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Monday, December 28th, 2009

coolerq

1:39a Iron... Blogger? Amazingly, it seems I haven't had a public post on my LiveJournal since December 2007. That's all about to change, because I'm participating in the Iron Blogger competition at MIT. The jist is simply that you're required to post at least one entry each week, or you have to contribute $5 to a communal beer pot. So simple, and yet hopefully so effective. current mood: happy current music: Car Talk 0952 December 26, 2009 - NPR

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Sunday, December 27th, 2009

gaussjordan

6:08a I don't know if anyone reads my journal for my movie recommendations (among other reasons, no doubt), but since it's the end of the year I am able to decide on my favorite movies this year. My favorite is Up in the Air, which just came out this week. It's a multifaceted movie which — like all the best comedies — is funny because it tells the truth about serious things. I couldn't do it justice with a description, but it is excellent. It's directed by Jason Reitman, who also made the excellent films Thank You for Smoking and Juno. My other two favorite movies are An Education and Star Trek. Much as I like Star Trek, my fondness for quirky niche films puts An Education a nose ahead. The screenplay is written by Nick Hornby based on the memoir of Lynn Barber, who as a 16 year old British schoolgirl in the 1960's had an affair with a dashing man in his older 30's. An Education has a surbub (an Oscar tipped) performance by the 24 year old Carey Mulligan, who you may know from the "Blink" episode of Doctor Who. As for Star Trek, well, it's just awesome. It has a good script, good direction, and by far the best overall acting that the Star Trek franchise has ever had. One noteworthy honorable mention is James Cameron's Avatar. It's a big budget, special effects drenched action movie, but it doesn't feel like one. It feels much more like a movie from the Golden Age of Walt Disney. It's a film that shows what you can do if you have a vivid imagination and a $200 or $300 million budget. There's not much plot, and what there is is entirely predictable, but that doesn't matter much. It's a movie about imagination and feeling rather than plot. The effects are superb, of course, but they are subtly executed and never get in the way of enjoying the movie. I saw it in IMAX 3D and it looked fantastic, but unlike most 3D movies, I completely forgot that it was in 3D after the first 10 minutes. Avatar show the way 3D movies should be done. Still, since I'm a fairly intellectual person, the lack of a thoughtful plot keeps this movie from being more highly ranked. One other movie I want to see is Crazy Heart. It's supposed to be very good; Jeff Bridges is widely expected to win the Best Actor Oscar for it. It's technically part of this year's movies, as it was released in New York and LA on the 16th, but it doesn't come to Boston until January 8th.

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Friday, December 25th, 2009

some_hope

12:56a there are two kinds of people we watched A Room with a View: Mere, to me, of actress: that's Hardcastle McCormick. Me: hey!  That woman looks familiar.  Who is that? Mere: Yeah.. I think she's also in Harry Potter. Collin: Yeah, she is. Me: It's Catface! Mere: Yeah!  Catface Meowmers! Collin: No...?  Who's Catface Meowmers?  It's the broomstick lady. Someone who must not have been Leah: Madam Hooch. Collin: Yeah, Madam Hooch. Mere: Yeah, Catface Meowmers.

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Monday, December 21st, 2009

some_hope

5:20p Happy Winter! (what did you remember?)

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Thursday, December 17th, 2009

some_hope

1:11p probably inspiration for Pan's Labyrinth, or Gumby http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YJ3BTKMILw&feature=player_embedded

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some_hope

1:33a a list thom yorke conor oberst bob dylan bob marley heath ledger jared leto (i know, i know) justin timberlake your turn

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