James Cameron's AVATAR

Okay. Preface this by saying, first of all, that I am incredibly excited about Shyamalan's Avatar: The Last Airbender.

However, that isn't going to be in 3D.

And James Cameron makes EPIC films. CONSISTENTLY.

WITH THAT NOTE, I have just been looking up his new film, the trailer of which was just released by Apple today.

Oddly, the IMDb page was far less informative concerning this film than it usually is, so I was forced to search the internet for other sources.

Official movie websites include the Fox website, and there is also an official Avatar Twitter page, but, again, neither tells much about the film or storyline, though one hopes that will change closer to the release date.

However once you get away from the official websites, you find a great article done by a UK film and review site Empire which, awesomely enough, breaks down the trailer scene-by-scene and tells you quite a bit about the storyline.

Upon further research, the Telegraph featured a short blurb about it a few days ago, and Slashfilm did a lovely article/expose on Monday summarizing the current knowledge about the film's storyline, which is the longer version of the trailer breakdown as well as the partial insights of the author (and hints of huge storyline sequels and developments to come even post-release).

Besides these scant sources, however, the remainder of the Internet is filled with conjecture and rumours. This project, while years in the making, has apparently still succeeded in staying very much hushed. It's fascinatingly mysterious, and the trailer does indeed look epic - I've already watched it a dozen times - and the 3D aspect makes the treat all the more tantalizing. This is the first film in a long time I'm excited enough about to not want to wait the few months until it's released in theatres.

Imbecility

"Nobody poor was ever called democratic for marrying someone rich." - Mr. Fairchild, Sabrina

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Oh my gawd, I KNEW I loved the Firefly writers.

This is why. THIS IS WHY.

...SO MUCH LOOOOOVE.

Times I've watched this so far: |||| |||| |

Film Etiquette

One of the traits in my ideal man is that he will know when commenting during a movie isn't okay. There are times when the movie is spinning such a great atmosphere that I want to lose myself in it, and someone beside me commenting on the scene tends to ruin that atmosphere. No questions about the film, please; no clarifying, no jokes, no comments. Allow the epicness of the film to stand alone. It should be able to handle it.

That's not to say that I don't like joking around with movies EVER. It's just that there is a time and a place and a certain type of movie that I can't STAND it with. We can discuss the interesting change of social interplay AFTER the credits.

It's not that I'm angry, either. I just really wish more people knew how to lose themselves in the same movies that I do.

I Know Kung Fu

Ended up seeing Kung Fu Panda on Thursday night. Surprisingly enough, I really enjoyed the film. Jack Black's voice acting wasn't nearly as distracting as I thought it was going to be. The animation was very good, and perfectly suited to the content. The kung fu aspect was totally interesting, and the parts that got ridiculous were, again, perfectly suited to the content; the parts that made fun of old martial arts flicks didn't go so far as to completely interrupt the storyline, so that worked out just fine as well. I really liked the movie.

I identified the voice of Jackie Chan after the second word he spoke. Nate next to me waited for the freaking credits to roll before telling me, "Hey, it was Jackie Chan... good call." As if I haven't seen enough Jackie Chan movies to know his voice when I hear it. *Insert derisive snort here*

Crystal Skulls are Meh

Okay. You want to know how the Indiana Jones movie was?

Television Without Pity's review sums it up absolutely perfectly. I don't need to add anything to it. It could have been my review, that's how much it jives with my opinion.

Iron Man Review

Just finished Iron Man. This tale of weirdness begins when a young sorceress has an argument with a headstrong sailor.

Okay, just kidding. But you've got to admit, the plot is pretty flimsy - who wants to sell insanely hi-tech weaponry to some backyard, dime-a-dozen terrorists? And to what, shift the balance of power? I mean, come on. Aside from that, Robert Downey Jr. is a fantastic actor and performed wonderfully. The effects were great, and I even liked Gwyneth Paltrow (who I wasn't holding out much hope for). Jeff Bridges, however, needs to stay away from these kinds of roles. He doesn't do the whole "comic-book villain" very well, especially when it comes to the predictable good-vs.-evil monologue at the end. Just no, Bridges... you can do better than that.

On the other hand, I loved the cinematography, the directing was good, and there were some really great moments. Not the most fantastic movie ever, but certainly one of the best superhero movies I've seen so far. But then, the only good ones I've seen so far have been Hellboy and X-Men. I haven't liked the Fantastic 4s, the Spidermans, Batman Begins, or Smallville. I didn't even bother seeing Punisher or Superman Returns. (Did I miss any...?)

I like Ghost Rider, but not because it's good. It actually sucked, but I find myself watching it repeatedly anyway. Just shallow entertainment, I suppose.

Oh! The Incredibles. That movie was amazing. There is no getting around that one; it was too great. Good old clean fun. I wish they would make a really good sequel, but I just don't see that happening.

Parlez-vous francais?

Molière was an interesting film about the famous French playwright. You should go check it out.

And you have to admit, Josh Groban is phenomenal for relaxing. It makes me want some classical training for my voice.

Reading: Lady Chatterley's Lover, because it's a classic novel. Haven't gotten far enough to find anything scandalous yet. We'll see.

Google search: (intitle:"index.of" (mp3|mp4|avi) august.rush)

Talents

You know, not only has this guy got musical talent, but the cameraman (-woman?) isn't a bad cinematographer.

The Relaxation of Weekends

Saw the movie Secret Kingdom today [trailer]. Stars Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Michael Angarano, whose talent we first appreciated in the movie Sky High.
I'd say the one and only thing I didn't like about Secret Kingdom was the length. While a full two hours, it still wasn't long enough to get you really attached to the characters. So it ended up that if one got wounded somehow, you didn't really find yourself caring that much. They should have found a way to make the characters connect to the viewer a little better, even if that means they needed to cut back on the (awesome!) action sequences. I really would have liked to care.


It's a flying fox. Cool, no?

Ruth Waterhouse is a very skilled silversmith. I absolutely adore her craftsmanship, and really wish I had enough money that a few hundred dollars didn't mean as much to me as it does now.

And on TOP of all that, I stumbled upon a website that reports all the new species being discovered. And here I was under some sort of impression that scientists had the world all figured out... HA!

For Forgetfulness' Sake

So today I saw the movies Happily Never After (movie here), Crank (movie here), Penelope (movie here), and The Boondock Saints.

And no, I did absolutely nothing productive. I'll save that sort of action for Monday, when classes start back up again. *sigh*

Stumped

The next big assignment for Art is to find a master artist and imitate him or her. It could be either an imitation of style or an imitation of a particular work.

And I can't figure out a bloody thing to do.

Also I watched some of the movie The Very Thought Of You, starring Joseph Fiennes, who, oddly enough, I find totally irresistible. I don't know what it is about him. Maybe it's his lips. I think it must be his lips. But his eyes are so pretty.



I like how I chose the above picture for the man in it, and the pensive expression just happened to mirror my own inner turmoil. That's serendipity for you.

And I don't think his brother is attractive at all.

Progressions

Today I managed to go see the Spiderwick Chronicles. It was good, and I love Freddie Highmore; he is just too young to be that good an actor. I mean, jeez. He's got a British accent and was totally able to convince us otherwise. There are some regular grown-up, good actors who can't do that.

I also managed to spot Dane Cook in a cameo role as the "Waffler" in Mystery Men, from before he was big. I love that kid, really I do.

Last but not least I managed to draw a new picture for my dA account. Nuthin' special, but hey, I liked it.

Did anyone else get whacked upside the head by daylight savings? 'Cuz it pretty much ambushed me with some serious ninja skills. Where did Daylight Savings get a black belt? Was it Franklin? It was Franklin, wasn't it? Someone needs to have a sit-down with that man.

It's "Ricochet", Actually

Ignore my titles. They mean nothing. Nothing of noting, note: nothing.

I have finally finished watching the movie Amelie, which you should be able to find in its low-quality entirety here. I had begun it last quarter, while waiting to go to my late-night history class, and then it got taken from the library by a teacher; I don't know if the copy is back, but I got tired of waiting.

I really don't like low quality film.

I really liked this movie.

Artsy, dreamy, surreal, and the fact that it's in French disassociates the story a little bit, has you take it in through a filter of language and culture. The actress is wonderful, pretty without being gorgeous, which is refreshing; I found the actor not handsome, but attractive enough to tempt me. The storyline is adorable. While I wouldn't quite call it unpredictable, its pursuit is unique and interesting. Loved the soundtrack. Out of five stars I would give it four and one-half.

Also, please go take a look at the phenomenal watches by DeLaCour. Some of them are really quite stunning. I won't even ask to glance at a price tag, though; it's not worth the heartache.

Directed by Jon Favreau

This is what I like to call EXTREMELY HOT STUFF.

Iron Man Exclusive Trailer

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I love Robert Downey Jr. and I have since Only You. Maybe that's totally retarded, but I liked it anyway. ^_^

http://producten.hema.nl/?whatthefark

Updation

Well, all right then, let's re-examine the occurrences:

So I was sick with a cold for a couple of days and got better. About a week later I got the flu, and was getting better. Then I took a trip to the lovely freezing (but dry) climate of Idaho, where my flu dried up considerably, and I lost every symptom except for the occasional residual cough. Then I came back home, and now the BLOODY, STUPID, MORONIC, PIG-HEADED, BASTARD OF A FLU has returned with a vengeance. I curse the damnable nuisance, I really do. With passion unforeseen and unimaginable.

*sigh* At least I don't have a fever anymore. Small concession, though, in regaurds to everything else.

On a side note: My favorite directors that I've managed to come up with so far are Ron Howard, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro, M. Night Shyamalan, and Richard Donner.

Yippee Kai-Yay, Mofo

Die Hard is a great movie. The second one sucked, and the third one was totally amazing, but the first one is the original awesome.

Alas, it's the edited-for-TV version. The original quote was butchered. I'm glad someone else doesn't appreciate that.

I should buy this on DVD. It really is a great movie. Well-acted, well-directed, and I seriously love Alan Rickman. More than I love Bruce Willis. I'm sorry, I just do. It must be the accent.

Tragic Ironies

Just finished watching The Million Dollar Hotel. Jeremy Davies, Mila Jovovich, Mel Gibson. Even having missed the crucial first ten minutes of the movie, I still think it was quite fascinating. It had a very poetic sense to it. I keep seeing it labeled a comedy, but I didn't find anything at all to laugh at, so I don't know why. Not that it was sad... well, I suppose it was. It rather struck me as a lesson in realism, in the sense that you were experiencing a reality shared by those who were surreal in and of themselves. I find such things genuinely interesting and somewhat disconcerting, but not funny.

I have no idea how realistic the characters were in terms of their various mental conditions and quirks and so forth, and certainly not how they should interact with one another, yet the movie gave a fascinatingly jarring sense of how we "normal" people look at those who are not: namely, the mentally challenged, the worst fringe of society, our forgotten. Here are many such people, and every time each one comes into contact with another, you, as the viewer, find yourself completely clueless as to the actions that will follow. These characters do not act normally, because they are not normal. Yet each has managed to find something in their lives that they hold as normal, and which lends them a sense of security, however unbelievable normal people may find the idea.

A very well-acted film, moving without necessarily giving a concrete sense of why it is. I really rather enjoyed it, though some of its poetry seems to have rubbed off on me. What's so great about being normal, anyway?

The War Raging Within

OoOoooooHhh.... I'm a sickie.

Mighty sinus cold headache thing all day yesterday, which woke me up yesterday morning at the ungodly hour of seven thirty. Seven thirty isn't usually an ungodly hour, this is true, but Saturdays measure time slightly differently. Either way I used my sickishness as an excuse to watch movies all day. I saw Robin Hood: Men In Tights, Disturbing Behaviour (yes, I know, I spell like a Brit, shaddup), Paycheck, The Longest Yard, and lots of other movies that my sick skull won't allow me to recall. Damn the thing.

Today I'm moderately better, as the balloon pressurizing my skull has deflated to the point of a lack of pain but not to the point of nonexistence. Unfortunately that means that my headcold has migrated to my chest, and now I'm coughing rather than holding my head and groaning. My ears have retained their painful infliction on the sides of my head, though. No hard rock right now, please God no.

Fun fun for me. Moving on.

On a completely unrelated note, the notion of the MacBook Air has been plaguing me since seeing the guided tour showing it off. The fact that you can preorder it online for a min. price of $1800, free shipping, is nice. The problem is that when I last looked, it was $1400... must be supply/demand crap. Now I'm sorry I missed out, but if I had the money, I would snatch it up in a heartbeat. As it is I'll have to find a job. Hopefully it'll be the one at the YMCA that I've been going to send in the application for and haven't yet.

Estoy perezoso, yo sabe. Anyway. Going to go take some decongestant and bombard my sluggish brain with more media. Later.

Of Birthdays

I'm seventeen today. Old enough to not expect much on my birthday, but not so old that I don't get excited at being a year older. Actually, I hope I never lose that excitement. A year longer to live is too much opportunity to become bored over.

I'm planning on going to see Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd, which opens in theatres today. I'll come back later with a review.

But tell me, do I look seventeen?

Rather spring-ish shirt for the Winter Solstice, isn't it?