less than the 2 weeks I worked on the Sears job, and slightly more than the 1 day I worked on the short film. The best part (aside from the fact that the second day of shooting was in Malibu and starred Alyssa Milano) was that I'm actually getting paid for it! Friday at work, the assistant production supervisor came over to me and said, "you forgot to fill out a time card." I reacted like, "I'm getting paid!?" and was SO happy. The other intern that day was totally jealous, but he bailed on shooting, so his loss.

I have some pictures, too, that I snapped with my cell phone!
I only took pictures of the second day, because the first day was just in some neighborhood and then a parking lot.
Also, there are no pictures of Alyssa because (1) it feels like I'd be invading her personal privacy and (2) I don't want her people suing me or anything.


The backyard/pool of the Malibu mansion where we shot.


The view of Zuma Beach from the backyard.


Another view of the pool, which you might recognize if you've seen Lady Gaga's Poker Face video.


The last shot of the day, on the beach.


Malibu sunset.


...I know, right?

So, yeah. That was pretty sweet.
The director, producer, and most of the crew were the same as the Sears job, but there were a few new people as well.


On Saturday night, I hung out with this guy I met on the Banana Bread shoot, Chris, and his friends. First we played Bond, aka Hide and Seek with cars. Then, we had some Mexican food and watched a bit of TV at Chris' apartment. He drove me home at around 3am and I was so tired I fell right asleep.

Chris is awesome. Not only is he really cool and we share a lot of interests, but his life is pretty much the shit. I mean, he lives in an apartment with his buddy, not in some Malibu beach mansion, and he isn't famous but he's friend-of-a-friend with people who are.
Also, he's a tech wonder. He built himself a custom home theater system, including a high def projection TV screen that takes up his entire living room wall. People just give him laptops that are broken, he fixes them and asks if they want them back, but they say "nah, keep it," so he has all these spare laptops lying around. It was the first time in my life I've ever heard the sentence "there's a MacBook Pro in the back of my car, if you want it." He also said he could probably give me CS4 (after I told him the story of how every version of Photoshop I've had I've gotten from the guy I was dating at the time).

I knew there was a reason I love geeks.

To clarify-- just friends. No way I'm getting into anything while I'm out here. I'm leaving in less than a month.


Leaving is kind of all I can think about. I can't WAIT to go back to Oberlin and see everyone. I want to move into my house, I want to meet lots of new freshmen, I want to get going on my senior project, I want to speak Japanese again (besides talking to myself, which is kind of lame).

Jake and I have been working on our scripts for our senior projects. He's a lot faster than I am (his script is also a lot shorter) so he's already written a full first draft, while I've got 7 pages that I'm not really happy with yet. Yesterday I decided to cut out an entire character because otherwise it would just be too long. I may decide to cut out another character, but that would make the love story aspect much less interesting. Then again, maybe I don't need a love story. I don't know.


Back to the NFL shoot for a second.
What I didn't realize is that Alyssa Milano is tiny. She's 5'2" or shorter, and super skinny, except for her butt, which isn't big per se, but cute nonetheless. In fact, from behind, she looks almost exactly like one of my best friends from home, Allison, which prompted me to text Allison saying so. Then on Friday, Allison and I talked online and did some really nice catching up. She said that she and Ali (the third corner of our triumvirate) visited DASAC, the summer camp we all went to for 5-6 years. They were shocked at how much has changed, how barely any of the counselors we had are still there. One girl who was 2-3 grades younger than me in high school is a counselor now.
She also said that next year is the camp's 20th year, which means that it'll be 10 years since I first went there. That made Allison and me feel REALLY OLD, but also gave me an idea.

I already know that I'm most likely going to look for a job out here and live here next year (maybe share an apartment with my friends who are applying to USC grad school), but before I make the big Western Migration, it'd be nice to have some money. And, what better way to make some money than to work at the camp that I love so much? I'm not sure if they'll have an opening for me, and I applied to work there a couple times a few years ago and didn't get it, but I'm a lot older now and I think they might hire me.

I really like this plan. Not only would I get to work at DASAC, the place I considered for so long to be the greatest place on earth*, but it would be a sort of last farewell to the Pioneer Valley, the place where I grew up. My dad lives in Vermont now, my brother is currently working at a zoo in North Dakota (who knows where he'll go next), and my mom and her husband are trying to move to Cape Cod.
I never really thought I'd stay in Western Mass, and once I realized what I wanted to do with my life, living in New England just didn't make sense. If you want to be in "the industry," you've got basically two choices: New York or LA (or Vancouver, but face it, that would suck).

Anyway, that may or may not happen. I've got a ton of time to figure things out.


Hope this update satisfied your need for information.

Chris out.



*part of the reason I decided to go to Oberlin is that it reminded me so much of DASAC

more office encounters

I just met this guy. I didn't know until I just looked at his wikipedia page, but he directed the music video that most struck me when I first looked at Radical's website. At first I was just "oh! It's Jorma!" but then that changed into "wow, this video's amazing... *stunned silence*"


Man, I love this internship.

Happy dances and humiliations

So, remember how yesterday I said I was meeting my dad's ex for dinner? Turns out we're actually meeting tonight. I, of course, didn't find this out until I'd already waited for her for half an hour outside the restaurant. I'm ready this time, though I'm not as nicely dressed as I was yesterday. Ah well. Wearing a skirt two days in a row is still a little too much to ask of me.

Also, I'm glad I didn't wear a skirt today, because Ryan's got me moving and alphabetizing old digibeta tapes that they pulled from the building across the street last week. It's monotonous work, but not quite repetitive enough for me to zone out/meditate while doing it. That kind of thing is better suited to prepping time cards or applying mailing labels, like I used to do for Mom growing up.
Still, this task has its benefits. Not only have I stacked and sorted loads of tapes from Tarsem's and other directors' commercials and music videos, but there's a box in there that's just FULL of stuff from The Fall! I cannot explain how excited/happy that makes me. Yes, I've met Tarsem and actually spoken to him, but today I was actually able to hold in my hands a physical piece of my favorite movie! I did a little happy dance and squealed a bit. I'm surprised nobody noticed or said anything.

Speaking of Tarsem, yesterday he came up to my desk while I was working on my Arashi photoshop series and said "watching more sitcoms, are we?" I said no, and when he asked what it was I was doing now, I told him I was "playing around in photoshop." Interested, he came up behind me, so I showed him a little bit of what I was doing.
...I guess this is once again best summed up through my twitter post:

OH MY GOD TARSEM JUST LOOKED AT ME TOYING W/ PHOTOSHOP AND SAID "HMM" LIKE HE WAS PLEASED!
about 22 hours ago from web

Also, I think he said something about me having the same hair as his sister...

This isn't the first time someone here has noticed me playing in photoshop, although the other two people who I've shown have actually said more than "hmm." They both told me that I was really good, even though I protested that all I'm doing is tracing over pictures that somebody else took, then coloring them in and shading, and they said that I could charge for these... maybe I'll start offering to take commissions. I don't think I'm really good enough for that, and I make stuff for my friends for free anyway, but I guess if somebody wants to give me a photo and pay me, I can churn something out for them.

Chris out.