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Review: Match Point

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I had very high hopes for Woody Allen’s most recent film, Match Point since it stars two of my favourite actors, Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Rhys-Meyer. However, for the first time ever, I stopped the disc after just an hour and forty minutes. I’ve never NOT finished a movie on purpose (at least in recent memory.) Basically, you’d like this picture if you want a two hour ode to one dimensional, cheating social climbers. Otherwise, prepare to be disgusted thoroughly. The beautiful English settings were a saving feature but there is only so much you can do when you realize you’ve spent your evening watching Chris (Rhys-Meyer) think solely with his genitals.

1 stars

One star for shooting in the Tate Modern as I’m sure this was not easy.

In other news: watch Brick now! If you are Hoover, watch the rest of it now. That is, if you can stay awake. 😛

In the tradition of Amélie…

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Since I just watched Amélie for like the thousandth time over the weekend, I’ve decided to make a list of little, odd things that I really enjoy (much like cracking crème brûlée with a spoon):

  • the sound a cup makes on a saucer when walking to/from the kitchen
  • cracking my ankles after a long day of trudging around campus
  • emptying the vacuum collection chamber
  • the smell of a green house on a very hot day

And yours are?

A barbecue by smell alone…

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Just returned from an evening stroll through Bellefonte. The scent of grilled burgers was mingling with the humid, floral air all throughout town. Visitors were sitting in familial gliders on Victorian front porches. And I walked alone with my iPod, the young guy that no one knows and everyone forces a smile at while making sure their kids are not too close. Ah, to be a part of such a community…

These lyrics struck me as great while waiting for the bus today:

It’s better to be dumb than smart and fall apart.
Have meat and potatoes than starve for your art.
It’s better to let her than fall in the dark.
With every day better, here comes my part.

It’s better to be alone than lonely in the dark.
Watch 10,000 movies and learn all the parts…

“It’s Better” by The Incredible Moses Leroy

I stopped at Mike’s before my walk and grabbed Good Night and Good Luck and Why We Fight, which will compliment Syriana nicely when I finish it tomorrow. It is indeed better to be alone watching 10,000 movies. Or at least three when it’s sweltering outside and you have the day off.

The Devil Weards Prada

Speaking of movies, I saw The Devil Wears Prada last night and it was absolutely très magnifique. Naturally, the clothes were perfectly put together from start to finish. Meryl Streep was flawless, as always…dishing out more bitchitude than even Death Becomes Her and doing a great Anna Wintour. The plot was a little dumbed down to reach mainstream sensibilities, but Anne Hathaway keeps her character far enough out of the stereotypical to pull things together nicely at the end. I’d give it a solid 8/10 and thoroughly recommend you plunk down the (at least matinee) price for a ticket.

*RAWR*

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So much anger! Is it the lack of nicotine? I don’t know, but in day five of The Great Smokeout, I’m beyond frustrated with just about everything and everyone. I need some sort of personal analysis engine that also keeps a database. If I could quanitfy a baseline beligerence level for each of the recurring situations in my life (cut off on 220 by a Cavalier, slighted by a coworker, dropped my sunglasses on the sidewalk), I’d then be able to judge my new reactions to see if I am really more ENRAGED than usual. Because, in the haze that is detox, I really cannot tell if this is ‘normal’ or not. I JUST WANT TO CUT A BITCH, you know?

Aside from that, I’m doing rather well. Thanks for asking.

Last night, two new friends came over. I know. It was strange enough for friends to be coming INTO my life, let alone that they be new. These guys, named Kyle and Dave, were over to discuss the impending oil crisis and other such neo-green madness. We watched a great documentary, The End of Suburbia, which served to jumpstart our brains and really made for a good jumping-off point. After their departure, I basically did a big fat nothing and then crashed. Tonight: taking photos for a client in Belleville and then packing up in BelleFONTE for a trip home tomorrow. Maybe receiving my AirPort Express? Please?

Review: The Edukators

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I rented a ton of DVDs this weekend. Well, four. But that’s a lot for me. There was a strange foreign film, Russian Ark, an old favourite, Being John Malkovich, and a documentary, New York Doll…all good. But the best was Hans Weingartner’s The Edukators.

The basic premise of the movie is this: The Edukators, social activists, break into the homes of rich German executives, rearrange their belongings and leave them a warning: “Your Days of Plenty are Numbered.” That’s all well and good – and would make an entertaining enough plot – but what happens when one of their executive thieves comes home while they are at work? Kidnap him in a Volkswagen Van and drive him out to your uncle’s cabin, clearly. The story hits its stride as the ‘political prisoner’ attempts to break down The Edukators…and learns a lesson in the process.

Reasons to watch:

  • you liked Daniel Brühl in Goodbye, Lenin!
  • quirky American indie soundtrack
  • German dialogue and lots of it
  • makes you feel better about thinking the world is unfair
  • Julia Jentsch is really easy on the eyes and a good actress

4 stars

P.S. If you aren’t listening to “Pure Energy” by Information Society on a loop, you really should reconsider that decision. Or I’ve lost it. Either way. “I wanna know what you’re thinking…”

A tour of my boredom…

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Last night, I took home the FMC’s new videocamera…this tiny little Sony MiniDV HC36 which is adorable. Because there is nothing exciting going on in Bellefonte (ever), I decided to just record what an evening in the life of Nick is like. However, I suprised myself with just how fun this video ended up being. I call him “Permanent Press” and you can view him here (QuickTime 7 – 10.8 MB).

Also, today ended up being relatively decent…mainly because I was suprised by a $150 deposit by the university in my checking account. Apparently I was paid over six weeks early for a medical study in which I paricipated. If you know PSU at all, you will understand how rare it is to have anything involving money happen sooner than you’ve been quoted.

Hair cut tonight!

It all goes downhill…

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After watching the documentary The Times of Harvey Milk for the second time I’ve come to the realization that humanity’s primary goal is to turn everything beautiful, hopeful or true to complete and utter shit.

We suck.