Story Lover

TPL DVD: I liked the movie a lot. And I loved being able to identify all the Toronto locations. I’m not sure what city the movie was supposed to have taken place in, but there was definitely the Yonge Station, Nathan Phillips Square and the old building next to the ROM on Bloor. I also liked Seann William-Scott in this one, he’s pretty good when he’s not pretending to be stupid.

$4 Tuesdays at Rainbow Cinemas are the best option for seeing B rated movies without having to really hurt the wallet. The downsize is that the crowd that goes to these showings are kind of loud, grouchy types. I had one guy complain because I wanted to sit in his row. He actually cussed at me. Hmm…

This movie I thought had a lot of potential and it was kind of cool, but there was a certain amount of substance missing from the show. I get the whole bit about technology and that rather than bridging us with one another, it’s actually pushing us further apart. I kind of think we’re already living in a fake world. The people who can afford it, pay big bucks to make themselves more and more beautiful. People all over aren’t everything they seem.

TPL DVD: Holy shit. This movie was intense. Attention to detail is essential when watching, but I liked how the composition of the frame would kind of help us along. Christian Bale’s acting performance was off the charts and the close-ups only made him more intense. I guess our mind and subconscious will force us to remember the things we try and forget. Clearly something was wrong with him and the lack of sleep eventually pushed him over the edge into remembering what he did. Man, a second run would really make all the pieces fall into place. I hope I never do anything that haunts me.

“A little guilt goes a long way.”

by Jeanne DuPrau

With the sequel, DuPrau picks up after everyone from Ember has already come up above ground. I wish she hadn’t, I think it would have been really interesting to learn how they all got out. It was good to hear about it though. I wonder what the third and fourth books will be like.

I like following along with how Lina and Doon develop as people. It’s hard to imagine people so pure at heart. It’s easier to idealize people in literature, but I guess if there are such pure of heart people, they would be children. All the people I can think of who are so good, good in spirit and in mind, have very childlike characteristics. And I aspire to get back to my childhood, when my temper wasn’t quick to judge, and when I assumed that people were all really good at heart.

TPL DVD: Does the end ever justify the means? Sometimes it never really does. It makes me wonder how many people die in this world as collateral damage. How many deaths equate getting the huge bad guy. Was 9/11 huge collateral, the ultimate conspiracy as some would like us to believe?

I like the part where Omar and Samir are talking about the greater jihad. And how sometimes the greatest challenge in our lives is living life right.

“They used us all. They used us for our faith.”

Nixon must have been a very lonely, insecure, sad man. There are always jokes and remarks of him being so insecure, needing the approval of the nation, but it’s never been portrayed in such an honest, almost endearing way. My favorite scene is when Frost is watching Nixon get into the helicopter and right before he gets in, Nixon’s face drops, and you can truly see how empty he is and feels. By the end of the movie, I feel more sorry for him than anything. The acting in this movie was phenomenal.

And more than anything, it seemed like he really wanted to get it out there. It was something that was weighing him down. And it’s hard to imagine ever doing something so wrong that it would continue to define you after your death. That it’d be the one thing anyone remembered you for. And that it’d be the thing that you tried so hard to get people to forget. Isn’t that always the way life works out, that no matter how hard you try and prove that you shouldn’t be defined by your mistakes, the more it sticks?

Wow, what a huge disappointment. Having loved the original, I was excited for the remake. I expected better choreography, bigger stunts, better music and most of all, more detail into the characters’ lives. But I felt totally disconnected from the 2009 characters and although the few dance performances were amazing, they were few and far between and didn’t carry the movie at all. The best part of the movie was the last 8 minutes of it, the graduation performance, and that’s pretty much all I spent my money on. With almost 30 years between the two movies, I really expected them to bring something new and enchanting to the remake. Instead it just felt like one big cut and paste job. Plus I hate this poster.

This guy’s delusions were pretty hilarious. Unbelievable is right. I think the funniest part was that he actually believed that after all was said and done, he wouldn’t just be able to still have a career at ADM, but that he’d be the new president.

I wonder if he had the male equivalent of cute syndrome. If he could act cute/naive/innocent enough, he’d be not only let off the hook but thanked on top of it all! This guy had a real need for attention that for anyone observing, was pretty hilarious. But I’d hate to be his lawyer, FBI contact or his wife.