June 30, 2008

Exposing Myself

My first draft of this blog was about how George Lucas is a fantastic movie killer. I was listing his recent disasters but the only movies he's been involved with over the past 25 years are Indiana Jones and Star Wars. I think it's safe to say that Star Wars "belongs" to Lucas, while Indy really "belongs" to Harrison Ford, and, between the original 1977 Star Wars and 1999's Phantom Menace, he did ZERO directing. So I won't look at ALL the movies he's destroyed (and he DID destroy the new Indiana Jones movie) I'll just focus on his deliberate and unending dismantling of the Star Wars universe. So, for those of you who don't know me, I am officially exposing myself as a Star Wars geek.

*note: the lengths to which I will go to prove my unparalleled geekiness should no longer be in question*

I don't need to explain how cool the original Star Wars trilogy is and I don't know how to measure its effect on pop-culture or 2 generations of wide-eyed adolescents, other than to say it was immense. Needless to say, the bar was set pretty high by the original movies. What's interesting is that after the first movie in 1977, Lucas didn't direct again until 1999; he co-wrote and was executive producer, but Irvin Kershner directed Empire Strikes Back (widely considered the best of the 6 movies) and Richard Marquand directed Return of the Jedi. Lucas has said that he doesn't like directing, and, after the lastest 3 movies, I don't like him directing either. His reliance on special effects and cheesy or complicated plots (see: Ep. 1. the trade federation's blockade of Naboo as a strategy for...I don't even remember, but it was important) is especially madening. Without all the cool explosions and CGI, he had to focus the story on the characters (imagine that!) I can imagine how hard it is to act out EVERY scene in front of a green screen. Also, the stories in the first TWO movies are really really bad, when they aren't 100% confusing. Episode III wasn't bad, it is easily the best of the new movies, but still falls WAY short of where the original movies are.

One of my biggest complaints is the use of American slang and, even more so, the use of aspects of American government in the new movies. In episode II, particularly, characters talk about amending constitutions, term limits, democracy, and really, the whole prequel trilogy relies on a body of senators. The closest thing to that we got in the original movies was basically a board room full of military bad-asses. Speaking of which, Empire Strikes Back made us really fear Vader, like, for REAL. But there's no enemy in all of these movies that is really eevieel, like the fru-its of the dev-eel. Darth Maul was pretty cool, but they killed him off too soon.

Granted, some of the shots in the originals seem a bit dated (i.e., stop motion AT-ATs and a disorienting space battle at the end of A New Hope) but to go back and change SO MUCH, it's really frustrating. There are whole characters added! It's like the movie I remember as a kid doesn't even exist anymore. I grew up with these movies, they were my whole life until I was about 15 years old! So I guess it's telling that I don't even OWN the new movies. What's sad, though, is that the unaltered original movies are in Lucas' vault and won't be released on DVD. This total waste of potential awesomeness is similar to The Matrix: Revolutions, every Shamalyasdf4^&Fefjjjsdfjlan movie since the Sixth Sense, and Godfather III.

I guess I'll have to live with a slightly flawed original trilogy and try to conjure up images of playing with my Star Wars toys with my brother and cousins and forget that these new movies were ever made.

Filling the void

I'm back in town after a month-long trip home and it only took 3 1/2 days for me to start talking to myself again. My roomie is back home working for his uncle this summer so I have been alone in this apartment since mid-May and will be until mid-August.

I really only repeat the funny lines from movies I'm watching (like that super annoying guy at the movie theaters) and curse like a drunken sailor when I try to stand up and walk around because my legs are still burning from this weekend's gym excursion. Important safety tip: if you haven't been to the gym in a month don't spend much time doing lunges...you'll feel it for a week.

June 28, 2008

I can only take so much...

I rented Knocked Up from Netflix and, while I liked the movie, I am REALLY annoyed at the audio commentary. You know when you sit around and laugh with your friends and you're telling all your inside jokes but NOBODY else understands it or thinks it's funny? Yeah...one of the guys is actually doing impressions, and they aren't good (his Al Pacino sounds black.)

For the first 30 minutes all they do is talk over each other and laugh at nothing. TALK ABOUT THE MOVIE! Nobody listens to the commentary to see how funny the actors are (and especially not the producer) we want to know about the filming and maybe a funny story about a scene.

You want a really good commentary? Fight Club has the best commentary I've ever heard, Ed Norton is some kind of super-genius.

June 24, 2008

June 23, 2008

Prospects

I finally met with one of my contacts today. He is the former bishop at the church that my family attends and is the justice court judge of our recently incorporated city (1999.) He wrote one of my letters of recommendation during my law school application days and was VERY complimentary. I kind of surprised him when I showed up today but he was gracious enough to show me around and we sat and talked for about 40 minutes. The best part is that he asked me to come back on Thursday and meet with the guy who has the hiring contracts for prosecutors for about 5 cities; he also mentioned that he thought I would be very good in front of a jury. For any potential law students or job seekers, all I can say is that networking (as annoying and shallow as it sometimes is) can really work. I had 2 jobs last summer, one was acquired through previous work contacts and the other was through a friend who mentioned to her attorney that I was going to law school and was looking for summer work. I can imagine few jobs better than being a city prosecutor after graduation, especially back home. They don't handle the big murder cases or anything that is going to make the front page, but it would be fantastic courtroom experience and would allow me a chance to make a reputation among TONS of different attorneys. I neglected to bring home a suit...I hope Dad's fits

June 17, 2008

Tact

I was thinking this too, but I don't think I'd ever actually post it...

June 13, 2008

My Celebrity Playlist

About once every 6 weeks I open iTunes to update all my podcasts. While I am waiting for the downloads to finish I will browse through the popular music to see if anything is good. I happened upon Mike Meyer's celebrity playlist (which was filled with a lot of British bands.) After a little more perusing I found all of iTunes' celebrity playlists, which look like this:

(I chose Jason Bateman because I have been watching Arrested Development a lot lately. You can do the same thing here. I seriously love that website, but I digress...)

Now, seeing as I am a celebrity in my own mind, I thought I'd do iTunes a favor and submit to them my own Celebrity Playlist.

Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin. "Great lounge song from the late 50s. Also a great karaoke song!"
All at Sea - Jamie Cullum. "Very simple song about being alone with your thoughts."
Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones. "I have so much more appreciation for this song after playing it on Rock Band. Great lead-in guitars."
Microphone Fiend - Rage Against the Machine. "Tom Morello and Zack de la Rocha, need I say more?"
Break it Down Again - Tears for Fears. "I don't know what it is about this song, but I usually listen to it 2 or 3 times in-a-row."
Waiting for my Real Life to Begin - Colin Hay. "I've been waiting for 8 years."
Pride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughn. "Great blues song, I can't help but tap my steering wheel when I listen to it."
Hey - Red Hot Chili Peppers. "Not what you'd expect from RHCP, surprisingly calming."
Hungarian Rhapsody - Franz Liszt. "I think I first heard this song on a Tom and Jerry cartoon 20 years ago."
#41 - Dave Matthews Band. "This goes into my top 5 all-time favorite songs."
Flashing Lights - Kanye West. "People who know me will be surprised to see rap/hip-hop here, but I freakin' love this album."
Viva la Vida - Coldplay. "This may be here because of it's newness (I haven't had a chance to get sick of it) but the first thing that comes to mind about it is that it is everything I love about music."
Take Five - Dave Brubeck Quartet. "It is everything I love about jazz music. So simple and catchy."
Kashmir - Led Zeppelin. "The version that I like the most is the live Page and Plant version from 'Page and Plant Unledded.' It truly rocks"
Horse - Live. "This is one of my all-time favorite albums and this is also the closest thing I have to country on my computer."
Hero of the Day - Metallica. "I prefer the 'S&M' version, the added strings give it a much better 'hero' feel."

June 10, 2008

Right on Cue

The football gods heard my cry

June 9, 2008

Doldrums

Now that the NBA season is essentially over, I have 1 simple question: WHEN DOES FANTASY FOOTBALL START!?

Nothing is more fun than examining mountains of data to find the one stellar draft pick that nobody will expect. I go into uber-dork mode and plug numbers into equations, dissect data, pore over game splits, study schedules, and basically become familiar with about 100 different players and their statistical averages from the last 3 years. Nothing brings me more joy...other than the Jazz, of course.


*as a sidenote, I have won 3 times (in 2 different leagues) and also come in last.

June 5, 2008

NEXT!

It's finally been done. This morning, in Rochester Minnesota, Chris Chike did something no one has been able to accomplish. He got 100% on "Through the Fire and Flames" on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock on EXPERT. Here's the video (NSFW language at the very end)



He really is the best Guitar Hero player on the planet, he's even in the Guiness Book of World Records.

So that's it, GH III has been conquered, what's next?

[links]
kotaku.com
rockgamer.com

 
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