Archives
Movies
I've moved my site
Old Boy
Posted 2006-01-03 12:07:51 AM | Movies
Old Boy was great but a real mindfuck. The fight scenes were incredible, none of the blurry action crap you see in Hollywood these days. I need to see people fighting not see two people, a blur, then see someone knocked down (DareDevil, Batman Begins, I'm looking at you). I also loved the progress of the main character, Oh Dae-su, from this sort of big loud mouth into this lean mean intelligent fighting machine. Definitely a great movie that you should see.
Movies and the music that loves them
Posted 2005-12-19 10:52:59 PM | Movies
The past few days I've been able to watch a couple of movies that I missed. The first being The Wedding Crashers. I'm pretty sure I would have enjoyed this more with other people in a theater. The humor/romance was pretty good and if you don't care too much about deep plots than this movie is all fine and dandy. Hell Christopher Walken is so awesome in this movie. I actually had no clue Will Farrell was in the movie for a sort of "guest cameo." I still can't stand Owen Wilson's face.
When they started playing Sparks by Coldplay, a sense of nostalgia ran over me.
My heart is yoursAlso Rachel McAdams
It's you that I hold on to
That's what I do
And I know I was wrong
But I won't let you down
Serenity / Firefly
Posted 2005-10-01 09:36:05 AM | Movies
Take my love, take my landTake me where I cannot stand
I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me
Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain't comin' back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me
There's no place I can be
Since I found Serenity
But you can't take the sky from me...
After I came back from Semiformal Committee back to my car I saw that my car's mirror got fucking scratched. Damn hippies who were smoking, there van was too close to the line so they must have just gone and hit it when they left. Arrr I feel a Darth Vader 'NOOOOOOOO' coming on.
Then I went to go see Saving Face with Sonny, Ryan, Allen, Brian, and Juliana. It was a good movie and all both the females looked pretty good looking. Too bad they're lesbians... or are they?
As I was leaving the parking lot I was slowly backing out to make sure I wasn't going to hit anyone. I saw that an SUV was approaching so I slowed down to see if the SUV would drive by or let me out. However there was a lady walking in the parking lot so the SUV had to stop. Upon seeing that I decided to pull out completely.
Haha that's when the lady in the SUV honked at me. I couldn't believe it. It wasn't as though I was going to back into her SUV or anything. She was just mad because she had to wait for me to straighten out after pulling out of my space. She got so mad that she drove her SUV really really close to my car. Don't you love that? That people get so angry that they have to do something "threatening" like moving her SUV really close to my car. As though this fucking yuppie of a woman would risk her current lifestyle to show some Yellow Man who was right. "I'll kill him with my car, that'll show him." Please. I was confused because I couldn't tell if she actually thought doing something like that would make me move my car out of her way faster. So I just kind of waited there wondering what she was doing. Eventually I did straighten myself out and curl around her behemoth of a car and sped off. She yelled something when our windows crossed paths but I refuse to listen to idiots like that.
Then I come home to my apartment and I have to smell my stupid roommate's stupid dumplings that he defrosted.
Then I went to go see Saving Face with Sonny, Ryan, Allen, Brian, and Juliana. It was a good movie and all both the females looked pretty good looking. Too bad they're lesbians... or are they?
As I was leaving the parking lot I was slowly backing out to make sure I wasn't going to hit anyone. I saw that an SUV was approaching so I slowed down to see if the SUV would drive by or let me out. However there was a lady walking in the parking lot so the SUV had to stop. Upon seeing that I decided to pull out completely.
Haha that's when the lady in the SUV honked at me. I couldn't believe it. It wasn't as though I was going to back into her SUV or anything. She was just mad because she had to wait for me to straighten out after pulling out of my space. She got so mad that she drove her SUV really really close to my car. Don't you love that? That people get so angry that they have to do something "threatening" like moving her SUV really close to my car. As though this fucking yuppie of a woman would risk her current lifestyle to show some Yellow Man who was right. "I'll kill him with my car, that'll show him." Please. I was confused because I couldn't tell if she actually thought doing something like that would make me move my car out of her way faster. So I just kind of waited there wondering what she was doing. Eventually I did straighten myself out and curl around her behemoth of a car and sped off. She yelled something when our windows crossed paths but I refuse to listen to idiots like that.
Then I come home to my apartment and I have to smell my stupid roommate's stupid dumplings that he defrosted.
Yeah I'm going to E3 Expo! But I can only go on Friday because Wednesday I have a quiz and Thursday I have class all day and watching Episode 3 at night.
Also here's a cool flash I saw a couple of weeks ago but forgot to make note of. Beatboxing and Harmonica
Also here's a cool flash I saw a couple of weeks ago but forgot to make note of. Beatboxing and Harmonica
Zissou Shoes
Posted 2005-01-07 07:38:10 PM | Movies
I want my own pair of Team Zissou Adidas Shoes.
DIY instructions are here Now to find some Adidas ROMS.
DIY instructions are here Now to find some Adidas ROMS.
The Incredibles
Posted 2004-11-11 04:58:41 PM | Movies
A Smart, Funny, Action-Packed Adventure.
Garden State and Napoleon Dynamite
Posted 2004-11-07 01:10:00 AM | Movies
Can anyone explain why this movie was so popular?
Maybe it's the fact that I saw Garden State by myself :( because no one wanted to go see it with me or already saw it beforehand.
Okay first off it has Natalie Portman in it, so right there it gets a big plus right there. I mean c'mon when you include Natalie Portman in any movie the quality of the movie just goes straight up. Zack Braff writing Sam's role for Natalie Portman, then Natalie Portman accepting the role and then Zack and her start going out all seem kind of creepy to me.
I thought the acting was great but to me the story was just kind of bland.
Note: I'm glad I saw this for free because I don't think I would have been very happen at paying money for this movie. Not that it was shit, but it was just "meh" for me.
UCI started on Friday which meant that Summer has officialy ended. For Dinner on Thursday I went with Erik and Steve to Pat and Oscar's. We reminisced about the good ol dorm days... which weren't really that good 'ol for me except for a couple of great moments. After we ate I went with Sam to go watch Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence. God what a beautiful movie but tries way too much "trying to be smart and quote philosophers" and not enough action sequences. But very visually stunning and a decent flick.
Friday. All my classes went okay, I'm dropping 183 Graphics Programming because the professor is crazy. She wants the class to complete 4 programs, 4 written assignments, a written final and project final. On top of that she wants us to learn OpenGL on our own time. Since I don't really need that class to graduate I'm just going to drop it.
Friday was also Staceys birthday party at the Old Spaghetti Factory. There were lots of people there and I'm surprised that they actually managed to fit everyone in.
Saturday. Went to Don's house to watch the USC vs. Stanford game. Stanford was winning at half time and Don, the only person who went to USC out of Pranav, him and I, almost gave up all hope of USC winning. But they ended up stopping Stanford's offense in the 2nd half and they won the game. So afterwards we chided Don for not having more faith in his own school. I guess it's easy being so calm since UCI's football team is undefeated and all but Don had nothing to worry about. Later that night we played Poker with a 1 dollar buy in. I thought I played well until I played a big hand not realizing I didn't have a straight when I thought I did. So next time I'll win for sure...
Well that's it. Tomorrow's Monday and the official "First Week" of class. I guess we'll see what happens.
Friday. All my classes went okay, I'm dropping 183 Graphics Programming because the professor is crazy. She wants the class to complete 4 programs, 4 written assignments, a written final and project final. On top of that she wants us to learn OpenGL on our own time. Since I don't really need that class to graduate I'm just going to drop it.
Friday was also Staceys birthday party at the Old Spaghetti Factory. There were lots of people there and I'm surprised that they actually managed to fit everyone in.
Saturday. Went to Don's house to watch the USC vs. Stanford game. Stanford was winning at half time and Don, the only person who went to USC out of Pranav, him and I, almost gave up all hope of USC winning. But they ended up stopping Stanford's offense in the 2nd half and they won the game. So afterwards we chided Don for not having more faith in his own school. I guess it's easy being so calm since UCI's football team is undefeated and all but Don had nothing to worry about. Later that night we played Poker with a 1 dollar buy in. I thought I played well until I played a big hand not realizing I didn't have a straight when I thought I did. So next time I'll win for sure...
Well that's it. Tomorrow's Monday and the official "First Week" of class. I guess we'll see what happens.
Movie Reviews
Posted 2004-08-01 12:11:05 AM | Movies
Spider-Man 2 - Jawesome, "Go get em tiger."
Along Came Polly - Okay, an average movie, not better than Meet the Parents or Dodgeball.
Dodgeball - Another okay movie. I thought it was funny but nothing that was making me laugh out loud in the theater.
Bad Santa UNRATED - Hilarious movie.
Eurotrip - Okay, funny but got kind of lame
Shrek 2 - Okay, I'm not really that into Shrek although I don't hate it. I just don't see what the huge fuss is about it.
The Perfect Score - I don't know I stopped watching after 5 minutes because it was pissing me off so much
The Bourne Supremacy - It was all right but I was kind of let down
White Chicks - They didn't show that part in the trailer where the boys look under their skirts and also why can't anyone figure out that the girls got really ugly and look like they're wearing masks?
The Terminal - An okay movie
ROTJ Special Edition DVD - They replaced the old guy that was playing Darth Vader at the end of the movie with Hayden Christiansen. Also at the end where they're panning across the different cities around the galaxy they added a new scene where they pan to Naboo and one of the Gungans yells out, "WEEESSSAA SAVED!" Oh Georgie.
I, Robot - "Aww Hell Naw" and "Get Awf Mah Cah," but seriously an enjoyable movie but not something you'll remember unless they show this a million times on TV.
Hellboy - Sucked, I didn't enjoy it very much.
Along Came Polly - Okay, an average movie, not better than Meet the Parents or Dodgeball.
Dodgeball - Another okay movie. I thought it was funny but nothing that was making me laugh out loud in the theater.
Bad Santa UNRATED - Hilarious movie.
Eurotrip - Okay, funny but got kind of lame
Shrek 2 - Okay, I'm not really that into Shrek although I don't hate it. I just don't see what the huge fuss is about it.
The Perfect Score - I don't know I stopped watching after 5 minutes because it was pissing me off so much
The Bourne Supremacy - It was all right but I was kind of let down
White Chicks - They didn't show that part in the trailer where the boys look under their skirts and also why can't anyone figure out that the girls got really ugly and look like they're wearing masks?
The Terminal - An okay movie
ROTJ Special Edition DVD - They replaced the old guy that was playing Darth Vader at the end of the movie with Hayden Christiansen. Also at the end where they're panning across the different cities around the galaxy they added a new scene where they pan to Naboo and one of the Gungans yells out, "WEEESSSAA SAVED!" Oh Georgie.
I, Robot - "Aww Hell Naw" and "Get Awf Mah Cah," but seriously an enjoyable movie but not something you'll remember unless they show this a million times on TV.
Hellboy - Sucked, I didn't enjoy it very much.
Boom Mic In Lost In Translation
Posted 2004-06-27 04:32:29 AM | Movies
When I wrote up my thoughts on the film Lost In Translation. I got a lot of google hits about "Lost In Translation, Boom Mic Showing" and I'd look at these and think, what the hell are these people smoking? I didn't see anything like that. So now here is the reason why that is...
From IMDB boards for The Terminal...
From IMDB boards for The Terminal...
Actually, the microphone problem is 95% the theatre projectionists fault. I used to be a projectionist for 7 years, I know.
The aspect ratios are different from when the film is shot and when it is shown. The two most recognized ratios are 1.85 and 2.35.
I currently do extra work for a living and have seen many scenes being shot. If during a take a mic gets in they will reshoot it.
Everything I'm telling you relates to flat films or films in the 1.85 to 1 aspect ratio. I seldom ever see framing problems with 2.35 to 1 films because if it's out of frame you will either see the top or bottom part of the same frame and they can fix it easily. However, if someone isn't watching the framing when they start, it will actually look normal to the basic projectionist. The picture fills the whole screen it all looks good, start the next movie. If you watch a movie in the theatre and you notice that the studio opening logo doesn't appear to be exactly centered, you're in trouble.
If you had the opportunity to hang out in the video village where all the monitors are, you would see standard 1.33 tv monitors that have thin matte lines to represent just what the audience should be seeing when it's shown. What's in the box is what we'll see, what's out of the box we shouldn't.
When the image is transfered to film, each frame is actually the full screen image that you saw on the monitors, without the matte lines. When the film is projected through the apature plate, the plate that sets up the proper aspect ratio for the lens, you should only see what was framed in that box I previously mentioned. If you don't properly frame the image, you will begin to see stuff you normally shouldn't.
I saw Lost in Translation several times in the theatre. The last time I saw it, it was clearly not framed properly because the mic was showing up and showing up alot. I never saw the mic the other times I saw the film. I didn't feel like getting up to complain and surprisingly neither did the audience, a shame.
Now the other 5% can be the crew's fault. I saw a screening of Tron in 70mm at the El Capitan theatre in Hollywood. Tron was projected in 2.20:1 ratio. When Flynn, Alan, and the girl are talking in the arcade in between them you will see a microphone pop up from the bottom of the screen and start to move around to catch each actors dialog. Now, that was the crew. If you tried to frame that out, the whole film would be out of frame.
I hope this will give you a general idea about the infamous microphone problems that plague some motion pictures and tv shows.
When I watched GATTACA for the first time when I was a freshmen in high school I had no real idea what the movie was about. But when I came out of the theater it became one of my favorite films.
However I totally forgot about it until Ken mentioned it in his speech during Semiformal. If you haven't seen the movie go see it right now because I promise that you won't be disappointed. The actual quote from the movie goes during the swim scene goes.
Anton: How are you doing this Vincent? How have you done any of this?
Vincent: Now is your chance to find out.
Both brothers continue to swim with Anton, the genetically superior of the two brothers begins to fall behind. Anton stops swimming, looks around and starts to panic.
Anton: Where's the shore? We're too far out. We have to go back!
Vincent: Too late for that. We're closer to the other side.
Anton: What other side? How far do you want to go? Do you want to drown us both? How are we going to get back?
Vincent (smiling): You wanted to know how I did it. That's how I did it, Anton. I never saved anything for the swim back
That to me, is what made the movie and is two fold in its meaning. Even though Anton is genetically better than Vincent he can't risk drowing and pushing his limits too far. Vincent has nothing to lose so he was the one who was willing to go to his limits. Two, like Ken said, give it your all and never leave anything for the return trip.
However I totally forgot about it until Ken mentioned it in his speech during Semiformal. If you haven't seen the movie go see it right now because I promise that you won't be disappointed. The actual quote from the movie goes during the swim scene goes.
Anton: How are you doing this Vincent? How have you done any of this?
Vincent: Now is your chance to find out.
Both brothers continue to swim with Anton, the genetically superior of the two brothers begins to fall behind. Anton stops swimming, looks around and starts to panic.
Anton: Where's the shore? We're too far out. We have to go back!
Vincent: Too late for that. We're closer to the other side.
Anton: What other side? How far do you want to go? Do you want to drown us both? How are we going to get back?
Vincent (smiling): You wanted to know how I did it. That's how I did it, Anton. I never saved anything for the swim back
That to me, is what made the movie and is two fold in its meaning. Even though Anton is genetically better than Vincent he can't risk drowing and pushing his limits too far. Vincent has nothing to lose so he was the one who was willing to go to his limits. Two, like Ken said, give it your all and never leave anything for the return trip.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Posted 2004-04-05 07:39:18 AM | Movies
How funny that a movie about an unsuccessful relationship makes you want to go out and start a relationship.
Michel Gondry, noted mainly for his music video work for The Foo Fighters (Everlong), Kylie Minogue (Come Into My World) and The White Stripes (Fell In Love With A Girl and Hardest Button To Button) does some amazing camera work in this movie. I mean his work in music videos was great. Before this movie I knew he did the White Stripes videos but I never knew he did the ones featuring The Foo Fighters and Kylie Minogue. Whenever I saw those I always thought that they were pretty creative and different from what the mainstream videos had done.
I won't talk too much about the film in general, I went into the movie really hyped up about it and I wasn't disappointed in the least, although it was different from what I was expecting. Go watch it, you'll enjoy it.
Michel Gondry, noted mainly for his music video work for The Foo Fighters (Everlong), Kylie Minogue (Come Into My World) and The White Stripes (Fell In Love With A Girl and Hardest Button To Button) does some amazing camera work in this movie. I mean his work in music videos was great. Before this movie I knew he did the White Stripes videos but I never knew he did the ones featuring The Foo Fighters and Kylie Minogue. Whenever I saw those I always thought that they were pretty creative and different from what the mainstream videos had done.
I won't talk too much about the film in general, I went into the movie really hyped up about it and I wasn't disappointed in the least, although it was different from what I was expecting. Go watch it, you'll enjoy it.
Finals suck, Spring Break Rocks
Also fuck you George Lucas for this abomination of dialogue
OH I GET IT ANAKIN, ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY PADME'S SKIN IS SOFT, UNLIKE SAND?
Also fuck you George Lucas for this abomination of dialogue
PADMÉ
...We used to lie on the sand and let the sun dry us... and try to guess the names of the birds singing.
ANAKIN
I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything's soft... and smooth...
OH I GET IT ANAKIN, ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY PADME'S SKIN IS SOFT, UNLIKE SAND?
Last Thursday was Guys Night Out Night at Hooters + some pool hall.
Rewind to last Friday where I went to go see the premiere of Red Trousers over at the Independent Edwards near UCI. There was a taiko drums and a Wushu performance. Robin Shou (AKA LIU KANG) showed up briefly to introduce them but apparently left right after everyone went into the theater. Also on hand was Hakim Alston and Keith Cooke (SUBZERO). Keith was the only one who actually stayed after the first showing.
The movie itself was okay, the part about the stuntmen was awesome because you see them take these crazy tumbles and then get right back up again (well except for that one guy). They also had some small movie in it called Lost In Time which was some cut/cancelled project from 3 years ago. It made no sense and kinda detracted from the overall experience. But it was still enjoyable just for the stuntment part.
Sunday after practice the group went to Hooters 'cause Sam won this VIP All-You-Can-Eat Chicken Wing deal. So the 10 lucky people (actually 11) went to go eat. We ended up polishing off 230+ chicken wings/legs during which we pondered whether or not they had to kill about 50 chicken or whether they grew chicken that had 4 wings and 4 legs. Haha man soo full from that. I think I actually gained weight because of that dinner.
Rewind to last Friday where I went to go see the premiere of Red Trousers over at the Independent Edwards near UCI. There was a taiko drums and a Wushu performance. Robin Shou (AKA LIU KANG) showed up briefly to introduce them but apparently left right after everyone went into the theater. Also on hand was Hakim Alston and Keith Cooke (SUBZERO). Keith was the only one who actually stayed after the first showing.
The movie itself was okay, the part about the stuntmen was awesome because you see them take these crazy tumbles and then get right back up again (well except for that one guy). They also had some small movie in it called Lost In Time which was some cut/cancelled project from 3 years ago. It made no sense and kinda detracted from the overall experience. But it was still enjoyable just for the stuntment part.
Sunday after practice the group went to Hooters 'cause Sam won this VIP All-You-Can-Eat Chicken Wing deal. So the 10 lucky people (actually 11) went to go eat. We ended up polishing off 230+ chicken wings/legs during which we pondered whether or not they had to kill about 50 chicken or whether they grew chicken that had 4 wings and 4 legs. Haha man soo full from that. I think I actually gained weight because of that dinner.
Last Friday (Feb 27th), Erik, Jeff, Gerald, John Paul and Maya played in the ASUCI talent show as Dash Rend Band. While they played superbly, they sadly did not get any prize money. There were lots of really good acts and a big crowd came to watch. For some reason there was a boat-load of Troy people there for one reason or another. From my count (other than Troy alumni on stage), there was Katherine, Pranav, Josh and myself (who already goto UCI), then there was also Michelle, Sam Brumley, Nathalie and OF COURSE ESTHER! NO ONE WOULD FORGET ESTHER! Very odd indeed. I have no pictures from the show but I did get their performance plus CADC's performance on tape, so hopefully I can get that transferred into a digital format.
The following day was CHF which is where all the UC Chinese clubs (from Santa Barbara on down) + USC's Chinese club get together to have fun and watch the dance groups perform. Lots of cute girls there and the performances were great. Good job to the board for putting it together. I have my pictures up here and the CAUCI website also has tons more pics (800+ from what Victor told me).
And right now I just got back from watching 21 Grams staring Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts. It was a good movie although it was hard to follow at the beginning because it kept jumping around back and forth through different times in the movie. There was this one annoying guy in the hall that kept laughing at scenes that were funny at all or kept saying, "Oh shit" randomly. He left pretty quick after the movie ended so I'm guessing he just wanted to be a jackass and to get attention.
The following day was CHF which is where all the UC Chinese clubs (from Santa Barbara on down) + USC's Chinese club get together to have fun and watch the dance groups perform. Lots of cute girls there and the performances were great. Good job to the board for putting it together. I have my pictures up here and the CAUCI website also has tons more pics (800+ from what Victor told me).
And right now I just got back from watching 21 Grams staring Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts. It was a good movie although it was hard to follow at the beginning because it kept jumping around back and forth through different times in the movie. There was this one annoying guy in the hall that kept laughing at scenes that were funny at all or kept saying, "Oh shit" randomly. He left pretty quick after the movie ended so I'm guessing he just wanted to be a jackass and to get attention.
Paycheck
Posted 2004-01-09 09:39:41 AM | Movies
I got to see this for free at the Paramount Studio. I was surprised to see that it was not really gory for a John Woo flick. There was definitely action but nothing gruesome. Also his dove trademark is really getting out of hand. Where the hell are these goddamn birds coming from?!
Anyways, I thought it was an okay movie. I just don't really see Ben Affleck being attracted to Uma Thurman though. There's also a whole bunch of shit that don't make sense if you think too hard about it.
6/10
Anyways, I thought it was an okay movie. I just don't really see Ben Affleck being attracted to Uma Thurman though. There's also a whole bunch of shit that don't make sense if you think too hard about it.
6/10
Merry Christmas everyone!
That's it.
Movie Reviews:
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (LOTRROTK) - Great movie, a nice ending to the trilogy. Lots and lots of gay innuendos. Was waiting for Gimli to jump on bed with rest of hobbits and also for Sam and Frodo to begin making out.
American Wedding - Continues the tradition of the previous two movies. I liked it but it had terrible editing where one scene would begin with a conflict that didn't see a solution at the end.
Infernal Affairs - Import from China. Great flick. I don't really know how to describe this one. I just hope they don't fuck it up for the Americanized Version (staring Brad Pitt). One of the guys in the movie looked like an asian Colin Farrell. Colin Farrell will probably play his character in the remake. Also the China "PC" alternate ending for this movie sucked and made no sense.
Turn Left, Turn Right - This was a typical 'boy meets girl, girl meets boy, both lose each other and find each other in the end' kind of movie. I'm not sure how long this movie was but let's assuming it was a 2 hour movie they wrote enough dialogue for a 1 hour movie because the boy and girl said the same thing in sequential scenes. Okay but cheesy movie.
That's it.
Movie Reviews:
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (LOTRROTK) - Great movie, a nice ending to the trilogy. Lots and lots of gay innuendos. Was waiting for Gimli to jump on bed with rest of hobbits and also for Sam and Frodo to begin making out.
American Wedding - Continues the tradition of the previous two movies. I liked it but it had terrible editing where one scene would begin with a conflict that didn't see a solution at the end.
Infernal Affairs - Import from China. Great flick. I don't really know how to describe this one. I just hope they don't fuck it up for the Americanized Version (staring Brad Pitt). One of the guys in the movie looked like an asian Colin Farrell. Colin Farrell will probably play his character in the remake. Also the China "PC" alternate ending for this movie sucked and made no sense.
Turn Left, Turn Right - This was a typical 'boy meets girl, girl meets boy, both lose each other and find each other in the end' kind of movie. I'm not sure how long this movie was but let's assuming it was a 2 hour movie they wrote enough dialogue for a 1 hour movie because the boy and girl said the same thing in sequential scenes. Okay but cheesy movie.
School: I had three tests last week for each of my classes. I also signed up for my classes next quarter... looks like I'll be taking three ICS classes.
Movies: I saw Gothika on Friday, starring Halle Berry. Let me just say that going into this movie my expectations were very low. The critics panned it as being stupid and I thought it looked dumb from the trailers. Well I'm not sure if its completely stupid. If completely stupid means that the movie scared the shit out of me, then yes it did. I mean, maybe it's me but I'm just not use to the whole 'freaky looking little girls popping out of no where to beat the shit out of someone,' theme to movies, but yeah... It was scary and loud and no boobies from Halle Berry this time.
* not really
Chinese Association: Let's see. Flag Football. I've been playing flag football all quarter for CA. It was certainly a fun experience although it would have been better if we won more games.
Two Thursdays ago (11/13) CA went Broomballing. Broomballing was pretty fun and this time I didn't fall at all. I scored a goal off someone's shot so all in all it was pretty cool. We ate at Island's beforehand and CA was generating so much noise that the manager threatened to kick us out. So we loitered outside instead for a good half an hour before heading over the the rink. While we were waiting for everyone else to arrive, we watched these two amateur hockey teams go at each other. When we first got there the score was a respectable 2-0. But by the time the game was over the score was something along the line of 8-1.
Then last Tuesday we had Cultural Night Dance Practice... I was very sore after that and it lasted well until this past Friday.
This past Thursday was Bowling. I bowled a hundred something first game and was on my way to a decent game of 130 or so when they shut down our lane
But oh wells.
And finally Saturday was Beach Cleanup at Seal Beach...
Movies: I saw Gothika on Friday, starring Halle Berry. Let me just say that going into this movie my expectations were very low. The critics panned it as being stupid and I thought it looked dumb from the trailers. Well I'm not sure if its completely stupid. If completely stupid means that the movie scared the shit out of me, then yes it did. I mean, maybe it's me but I'm just not use to the whole 'freaky looking little girls popping out of no where to beat the shit out of someone,' theme to movies, but yeah... It was scary and loud and no boobies from Halle Berry this time.
* not really
Chinese Association: Let's see. Flag Football. I've been playing flag football all quarter for CA. It was certainly a fun experience although it would have been better if we won more games.
Two Thursdays ago (11/13) CA went Broomballing. Broomballing was pretty fun and this time I didn't fall at all. I scored a goal off someone's shot so all in all it was pretty cool. We ate at Island's beforehand and CA was generating so much noise that the manager threatened to kick us out. So we loitered outside instead for a good half an hour before heading over the the rink. While we were waiting for everyone else to arrive, we watched these two amateur hockey teams go at each other. When we first got there the score was a respectable 2-0. But by the time the game was over the score was something along the line of 8-1.
Then last Tuesday we had Cultural Night Dance Practice... I was very sore after that and it lasted well until this past Friday.
This past Thursday was Bowling. I bowled a hundred something first game and was on my way to a decent game of 130 or so when they shut down our lane
But oh wells.And finally Saturday was Beach Cleanup at Seal Beach...
Matrix Revolutions
Posted 2003-11-08 10:45:43 AM | Movies
Well let me say that this title doesn't roll off your tongue like "Matrix Reloaded," half the night I kept calling it Reloaded even though I knew it was Revolutions. They had some trivia thing at the beginning where the usher also called it Reloaded.
No spoilers.
Let me just say this. They should have kept it at one movie. While I enjoyed the first one and thought the second one was okay. It felt like they just crapped it all together at the end and made everything in the second movie irrelevant. I hate to say this but when the movie was over I was pretty pissed off at the ending. Very few fight scenes although I enjoyed the ones they had.
Spoilers.
The Train Station. When the movie first started I thought, nice this is pretty badass. And then they fuck it up by making it go NO WHERE. If you take out the Train Station scene the movie would have been the same. It felt more like, OH HAY NEO IS LIKKKEE STUCK BETWEEN THE REAL WORLD AND THE MATRIX WORLD!!!
The Mechs. So let me get this straight. All these things do is just "stand" there and shoot. How is this any different from putting in those guns without the human aspect. I mean why would they build these machines and make piece slow pieces of shit. Why not have small flying fighter craft?
Screwing up characters. Goddamn fuck, Persephone had one fucking line in the whole movie and that wasn't even the most interesting thing about her. OMG SHE IS IN ZEE LOVE! SHE WILL KILL YOU! And since when did Morpheus become such a fucking pussy. OH NO THE SHIP IS GOING SO FAST, I HAVE EXPERIENCE NOTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE. OH WAIT FIGHTING AGENTS WAS PRETTY SCARY YET IM PISSING MY PANTS BECAUSE JADA PINKETT SMITH IS DRIVING TOO FAST LOL WOMEN DRIVERS!! And what about the Kid? ZOMG ZOMG THE WAR IN ZION IS OVER ZOMG! And NO FUCKING TWINS.
Hey Trinity, there are two fucking pieces of round shiny metal that have pierced your lungs, yet you stay alive long enough to deliver the most contrived piece of "I WUV U" bullshit ever?
No spoilers.
Let me just say this. They should have kept it at one movie. While I enjoyed the first one and thought the second one was okay. It felt like they just crapped it all together at the end and made everything in the second movie irrelevant. I hate to say this but when the movie was over I was pretty pissed off at the ending. Very few fight scenes although I enjoyed the ones they had.
The Train Station. When the movie first started I thought, nice this is pretty badass. And then they fuck it up by making it go NO WHERE. If you take out the Train Station scene the movie would have been the same. It felt more like, OH HAY NEO IS LIKKKEE STUCK BETWEEN THE REAL WORLD AND THE MATRIX WORLD!!!
The Mechs. So let me get this straight. All these things do is just "stand" there and shoot. How is this any different from putting in those guns without the human aspect. I mean why would they build these machines and make piece slow pieces of shit. Why not have small flying fighter craft?
Screwing up characters. Goddamn fuck, Persephone had one fucking line in the whole movie and that wasn't even the most interesting thing about her. OMG SHE IS IN ZEE LOVE! SHE WILL KILL YOU! And since when did Morpheus become such a fucking pussy. OH NO THE SHIP IS GOING SO FAST, I HAVE EXPERIENCE NOTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE. OH WAIT FIGHTING AGENTS WAS PRETTY SCARY YET IM PISSING MY PANTS BECAUSE JADA PINKETT SMITH IS DRIVING TOO FAST LOL WOMEN DRIVERS!! And what about the Kid? ZOMG ZOMG THE WAR IN ZION IS OVER ZOMG! And NO FUCKING TWINS.
Hey Trinity, there are two fucking pieces of round shiny metal that have pierced your lungs, yet you stay alive long enough to deliver the most contrived piece of "I WUV U" bullshit ever?
Kill Bill
Posted 2003-10-16 11:43:50 AM | Movies
I very stupidly deleted my Kill Bill review.
Review: I like it Mikey, I like it.
The third year of UCI has begun. And to say the least it was very anti-climatic. I had Art History 42A at 11, and it was boring as all the other classes in the series were. I just hope I pull through with a decent grade, but I can't help but fall asleep in their classes. The room has nearly all its lights turned off for the slides and the professor just drones on and on about the subject as though it was about cheese. They don't even slow it down so you can write what they are saying.
The next class I had was Chinese. Interesting class, lots of cuties but they're all asian so I can see why I'm attracted to some of them. But it doesn't really matter 'cause even if I get anywhere with one of them I'll still screw it completely up. One girl that I was partnered with forgot her Chinese over the summer so I guess I am glad for those tutoring sessions to help me practice.
That's it. Later on I went home because my grandparents are in town. I went to go see, Lost in Translation starring Bill Murray. Let's just say if you're looking for major funnay, this movie is not for you. It was okay, but very much drawn out and with lots of unnecessary parts. Lots of the humor seems to stem from the fact that, "HEY ITS JAPANESE, AND LOOK THEY DO EVERYTHING DIFFERENT SO IT IS FUNNY TO US AMERICAS."
Yeah I really don't know what to make of the movie... I guess it was good?
The next class I had was Chinese. Interesting class, lots of cuties but they're all asian so I can see why I'm attracted to some of them. But it doesn't really matter 'cause even if I get anywhere with one of them I'll still screw it completely up. One girl that I was partnered with forgot her Chinese over the summer so I guess I am glad for those tutoring sessions to help me practice.
That's it. Later on I went home because my grandparents are in town. I went to go see, Lost in Translation starring Bill Murray. Let's just say if you're looking for major funnay, this movie is not for you. It was okay, but very much drawn out and with lots of unnecessary parts. Lots of the humor seems to stem from the fact that, "HEY ITS JAPANESE, AND LOOK THEY DO EVERYTHING DIFFERENT SO IT IS FUNNY TO US AMERICAS."
Yeah I really don't know what to make of the movie... I guess it was good?
As you may all know, The RIAA has recently begun serving lawsuits against people who allegedly have downloaded illegal music files on Kazaa. Obviously 12 year olds and 66 year old grandmas are obviously terrorists and a threat to the lifestyle of an American!
The 66 year old lady, who was using a Macintosh preventing her from even accessing Kazaa, could still be recharged with her heinous crimes of downloading nearly 2,000 songs! RIAA lawyers had this to say about it.
So now the MPAA is trying to prevent people from downloading movies online. Part of their current campaign is to show clips right at the beginning of a movie explaining the horrors of Internet "Piracy". Usually it is someone that works behind the scenes like a cameraman or stuntman who describes how they don't make millions and that movie pirating will hurt them immensely. Sometimes even an actor comes on to talk about how this affects them, that is if they can fit it into their busy schedules. Their motto? "Movies are worth it!"
Does anyone see the irony in this? They have Ben Affleck, who has millions of dollars, telling us that we shouldn't pirate movies when we're already in the movie theater with the tickets that we already paid for. How much sense does this make to tell people who actually did pay for the movie that they're terrible people for trying to steal Ernie the Boom Mic Holder hard earned cash.
It also makes no sense how Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez can get paid millions to do shit. Just look at Gigli. That is what is 'causing the movie companies to lose money, if anything. How exactly are we suppose to feel sad when Ben Affleck makes tons of money for playing shitty roles with his now ex-fiance? Those people who work behind the scenes? Well they are most likely part of a union so they get paid no matter what.
So I ask you this, who's more of a pirate? Someone who had to pay $10 to see a movie and then later decides they want to rewatch it or the movie exec. who made you pay $10 and decides thats not enough for him 'cause he now has to start lighting his cigars with $10 bills instead of $20s? You decide.
On a related note, the RIAA/MPAA is also trying to "educate" kids from 5th to 9th grade about the terrible terrible bad bad pirates (wouldn't they be better off learning about real pirates, like Sir Francis Drake?). How are they planning to teach them?
The 66 year old lady, who was using a Macintosh preventing her from even accessing Kazaa, could still be recharged with her heinous crimes of downloading nearly 2,000 songs! RIAA lawyers had this to say about it.
"Please note, however, that we will continue our review of the issues you raised and we reserve the right to refile the complaint against Mrs. Ward if and when circumstances warrant," wrote Colin Zick, attorney for the record labels, the Boston Globe reports.See, even if you didn't do anything, you're still not out of the reach of RIAA's nasty lawyers.
So now the MPAA is trying to prevent people from downloading movies online. Part of their current campaign is to show clips right at the beginning of a movie explaining the horrors of Internet "Piracy". Usually it is someone that works behind the scenes like a cameraman or stuntman who describes how they don't make millions and that movie pirating will hurt them immensely. Sometimes even an actor comes on to talk about how this affects them, that is if they can fit it into their busy schedules. Their motto? "Movies are worth it!"
Does anyone see the irony in this? They have Ben Affleck, who has millions of dollars, telling us that we shouldn't pirate movies when we're already in the movie theater with the tickets that we already paid for. How much sense does this make to tell people who actually did pay for the movie that they're terrible people for trying to steal Ernie the Boom Mic Holder hard earned cash.
It also makes no sense how Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez can get paid millions to do shit. Just look at Gigli. That is what is 'causing the movie companies to lose money, if anything. How exactly are we suppose to feel sad when Ben Affleck makes tons of money for playing shitty roles with his now ex-fiance? Those people who work behind the scenes? Well they are most likely part of a union so they get paid no matter what.
So I ask you this, who's more of a pirate? Someone who had to pay $10 to see a movie and then later decides they want to rewatch it or the movie exec. who made you pay $10 and decides thats not enough for him 'cause he now has to start lighting his cigars with $10 bills instead of $20s? You decide.
On a related note, the RIAA/MPAA is also trying to "educate" kids from 5th to 9th grade about the terrible terrible bad bad pirates (wouldn't they be better off learning about real pirates, like Sir Francis Drake?). How are they planning to teach them?
In the role-playing activity Starving Artist, for example, groups of students are encouraged to come up with an idea for a musical act, write lyrics and design a CD cover only to be told by a volunteer teacher their work can be downloaded free. According to the lesson, the volunteer would then "ask them how they felt when they realized that their work was stolen and that they would not get anything for their efforts."Wait, so how is this any different than it the current situation? Just replace "students" with "musicians" and "volunteer teacher" with "RIAA" and you have the same exact thing. So how does it feel Timmy?
Now before I review
The Hulk
by Ang Lee let me talk about what I did yesterday.
I watched some movies, Antwone Fisher and 28 Days to be exact, with Jeanette and her friends. We were suppose to go bowling but that didn't work 'cause we didn't get enough people. I wanted to bowl :(
Okay but back to The Hulk. I cannot review the Hulk fairly. Why not? (No spoiler until the Spoiler text).
Because parents who have toddlers decide, "Hey, let's go watch The Hulk, even though it is rated PG-13, I'm sure our kids would love to come watch it with us (read: I want to go watch it and I don't want to pay for a babysitter) even though the main character is a big green ANGRY "monster".
If you're a parent with a very young kid who will uncontrollably scream, cry or make any kind of other noise, you probably shouldn't be going to a movie. Basically if you have a child, you lose all right you have to watch a movie unless (1) the movie is rated G, (2) you hire a babysitter and keep your damn kid at home or (3) you watch it at home. God it was so fucking annoying. First off, all these families have 5 kids. How they can afford that is beyond me. I didn't have any problems with people that were like 6 or older, but it seemed like every single family in there had at least one baby/toddler.
I didn't even know that The Hulk was being promoted as some sort of family flick. I don't recall Blade, X2, Spider Man or Daredevil being marketed as a family movie. And for godsakes The Hulk is one you would bring the family to as a "family movie" ITS THE FUCKING HULK GODDAMMIT. HE'S GODDAMN ANGRY. ANGRY I TELL YOU!
UGH, goddamn stupid families bring their babies with them. I cannot stand babies crying in a movie theatre, I totally lose concentration of any dialogue;basically anything else past SMASHY SMASHY type action I cannot focus when theres a baby crying.
So, annoying baby #1, who cried loud enough to drown out the movie. What pissed me off about this baby was his/her parent. They would not take their goddamn baby out of there. Which brings me to an addendum to the rules about small kids and theatres. If you're going to be so inconsiderate as to bring your baby along, be considerate enough to take your baby out of the goddamn theatre when it's crying it's head off! Goddamn this baby was literally crying for 5 minutes with people telling them to take their baby out. What the hell is wrong with these people. WONT SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN??? PLEASE!
And then there was... the other baby. This baby was crying as well. But during the very loud sequences, you could not hear the wailing. Fast forward to dialogue parts. BOOM, goddamn baby crying.
And then the rest of the kids are moving around the theatre during the movie. WTF? STOP CLIMBING UP AND DOWN THE STAIRS!!
SPOILERS: So this couple with the fact that I was very tired made watching this movie a very very grueling experience. I didn't like the movie too much. The CGI was at times great, pathetic looking in others. The Wipes/Split Screen/Comic Book effects were great but made it kind of hard to focus. I enjoyed the one where there's an explosion and the guy gets thrown comic book style. The story... again I couldn't concentrate, so many goddamn babies. I will leave the story alone b/c I'm not sure if it was good or not. The ending... terrible, WTF was all that "Hey I'm Nick Nolte, watch me become some random villan that shows up in the last 10 minutes" and "Hey Bruce Banner somehow made it into the Columbian jungles"
Arg, I'm so mad. So... Angry...
by Ang Lee let me talk about what I did yesterday.
I watched some movies, Antwone Fisher and 28 Days to be exact, with Jeanette and her friends. We were suppose to go bowling but that didn't work 'cause we didn't get enough people. I wanted to bowl :(
Okay but back to The Hulk. I cannot review the Hulk fairly. Why not? (No spoiler until the Spoiler text).
Because parents who have toddlers decide, "Hey, let's go watch The Hulk, even though it is rated PG-13, I'm sure our kids would love to come watch it with us (read: I want to go watch it and I don't want to pay for a babysitter) even though the main character is a big green ANGRY "monster".
If you're a parent with a very young kid who will uncontrollably scream, cry or make any kind of other noise, you probably shouldn't be going to a movie. Basically if you have a child, you lose all right you have to watch a movie unless (1) the movie is rated G, (2) you hire a babysitter and keep your damn kid at home or (3) you watch it at home. God it was so fucking annoying. First off, all these families have 5 kids. How they can afford that is beyond me. I didn't have any problems with people that were like 6 or older, but it seemed like every single family in there had at least one baby/toddler.
I didn't even know that The Hulk was being promoted as some sort of family flick. I don't recall Blade, X2, Spider Man or Daredevil being marketed as a family movie. And for godsakes The Hulk is one you would bring the family to as a "family movie" ITS THE FUCKING HULK GODDAMMIT. HE'S GODDAMN ANGRY. ANGRY I TELL YOU!
UGH, goddamn stupid families bring their babies with them. I cannot stand babies crying in a movie theatre, I totally lose concentration of any dialogue;basically anything else past SMASHY SMASHY type action I cannot focus when theres a baby crying.
So, annoying baby #1, who cried loud enough to drown out the movie. What pissed me off about this baby was his/her parent. They would not take their goddamn baby out of there. Which brings me to an addendum to the rules about small kids and theatres. If you're going to be so inconsiderate as to bring your baby along, be considerate enough to take your baby out of the goddamn theatre when it's crying it's head off! Goddamn this baby was literally crying for 5 minutes with people telling them to take their baby out. What the hell is wrong with these people. WONT SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN??? PLEASE!
And then there was... the other baby. This baby was crying as well. But during the very loud sequences, you could not hear the wailing. Fast forward to dialogue parts. BOOM, goddamn baby crying.
And then the rest of the kids are moving around the theatre during the movie. WTF? STOP CLIMBING UP AND DOWN THE STAIRS!!
SPOILERS: So this couple with the fact that I was very tired made watching this movie a very very grueling experience. I didn't like the movie too much. The CGI was at times great, pathetic looking in others. The Wipes/Split Screen/Comic Book effects were great but made it kind of hard to focus. I enjoyed the one where there's an explosion and the guy gets thrown comic book style. The story... again I couldn't concentrate, so many goddamn babies. I will leave the story alone b/c I'm not sure if it was good or not. The ending... terrible, WTF was all that "Hey I'm Nick Nolte, watch me become some random villan that shows up in the last 10 minutes" and "Hey Bruce Banner somehow made it into the Columbian jungles"
Arg, I'm so mad. So... Angry...
Sometime this past week Erik and I watched Ghost Dog: Way of The Samurai. I can't really say whether or not I liked this movie. Do not see this if you are looking for a fast-paced action movie. I don't get this movie. When he has guns you get double vision? RZA making random guest appearances? I don't get this movie. He's waving his gun like a samurai waving his sword? Wait, why is Forest Whitaker a hardcore samurai assassin? Why do they keep showing him stealing cars and then just drive around for 20 minutes? I don't get this movie.
Friday night was All-UC at LBC convention center. All-UC is where all the 5 So Cal UC's battle it out in a dance competition. It is indeed quite competetive. Shawn and I read each other's minds and decided that we should both wear red. Waiting 3 hours until the thing actually started _because I went with Ed and Shawn and David, who had to go early to "help"_ sucked. I felt like I was being a bother to everyone so I just tried to stay out of the way after a while.
When the show actually started it was pretty cool. Lots of the teams had cool dance routines. Some schools you can also add, "dance scandalous and suggestively." But in the end UCLA won against defending champion UCI. :(
After the whole dance show they opened the floor up for the normal out-of-rhythm people to dance. My back started to hurt probably because I stood in one place too long. I tried to have fun but after a while I just gave up, went out, and resting my back then went back in.
And yeah after an exhaustive night, I went to eat at Denny's
And then today. For most of the morning I was packing and organizing my stuff at the apartment and browsing the interweb. My sisters came down to pick me up after my oldest sis flew in from up north. The whole family decided to go eat at Todai in the Puente Hills Mall (where they filmed BTTF) and ate there. Sushi is good but don't eat too many too quick or else you get sick.
Speaking of sick (this means if you don't want to hear something sick, albeit funny, skip this paragraph), during our dinner I had to take an "important" trip to the bathroom. I'm sitting on the can and I'm in the big stall which has the toilet facing the remaining two stalls. A kid comes in, enters the closest stall near mine. He slams the door several times back and forth before he finally turned around settled down and went to pee. Except he urinated onto the floor. I don't know anyway to describe it. He didn't lose control of his aim or anything. He basically pissed in long bursts that completely missed the toilet. Big Double You Tee Eff to that.
So in short, Todai = good = expensive. Thanks sis for paying :D
After we ate, we went down to the Fullerton AMC 20 to watch The Matrix Reloaded. My mid-sis, cousin and 'rents hadn't seen it yet so we all went to go watch it. Viewing it a second time makes me reconsider lots of stuff throughout the movie except (MINOR SPOILER: the Raving/Sex scene still burns my eyes).
Friday night was All-UC at LBC convention center. All-UC is where all the 5 So Cal UC's battle it out in a dance competition. It is indeed quite competetive. Shawn and I read each other's minds and decided that we should both wear red. Waiting 3 hours until the thing actually started _because I went with Ed and Shawn and David, who had to go early to "help"_ sucked. I felt like I was being a bother to everyone so I just tried to stay out of the way after a while.
When the show actually started it was pretty cool. Lots of the teams had cool dance routines. Some schools you can also add, "dance scandalous and suggestively." But in the end UCLA won against defending champion UCI. :(
After the whole dance show they opened the floor up for the normal out-of-rhythm people to dance. My back started to hurt probably because I stood in one place too long. I tried to have fun but after a while I just gave up, went out, and resting my back then went back in.
And yeah after an exhaustive night, I went to eat at Denny's
And then today. For most of the morning I was packing and organizing my stuff at the apartment and browsing the interweb. My sisters came down to pick me up after my oldest sis flew in from up north. The whole family decided to go eat at Todai in the Puente Hills Mall (where they filmed BTTF) and ate there. Sushi is good but don't eat too many too quick or else you get sick.
Speaking of sick (this means if you don't want to hear something sick, albeit funny, skip this paragraph), during our dinner I had to take an "important" trip to the bathroom. I'm sitting on the can and I'm in the big stall which has the toilet facing the remaining two stalls. A kid comes in, enters the closest stall near mine. He slams the door several times back and forth before he finally turned around settled down and went to pee. Except he urinated onto the floor. I don't know anyway to describe it. He didn't lose control of his aim or anything. He basically pissed in long bursts that completely missed the toilet. Big Double You Tee Eff to that.
So in short, Todai = good = expensive. Thanks sis for paying :D
After we ate, we went down to the Fullerton AMC 20 to watch The Matrix Reloaded. My mid-sis, cousin and 'rents hadn't seen it yet so we all went to go watch it. Viewing it a second time makes me reconsider lots of stuff throughout the movie except (MINOR SPOILER: the Raving/Sex scene still burns my eyes).
Summertime Bacchanalian
Posted 2003-05-20 02:40:41 AM | Movies
Yesterday, Erik and I went with Toni-Lynne and Diana to go see Down With Love, Starring Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. It was set in the mid 1960's and has a campy retro feel to it. The movie was decent, but it gets the most points for being very stylish to go along with a fairly cool plot. It also features what has to be the craziest next-to-5-minute monologue I've ever seen. Ewan McGregor = kick ass A-
Also I guess I am now CPR trained? I had to take a session for my Bio 50 class. So now I guess if any of you go into cardiac arrest, choke on a piece of steak, or forget that you can't breathe underwater, I'll be there to rescue you! (Oh yeah, also make sure you are a girl, also, be cute as hell too! :)
Also I guess I am now CPR trained? I had to take a session for my Bio 50 class. So now I guess if any of you go into cardiac arrest, choke on a piece of steak, or forget that you can't breathe underwater, I'll be there to rescue you! (Oh yeah, also make sure you are a girl, also, be cute as hell too! :)
Saturday I went to LACMA to do my description of a sculpture for my Art History class. We went to UCLA first to eat a quick lunch with E*, the parking meters there are brutal. The meter I had gave you 7.5 minutes per quarter. So I ended up putting in 6 or so quarters to have enough time to eat. After we finished eating I had to look up what statue I had to look at because I forgot to write it down. When I came back to the car though the meter had expired. Good thing I didn't get a ticket though.
After that I headed over to the LACMA museum that was purported to be close by. Turns out it's a good half hour drive away from UCLA when you take the local streets. When Erik and I got there we tried to find parking and it took us a while before we finally hit the jackpot. There was a meter spot right next to the museum that had about an hour and a half's worth of time on it.
So I get out and I go into the Japanese Gallery and spent a good half hour describing it and taking pictures of it. I took it from various angles and different lighting filter. I think I took a total of 40 or so pictures.
Afterwards we went to the Borders in Brea and Erik got the Third Eye Blind CD, Out of the Vein.
For some reason while I was driving into and back from LA. There were a whole bunch of limos. Well that part's not surprising since for a lot of high schools it was Prom Night.
But what pissed me off is those stupid limos cutting me off. They are a good two car lengths long yet they still accelerate and try to cut me off when there obviously is not enough space for them to be in there. Geez, that guy is responsible for the 10-20 people in there and he's risking their lives by trying to drive faster than me so he can what, pull ahead of me in the lane. Pfft... so lame.
Especially the last limo that cut me off (I think there were about 5 limos that did it during the day). We're coming down from the 91E onto the 57N over that huge interchange bridge. There are two lanes on that interchange and I was in the left lane, the limo on the right. The two cars in front of the limo entered the 57 in front of me and there was about half a cars length between the end car and me. And I'm driving normally and all of a sudden I see this huge limo trying to speed up past me. I'm thinking, "Oh this limo's going to HAVE TO slow down, there's no way he's going to fit that limo in half a cars length." But you know what? He does it anways. So here's this limo trying to cut into half a car's length of space. Obviously the smart choice was for me to slow all the way down so he had enough space to squeeze past.
And of course when I get into the lane on the limo's left and begin to pass him he has the nerve to look at me as though I did something wrong. Damn, it's not as though I was trying to cut him off from the merger lane. I mean if there are two lanes merging into one, the rule of thumb is to alternate the order of the cars so that the car in front and back of you are from the opposite lane of the one you were in. And I had let the two cars in the right lane go ahead of me. Why the hell was this limo driver thinking HE was right. I wonder what would have happened if we had crashed though. The people in the limo probably would have gotten mad at me instead of the limo driver for ruining their night. But I assume I'd be in the right seeing how the limo tried to cut into the lane when it wasn't his turn and when he didn't have enough room. Oh well, better to yield to assholes like that and then blow by them afterwards.
Yeah, so, later on in the night I went to see The Matrix Reloaded with Pranav and Don. I enjoyed the movie, I understand why people would not like some parts of it but I thought that it gave you a reasonable cliffhanger.
That's about it.
After that I headed over to the LACMA museum that was purported to be close by. Turns out it's a good half hour drive away from UCLA when you take the local streets. When Erik and I got there we tried to find parking and it took us a while before we finally hit the jackpot. There was a meter spot right next to the museum that had about an hour and a half's worth of time on it.
So I get out and I go into the Japanese Gallery and spent a good half hour describing it and taking pictures of it. I took it from various angles and different lighting filter. I think I took a total of 40 or so pictures.
Afterwards we went to the Borders in Brea and Erik got the Third Eye Blind CD, Out of the Vein.
For some reason while I was driving into and back from LA. There were a whole bunch of limos. Well that part's not surprising since for a lot of high schools it was Prom Night.
But what pissed me off is those stupid limos cutting me off. They are a good two car lengths long yet they still accelerate and try to cut me off when there obviously is not enough space for them to be in there. Geez, that guy is responsible for the 10-20 people in there and he's risking their lives by trying to drive faster than me so he can what, pull ahead of me in the lane. Pfft... so lame.
Especially the last limo that cut me off (I think there were about 5 limos that did it during the day). We're coming down from the 91E onto the 57N over that huge interchange bridge. There are two lanes on that interchange and I was in the left lane, the limo on the right. The two cars in front of the limo entered the 57 in front of me and there was about half a cars length between the end car and me. And I'm driving normally and all of a sudden I see this huge limo trying to speed up past me. I'm thinking, "Oh this limo's going to HAVE TO slow down, there's no way he's going to fit that limo in half a cars length." But you know what? He does it anways. So here's this limo trying to cut into half a car's length of space. Obviously the smart choice was for me to slow all the way down so he had enough space to squeeze past.
And of course when I get into the lane on the limo's left and begin to pass him he has the nerve to look at me as though I did something wrong. Damn, it's not as though I was trying to cut him off from the merger lane. I mean if there are two lanes merging into one, the rule of thumb is to alternate the order of the cars so that the car in front and back of you are from the opposite lane of the one you were in. And I had let the two cars in the right lane go ahead of me. Why the hell was this limo driver thinking HE was right. I wonder what would have happened if we had crashed though. The people in the limo probably would have gotten mad at me instead of the limo driver for ruining their night. But I assume I'd be in the right seeing how the limo tried to cut into the lane when it wasn't his turn and when he didn't have enough room. Oh well, better to yield to assholes like that and then blow by them afterwards.
Yeah, so, later on in the night I went to see The Matrix Reloaded with Pranav and Don. I enjoyed the movie, I understand why people would not like some parts of it but I thought that it gave you a reasonable cliffhanger.
That's about it.
The Matrix Reloaded
Posted 2003-05-17 05:15:19 AM | Movies
Spoilers ahead, don't click unless you want to know about the movie... Seriously. Don't-!RM-
My explanation of the Source/Architect (AKA Colonel Sanders scene)
Basically the initial Matrix was perfect but no one accepted it because they weren't given a choice. The Architect created The Oracle to figure out what was wrong. She realized that the problem was that the humans need to be given a choice as to whether or not they wanted to be in the Matrix. So they implemented that into their "equation", only this equation worked 99% of the time. Therefore 1% will always reject the Matrix and realize it for what it is. The humans that choose to reject the Matrix are set "free" (even though they are not). The machines choose to accept this minor flaw becaues the numbers would be kept low (1 out of a 100). However, every once in a while a special anamoly will come and majorly screw up the rate of people who choose to not believe in the Matrix (AKA Neo). But see this is the part where you realize that they're not really given a choice because as soon as Zion contains too many people the Machines just go into Zion and destroys all the humans in Zion. The 25(17?) people choosen to replace Neo are then made as the new creators of "Zion". And then the whole process starts all over. But during this whole time apparently the anamoly has learned from previous version of itself and in the end Neo chose Trinity over saving humankind.
My explanation of the Source/Architect (AKA Colonel Sanders scene)
Basically the initial Matrix was perfect but no one accepted it because they weren't given a choice. The Architect created The Oracle to figure out what was wrong. She realized that the problem was that the humans need to be given a choice as to whether or not they wanted to be in the Matrix. So they implemented that into their "equation", only this equation worked 99% of the time. Therefore 1% will always reject the Matrix and realize it for what it is. The humans that choose to reject the Matrix are set "free" (even though they are not). The machines choose to accept this minor flaw becaues the numbers would be kept low (1 out of a 100). However, every once in a while a special anamoly will come and majorly screw up the rate of people who choose to not believe in the Matrix (AKA Neo). But see this is the part where you realize that they're not really given a choice because as soon as Zion contains too many people the Machines just go into Zion and destroys all the humans in Zion. The 25(17?) people choosen to replace Neo are then made as the new creators of "Zion". And then the whole process starts all over. But during this whole time apparently the anamoly has learned from previous version of itself and in the end Neo chose Trinity over saving humankind.
Erik and I went to watch a sneak preview of The Italian Job.
Quick review: Okay movie with a great car scenes.
One thing I have to say is that although Edward Norton was in this movie, he was there only because of "contractual" obligations... but he is a terrific actor. He can play such a rat in one movie then play a hardcore neo-nazi in another. His role in this movie seemed similar to another character played in another movie...
Quick review: Okay movie with a great car scenes.
One thing I have to say is that although Edward Norton was in this movie, he was there only because of "contractual" obligations... but he is a terrific actor. He can play such a rat in one movie then play a hardcore neo-nazi in another. His role in this movie seemed similar to another character played in another movie
...Better Luck Tomorrow Afterthought
Posted 2003-05-03 05:44:16 PM | Movies
So Better Luck Tomorrow has been out for nearly a month and I thought I'd post some thoughts about it. If you have not watched the movie do not read on as there are spoilers abound and I don't like movies spoiled for me so this is your fair warning. Also assume that comments will have spoilers as well.
SPOILERS (POSSIBLY) AHEAD!
My Thoughts
I liked the movie.
I hated the ending.
What is the significance of her (Stephanie) driving the Audi? Also why did Ben ask Daric about the newspaper article (w/ no answer either).
Was that Camelot?
Some people have said why Justin Lin would portray Asians like that and I think Roger Ebert gave the best answer to this when he said (to a critic who made this point), "You wouldn't say that to a white filmmaker." I would rather have Asians portrayed as characters with underlying flaws than as a character who's only point in the movie is to provide comic relief, martial arts mastery, or delivery pizza.
Some people have also asked why they should support this movie, "Just because it has Asians?" To which I reply, Yes. If for nothing else watch this movie to support Asian filmmaking. The fact of the matter is if this movie does well it will lead to other opportunities for Asian directors/actors. If this movie tanks. Movie executives will look on this as though no one wants to see these type of movies. I mean there have been plenty of other All-Asian casts (The Debut, to name one) but none of them have gotten this much interest. This is why you should watch Better Luck Tomorrow. So that other directors/actors in the future get their fair opportunity to be in a movie.
SPOILERS (POSSIBLY) AHEAD!
My Thoughts
I liked the movie.
I hated the ending.
What is the significance of her (Stephanie) driving the Audi? Also why did Ben ask Daric about the newspaper article (w/ no answer either).
Was that Camelot?
Some people have said why Justin Lin would portray Asians like that and I think Roger Ebert gave the best answer to this when he said (to a critic who made this point), "You wouldn't say that to a white filmmaker." I would rather have Asians portrayed as characters with underlying flaws than as a character who's only point in the movie is to provide comic relief, martial arts mastery, or delivery pizza.
Some people have also asked why they should support this movie, "Just because it has Asians?" To which I reply, Yes. If for nothing else watch this movie to support Asian filmmaking. The fact of the matter is if this movie does well it will lead to other opportunities for Asian directors/actors. If this movie tanks. Movie executives will look on this as though no one wants to see these type of movies. I mean there have been plenty of other All-Asian casts (The Debut, to name one) but none of them have gotten this much interest. This is why you should watch Better Luck Tomorrow. So that other directors/actors in the future get their fair opportunity to be in a movie.
X2
Posted 2003-05-02 07:56:23 PM | Movies
So some of the guys went to see X-Men 2 last night. Some arriving later than others *cough*James*cough*
Jean Grey, aka Famke Janssen equals sexy
Jean Grey, aka Famke Janssen equals sexy
Better Luck Tomorrow
Posted 2003-04-13 11:12:03 PM | Movies
So I went to go see this movie with some CA members.
I enjoyed the movie but I thought the ending was a cop-out.
Something you should definitely go see when it opens in more theaters
I enjoyed the movie but I thought the ending was a cop-out.
Something you should definitely go see when it opens in more theaters
Wow I thought this site was down. I mean with the lack of updates and all. I keep wondering what the people visiting my website are thinking. Some of you visit it alot... even when there isn't anything. I think that's pretty cool.
The way my schedule works out this quarter is that Wednesday really is my busiest day of the week. I have class starting at 8, then a class at 11, then a discussion at 1:30 and another discussion at 3.
Later on Erik and I went to some ICS Student/Alumni Career/Internship night thing. We only stayed for the first session which was about startup companies. Afterwards we headed back and on the way we went into a showing of the documentary for Better Luck Tomorrow. I'm really excited about this movie and from what I've heard it was very good. The best part of the documentary is where they're at the Sundance Film Festival, and some dude criticizes the filmmaker, Justin Lin, on how he could do such a thing to Asian Americans (the thing being portraying Asians in such a bad light). And then random people in the audience started getting up and arguing against the dude. Then Roger Ebert, who had been in the audience watching, stood up. Now since this was at the Sundance Festival, I can safely assume that most of the people were real movie snobs who watch independent films. So when Ebert stood up, a whole bunch of people were shush-ing everyone else and tellnig them to be quiet even though Ebert was speaking in a pretty loud voice. You know the situation where the people who want it quiet and are shush-ing you are actually just making it harder for the person that they want to be heard. Well it was exactly like that. So the main argument that Ebert has was, if the actors were all caucasian no one would say anything critical about the storyline and how it disgraces white people.
Specifically quoting...
I hope this film does do well so there are opportunities for Asian actors to do something other than being kung-fu guys (although that's still cool), the pizza delivery boy, or the nerd.
Oh yeah, also I went to some Chinese Caligraphy seminar on Monday for 2 hours. The guy who was speaking had been doing caligraphy for a very long time. Although I forgot the exact time, he started when he was a boy and he looked at least late 50's-70's. And basically he was showing us this famous poem written a long time ago that was about 800 characters long. He spoke of how this Chinese Official back in the mid 90's was very found of caligraphy and this poem especially and over the course of his lifetime had copied it 220+ times. The instructor personally had done it 30-40 times, which is way more than I could ever imagine myself doing.
Let me say, it definitely showed that he had been doing caligraphy for a long time. We had some sample paper on the board, and he mentioned how he never stood up to write before. But his writing was unbelievable, they were straight and no sign of any part of the character being too fat or too thin than the rest of the strokes. It was so unbelievable. It's too bad I didn't bring my camera.
The way my schedule works out this quarter is that Wednesday really is my busiest day of the week. I have class starting at 8, then a class at 11, then a discussion at 1:30 and another discussion at 3.
Later on Erik and I went to some ICS Student/Alumni Career/Internship night thing. We only stayed for the first session which was about startup companies. Afterwards we headed back and on the way we went into a showing of the documentary for Better Luck Tomorrow. I'm really excited about this movie and from what I've heard it was very good. The best part of the documentary is where they're at the Sundance Film Festival, and some dude criticizes the filmmaker, Justin Lin, on how he could do such a thing to Asian Americans (the thing being portraying Asians in such a bad light). And then random people in the audience started getting up and arguing against the dude. Then Roger Ebert, who had been in the audience watching, stood up. Now since this was at the Sundance Festival, I can safely assume that most of the people were real movie snobs who watch independent films. So when Ebert stood up, a whole bunch of people were shush-ing everyone else and tellnig them to be quiet even though Ebert was speaking in a pretty loud voice. You know the situation where the people who want it quiet and are shush-ing you are actually just making it harder for the person that they want to be heard. Well it was exactly like that. So the main argument that Ebert has was, if the actors were all caucasian no one would say anything critical about the storyline and how it disgraces white people.
Specifically quoting...
"There was a person who stood up [after a screening] and said, 'How could you make a movie that was so denigrating to your race?'," explained John Cho, who plays Steve, while hanging near a basketball court at L.A.'s Pan Pacific Park. "[Ebert] stood up and said, 'You wouldn't say that to a white filmmaker,' which is probably true."Thanks Phil
I hope this film does do well so there are opportunities for Asian actors to do something other than being kung-fu guys (although that's still cool), the pizza delivery boy, or the nerd.
Oh yeah, also I went to some Chinese Caligraphy seminar on Monday for 2 hours. The guy who was speaking had been doing caligraphy for a very long time. Although I forgot the exact time, he started when he was a boy and he looked at least late 50's-70's. And basically he was showing us this famous poem written a long time ago that was about 800 characters long. He spoke of how this Chinese Official back in the mid 90's was very found of caligraphy and this poem especially and over the course of his lifetime had copied it 220+ times. The instructor personally had done it 30-40 times, which is way more than I could ever imagine myself doing.
Let me say, it definitely showed that he had been doing caligraphy for a long time. We had some sample paper on the board, and he mentioned how he never stood up to write before. But his writing was unbelievable, they were straight and no sign of any part of the character being too fat or too thin than the rest of the strokes. It was so unbelievable. It's too bad I didn't bring my camera.
I went to go see Phone Booth on Friday with Erik, Josh and Kenny. Not to say it was a bad movie but I'm not sure if it was worth the $7 bucks I paid for it. The movie was short although I'm glad they didn't try to stretch it out longer. Does anyone else notice that Colin Farrell is in every single movie made in the last 2 years?
After we got back, I watched Secretary... Okay let's stop right there. This was a really strange movie and I guess I wasn't paying attention because I didn't get it. Weird storyline and helluva weird subject. The girl, Maggie Gyllenhaal was purrtty in the film. But that's all I can say about it. Too weird for me.
And then yesterday Erik and I went to UCLA to visit whoever was there, which turned out to be just Eliot and Esther. Kenny came a while later and we stayed wayyyy late. All I can say is that I'm envious of their dining facilities and the campus.
While watching TV we came across the finale of ARE YOU HOT?. Some superficial show on ABC to determine who is the hottest guy/girl in America. I swear what the hell is this shit. The shows ending consisted of two guys and two girls. The announcer is like, "Who is the sexiest man in America, is it Joe?.... OR is it Roger?" And they pan back and forth between the two guys. And then finally one of them was called. "JOE IS THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE" and then the crowd cheers and the guy who won is really excited. The funniest part is when the announcer says, "YOU ARE NOT HOT ENOUGH" as the loser exits the stage. Apparently the actual show is worse. One of the judges actually had a laser pointer to point out the faults of all the contestants, which I assume is pretty funny to watch. The end was the greatest though. They had one of the losers from a previous show (a guy) and he was all in tears because he had lost. You shoulda seen him, oh wait you can, he was also dressed in like some kind of fur coat... Anyways he was crying and sobbing saying stuff like, "It's so sad that I won't be a supermodel anymore, *SNIFFLE*.
Just wondering, was this a popular show? I've heard so little about the show.
After we got back, I watched Secretary... Okay let's stop right there. This was a really strange movie and I guess I wasn't paying attention because I didn't get it. Weird storyline and helluva weird subject. The girl, Maggie Gyllenhaal was purrtty in the film. But that's all I can say about it. Too weird for me.
And then yesterday Erik and I went to UCLA to visit whoever was there, which turned out to be just Eliot and Esther. Kenny came a while later and we stayed wayyyy late. All I can say is that I'm envious of their dining facilities and the campus.
While watching TV we came across the finale of ARE YOU HOT?. Some superficial show on ABC to determine who is the hottest guy/girl in America. I swear what the hell is this shit. The shows ending consisted of two guys and two girls. The announcer is like, "Who is the sexiest man in America, is it Joe?.... OR is it Roger?" And they pan back and forth between the two guys. And then finally one of them was called. "JOE IS THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE" and then the crowd cheers and the guy who won is really excited. The funniest part is when the announcer says, "YOU ARE NOT HOT ENOUGH" as the loser exits the stage. Apparently the actual show is worse. One of the judges actually had a laser pointer to point out the faults of all the contestants, which I assume is pretty funny to watch. The end was the greatest though. They had one of the losers from a previous show (a guy) and he was all in tears because he had lost. You shoulda seen him, oh wait you can, he was also dressed in like some kind of fur coat... Anyways he was crying and sobbing saying stuff like, "It's so sad that I won't be a supermodel anymore, *SNIFFLE*.
Just wondering, was this a popular show? I've heard so little about the show.
So last night was basically the last night of Spring Break 2003. And you could totally tell by the low turnout of people :P
So I ate with Don and Pranav for lunch because Don came back from USC. He paid me the money he and a few others owed me but I busted back by paying for his lunch, or I think I did. That's like my birthday present or something.
Yet again it is amusing to see our lack of decision making. Pranav, Don and I just stood in the parking lot for nearly 10 minutes before we all forced ourselves over to the sushi place. It was the one off Yorba Linda Blvd and Village Center Drive. It was decent but not really sushi. Over the summer, we needa go eat at those all-you-can-eat sushi places ($20 anyone?).
We talked alot about the current Troy group incarnation. What was great, what wasn't so great. I think we spent the better part of the lunch talking than eating. And it was so hard to get a refill! :(
And then afterwards we went to CyberWorld to play for a bit. Although I haven't played Counter-Strike in the longest time I still did pretty well and it seemed to be funner than it had been before.
Later in the night, Don, Pranav and I planned on going to Fullerton AMC to watch The Core. We only could find Tejas to come along on such short notice but what was amazing was that he got there on time! Well we were running late by about 5 minutes but Tejas was there right after we got there! Incredible! :)
While Don, Pranav and I were walking towards the theater we met Adi, Ziyad and Anuj who had just come out of Chicago. We exchanged a few plesantries and left to go buy our tickets. When Tejas came we told him to go say hi and stuff 'cause you know, everyone wants to know where Tejas is!
Movie-wise we knew The Core wasn't exactly Oscar winning material but we went to see it for laughs. And it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. The acting was so-so but the special effects were great and the dialogue was pretty good. All-in-all a good entertaining flick. I felt kind of sorry for Tejas cause the whole time he was just shaking his head in disbelief at all the scientific foobar they were using.
Yeah so that's it. I'm going back to Irvine in a few hours to start Spring Quarter. I don't know about summer, have to find a job and all but hopefully we can all still hangout.
So I ate with Don and Pranav for lunch because Don came back from USC. He paid me the money he and a few others owed me but I busted back by paying for his lunch, or I think I did. That's like my birthday present or something.
Yet again it is amusing to see our lack of decision making. Pranav, Don and I just stood in the parking lot for nearly 10 minutes before we all forced ourselves over to the sushi place. It was the one off Yorba Linda Blvd and Village Center Drive. It was decent but not really sushi. Over the summer, we needa go eat at those all-you-can-eat sushi places ($20 anyone?).
We talked alot about the current Troy group incarnation. What was great, what wasn't so great. I think we spent the better part of the lunch talking than eating. And it was so hard to get a refill! :(
And then afterwards we went to CyberWorld to play for a bit. Although I haven't played Counter-Strike in the longest time I still did pretty well and it seemed to be funner than it had been before.
Later in the night, Don, Pranav and I planned on going to Fullerton AMC to watch The Core. We only could find Tejas to come along on such short notice but what was amazing was that he got there on time! Well we were running late by about 5 minutes but Tejas was there right after we got there! Incredible! :)
While Don, Pranav and I were walking towards the theater we met Adi, Ziyad and Anuj who had just come out of Chicago. We exchanged a few plesantries and left to go buy our tickets. When Tejas came we told him to go say hi and stuff 'cause you know, everyone wants to know where Tejas is!
Movie-wise we knew The Core wasn't exactly Oscar winning material but we went to see it for laughs. And it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. The acting was so-so but the special effects were great and the dialogue was pretty good. All-in-all a good entertaining flick. I felt kind of sorry for Tejas cause the whole time he was just shaking his head in disbelief at all the scientific foobar they were using.
Yeah so that's it. I'm going back to Irvine in a few hours to start Spring Quarter. I don't know about summer, have to find a job and all but hopefully we can all still hangout.
Yesterday was the last day of classes which meant the last day of my Chinese class. While I have thoroughly enjoyed taking the class. I think I am not going to do so well in the class unless I do extremely well in my final. Nonetheless, it was still all very sad but fortunately I still get to see my old Chinese partners because they're going to be in my class next quarter.
The funniest thing happened though during class, our teacher gave out pencils/highlighters to us. This is so reminiscent of Chinese school when I was little where the teacher would give out stuff for achievements at the end of class such as who got the highest grade/perfect attendance etc. I got a really nice looking mechanical pencil for being the group leader and an orange highlighter for perfect attendance! Haha this is so corny but whatever it was great!
So after my Chinese class ended, I went to go shoot some pool and then Gary came by to visit. We went to eat at Jack In The Box, then headed over to AV to watch some TV, then we went to our Engineering Lecture Hall where they were showing Back to the Future parts I & II! It was so cool seeing it on a projection screen just short of movie theater size. And for the beginning half of the movie it was in black and white.
After watching BTTF I & II again it has moved up on my favorite all time movies list. The basic concept of it is cool and although some of the special effects... look like they were special effects, the movie itself is a classic. Marty outrunning Biff on the skateboard, then running through Biff's car to escape the manure truck or when Marty plays Johnny B. Goode or when Jennifer sees herself in the future (I'm OOOOLLLLDDD/YOOOUNNNGGG), all of those are classic movie moments. Makes me want to get them on DVDs.
So when we finished those it was like 1AM in the morning but yet we somehow ended up back at AV watching TV. We watched some Conan and a spelling bee contest on ESPN. Watching that spelling contest makes me realize what a crappy speller I've become. I use to be able to get some of those words those kids got right but now the words sound like they can have a million possible spellings. When we finally decided to go back to CV it was already 3AM or so.
Which is why I've just now woken up, why the hell is it raining? I didn't see any signs of it yesterday.
The funniest thing happened though during class, our teacher gave out pencils/highlighters to us. This is so reminiscent of Chinese school when I was little where the teacher would give out stuff for achievements at the end of class such as who got the highest grade/perfect attendance etc. I got a really nice looking mechanical pencil for being the group leader and an orange highlighter for perfect attendance! Haha this is so corny but whatever it was great!
So after my Chinese class ended, I went to go shoot some pool and then Gary came by to visit. We went to eat at Jack In The Box, then headed over to AV to watch some TV, then we went to our Engineering Lecture Hall where they were showing Back to the Future parts I & II! It was so cool seeing it on a projection screen just short of movie theater size. And for the beginning half of the movie it was in black and white.
After watching BTTF I & II again it has moved up on my favorite all time movies list. The basic concept of it is cool and although some of the special effects... look like they were special effects, the movie itself is a classic. Marty outrunning Biff on the skateboard, then running through Biff's car to escape the manure truck or when Marty plays Johnny B. Goode or when Jennifer sees herself in the future (I'm OOOOLLLLDDD/YOOOUNNNGGG), all of those are classic movie moments. Makes me want to get them on DVDs.
So when we finished those it was like 1AM in the morning but yet we somehow ended up back at AV watching TV. We watched some Conan and a spelling bee contest on ESPN. Watching that spelling contest makes me realize what a crappy speller I've become. I use to be able to get some of those words those kids got right but now the words sound like they can have a million possible spellings. When we finally decided to go back to CV it was already 3AM or so.
Which is why I've just now woken up, why the hell is it raining? I didn't see any signs of it yesterday.
After watching Back To The Future; yet another reason to learn guitar. In case one day you accidently go back in time and then you prevent your parents from meeting so you must convince them to go to some "rhythmic ritual" where they have to fall in love so you can be born.
Sorry Virginia, there is no Denny's
Posted 2003-02-15 04:05:15 PM | Movies
So on Friday night Pranav, Don and I went to go see Daredevil. I was scared about watching this movie because the reviews were mixed about it. For the most part I didn't think it was a bad movie (Pranav begs to differ) but my gripes about this movie was that the initial action sequence was too dark and you couldn't see shit. I mean the Daredevil could care less but I think the audience wants to see him fighting. And also another thing but I don't want to spoil it for others.
Now yesterday was interesting. I think I need to create private entries because I'd rather not talk about it publically but yeah so yeah. Ate pho, played mini golf and then drank boba.
Also, James is the Kool-Aid man. *Burst through brick wall* OOOOHH YEAHHHHHH.
Now yesterday was interesting. I think I need to create private entries because I'd rather not talk about it publically but yeah so yeah. Ate pho, played mini golf and then drank boba.
Also, James is the Kool-Aid man. *Burst through brick wall* OOOOHH YEAHHHHHH.
It comes back to the Denny's
Posted 2003-02-07 06:28:37 AM | Movies
Erik, Kenny, Kirk and I went to go see Shanghai Knights tonight or, Friday night, at The Block. The reviews I've seen for the movie were for the most part positive, but I didn't know about that until after I saw the movie. It was a typical Jackie Chan flick. Good fight scenes and some decent comedy but he has reused some err plot points. I also dislike Owen Wilson. Maybe it's the characters that he plays but in this movie he was just terrible.
Now, who wasn't terrible? Fann Wong. All I have to say about this girl is *slurp*. She is goddamn hot, Neither Owen Wilson nor his character should have been able to touch her. *slurp*
And also, the afterwards, we went to go eat at... Denny's!! Of all places, Denny's. It is like the center of the universe or something. Everytime I go out with other people, we invariably end up at a Denny's.
Now, who wasn't terrible? Fann Wong. All I have to say about this girl is *slurp*. She is goddamn hot, Neither Owen Wilson nor his character should have been able to touch her. *slurp*
And also, the afterwards, we went to go eat at... Denny's!! Of all places, Denny's. It is like the center of the universe or something. Everytime I go out with other people, we invariably end up at a Denny's.
Sometimes I can think of a great title but not a great writeup. Sometimes I can think of a great writeup but severly lacking in its title.
This time I don't really have either a great title nor a great writeup to follow it. But I felt like writing...
This time I don't really have either a great title nor a great writeup to follow it. But I felt like writing...
- Why doesn't anyone update with any frequency?
- I joined a club, club Chinese Association
- For joining CA, I went with them to the beach (late night bonfire)
- I saw someone get pants*, and no it was not a girl.
- The Super Bowl is tomorrow and I have yet to mention it until now. Probably because not many of my friends are big football fans. Go Raiders because I want to see Tim Brown win a Super Bowl.
- I thoroughly enjoyed Donnie Darko. I think that it would have made more sense to people if they also introduced the time travel pamphlet they mention in the movie. There's a website for it so if anyone wants the link, just IM me.
- At present I have about 169 people on my buddy list, of which I talk to about 30 on a regular basis and with conversations. Add ten to the total if you count the number of people who only IM me because they want something from me. (When is this essay due? Do you have the problems from two days ago?)
- Erik recently regained his yearbook from an anonymous female and that got me to think about my yearbook and all these people who wrote keep in touch in my yearbook and left their phone numbers and e-mail addresses. I wonder if I should try them and see if they're actually real. Oh yeah and speaking of my yearbook: Ross forgot to sign mine.
- Speaking of which, Liz and Ross are big supporters of this site, yet I never talk to them online.
- Does it make me a phony if I call those numbers, e-mail to those addresses or talk to Liz and/or Ross?
- I mean phony in the sense as in would they think I am like one of those ten people on my buddy list. Someone with a hidden agenda and only IM'ing you now because I want something from you guys. Like maybe I want you guys to switch your phone service from AT&T to MCI.
- But I think I'm worried more about what I would say then worried about being phony. I think a lack of topical conversation is my biggest concern when I talk to people.
- Speaking of which, is my writing terrible? I try to put some sense of humor into my writing but I don't think I'm a terribly great writer. I'd actually prefer to talk to people rather than write to people. Inflection, Intonation and Timing.
- I miss everyone but they're all up north, all the way east or just too busy here with their jobs.
- I feel like one of those people who reminisces too much about high school. But people say that high school is the most exciting period in your life. But that's only if you were some kind of mega-popular captain-of-everything kind of person. High school for me was just too much drama, way more than I bargained for. I think if I ever become a writer (read: UNLIKELY) for some high school tv show then I would have plenty to write about.
- I like UCI, it is a safe environment. But a little too safe. A car can make it more exciting. Car can go far. Car can go far enough to get boba.
I know Kangaroo Jack is loved by all but why don't the two main characters just shoot it and get the money back.
I mean seriously, if this stupid kangaroo is causing you trouble, shoot it and show it who's boss. I mean $100,000 is at stake here and you already look stupid for putting that jacket on it while the money was in the front pocket. So why bother trying to get it back nicely from the kangaroo? Also, I hear that it talks. What other reason do you need to shoot it?
"Shuan! You savage bastard! You're going to shoot a kangaroo (especially one named Jack) just for $100,000 dollars?!"
Seriously though, who wouldn't shoot a kangaroo for $100,000? I mean that's a lot of money. In fact I think I would shoot two kangaroos for $100,000. Throw in that spiffy red jacket that was holding the money and I'll shoot the kangaroo's whole family.
Also, I would shoot it using tranquilizer darts, because I don't wanna kill it or anything.
I mean seriously, if this stupid kangaroo is causing you trouble, shoot it and show it who's boss. I mean $100,000 is at stake here and you already look stupid for putting that jacket on it while the money was in the front pocket. So why bother trying to get it back nicely from the kangaroo? Also, I hear that it talks. What other reason do you need to shoot it?
"Shuan! You savage bastard! You're going to shoot a kangaroo (especially one named Jack) just for $100,000 dollars?!"
Seriously though, who wouldn't shoot a kangaroo for $100,000? I mean that's a lot of money. In fact I think I would shoot two kangaroos for $100,000. Throw in that spiffy red jacket that was holding the money and I'll shoot the kangaroo's whole family.
Also, I would shoot it using tranquilizer darts, because I don't wanna kill it or anything.
Don't read this if you don't want to know what happens in Equilibrium because I will spoil it for you with... spoilers.
-!RM-
So the story made no sense but the action scenes were great (although those didn't make too much sense either). I thought the acting was very well done, especially by Christian Bale. It's too bad that you can drive a goddamn cruise liner through those plot holes.
First off, no emotions? C'mon that makes no sense! Why would there be the concept of husband and wife? When you get married you are emotionally connected to that person (whether in the good way or bad way it is still emotion).
Second off, when they drag John Preston's partner, Brandt after John had set him up, why didn't Brandt use his gun kata to kill those two pathetic "sweepers" (aka the red shirts from Star Trek)? I mean if you're John and you just set up a fellow Cleric up for a crime, you would think said Cleric would use his abilities? Maybe since he didn't have any emotions he didn't feel like getting revenge or attempt to escape. What.
Then in the sequence after John figures out that he was setup and kills everyone in the room sans one unarmed assistance, WHY THE HELL DOES HE HAVE A LOOK OF FEAR IN HIS FACE? YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSE TO HAVE ANY GODDAMN EMOTIONS!!!!
And in the end sequence when John enters the Father's chambers, WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU SMILING BRANDT? Doesn't he know he's not suppose to have any emotion at all?
Then at the end after he's disarmed the Vice Councilor Dupont, he pleads with John to not shoot him. OMG IS THAT THE EMOTION OF FEAR AGAIN???!!!! ARGHHHH!!!
Okay now to the action scenes, the "gun kata" technique that they used was an awesome concept. But kinda iffy on what the actual technique is.
At the end of the movie with the lobby-like sequence similar to The Matrix, I thought was the weakest showing of the gun kata concept. It seems as though the soldiers lack any sense at all. "Oh look it's the highest ranking Cleric of all times, let's all stand in a line!!"
Then, after he wipes out all those Sweepers where John has to face multiple Clerics (actually they don't even say if they are, I suppose they would be). You think by now that you shouldn't be that close to someone who has a high proficiency in the gun kata. But of course they stand two feet away from him and get their asses handed to them on a platter. And you think "Clerics" with knowledge of gun kata would actually do something!
And finally, the last action sequence with Dupont and John using the guns along with some form of Chinese Sticky Hands was, what I thought, a better use of the gun kata idea. Prevented your opponent from getting a good position to killing you with his gun.
So to summarize:
Action Scenes GOOD! Story BAD!
-!RM-
So the story made no sense but the action scenes were great (although those didn't make too much sense either). I thought the acting was very well done, especially by Christian Bale. It's too bad that you can drive a goddamn cruise liner through those plot holes.
First off, no emotions? C'mon that makes no sense! Why would there be the concept of husband and wife? When you get married you are emotionally connected to that person (whether in the good way or bad way it is still emotion).
Second off, when they drag John Preston's partner, Brandt after John had set him up, why didn't Brandt use his gun kata to kill those two pathetic "sweepers" (aka the red shirts from Star Trek)? I mean if you're John and you just set up a fellow Cleric up for a crime, you would think said Cleric would use his abilities? Maybe since he didn't have any emotions he didn't feel like getting revenge or attempt to escape. What.
Then in the sequence after John figures out that he was setup and kills everyone in the room sans one unarmed assistance, WHY THE HELL DOES HE HAVE A LOOK OF FEAR IN HIS FACE? YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSE TO HAVE ANY GODDAMN EMOTIONS!!!!
And in the end sequence when John enters the Father's chambers, WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU SMILING BRANDT? Doesn't he know he's not suppose to have any emotion at all?
Then at the end after he's disarmed the Vice Councilor Dupont, he pleads with John to not shoot him. OMG IS THAT THE EMOTION OF FEAR AGAIN???!!!! ARGHHHH!!!
Okay now to the action scenes, the "gun kata" technique that they used was an awesome concept. But kinda iffy on what the actual technique is.
At the end of the movie with the lobby-like sequence similar to The Matrix, I thought was the weakest showing of the gun kata concept. It seems as though the soldiers lack any sense at all. "Oh look it's the highest ranking Cleric of all times, let's all stand in a line!!"
Then, after he wipes out all those Sweepers where John has to face multiple Clerics (actually they don't even say if they are, I suppose they would be). You think by now that you shouldn't be that close to someone who has a high proficiency in the gun kata. But of course they stand two feet away from him and get their asses handed to them on a platter. And you think "Clerics" with knowledge of gun kata would actually do something!
And finally, the last action sequence with Dupont and John using the guns along with some form of Chinese Sticky Hands was, what I thought, a better use of the gun kata idea. Prevented your opponent from getting a good position to killing you with his gun.
So to summarize:
Action Scenes GOOD! Story BAD!
- Ringu (Japanese version of The Ring) wasn't that scary, or not as scary as everyone else said it was.
- Cabron by Red Hot Chili Peppers, greatest song to sing out loud.
- There are four empty cans of Coke on my desk.
- Erik found some caution tape; no, the WHOLE ROLL of caution tape.
- Julia Stiles looks way better in A Guy Thing than in her previous movies. I don't know what it is, but she looks much better in this movie. I think it'll be the strongest pull for me to go watch this movie.
- And finally, I like you. I like you. You are a wonderful person. I’m full of enthusiasm. I’m going places. I'll be happy to help you. I am an important person, would you like to come home with me?
- No
It's almost 2:30 in the morning right now but that's okay, I just finished watching Bowling for Columbine which was an interesting movie, but I will talk about it later.
But just something I had been thinking about: Do you remember under what circumstances you became friends with your friends.
I mean if someone were to ask me, "You're friend's with (name)? How'd you meet him?" (For purposes of simplicity, assume him to also possibly mean her) Usually my best response would be something to the effect of, "Oh, I met (name) while I was in 8th grade in my Language Arts class." (Junior High's call English that because language is artistic)
But if someone were to followup with, "That's nice to know what class you had with him, but when did you become friends with him?"
And for me, unless you count remember being introduced to that person, 99 times out of a 100, I wouldn't know.
So is it me, or can people remember at what time where they (as in people, and I understand this is probably really terrible grammar/structure, but then again, I'm not an English major and I suck at English so please correct me) become friends with someone else?
And for those interesting on whether or not if I remember the first time I met them.
Yes: Don, Andrew, Josephine, Jiner, Lynn & Esther, Michelle and... that's about it.
In case you wonder, everyone else is in the NO list.
But just something I had been thinking about: Do you remember under what circumstances you became friends with your friends.
I mean if someone were to ask me, "You're friend's with (name)? How'd you meet him?" (For purposes of simplicity, assume him to also possibly mean her) Usually my best response would be something to the effect of, "Oh, I met (name) while I was in 8th grade in my Language Arts class." (Junior High's call English that because language is artistic)
But if someone were to followup with, "That's nice to know what class you had with him, but when did you become friends with him?"
And for me, unless you count remember being introduced to that person, 99 times out of a 100, I wouldn't know.
So is it me, or can people remember at what time where they (as in people, and I understand this is probably really terrible grammar/structure, but then again, I'm not an English major and I suck at English so please correct me) become friends with someone else?
And for those interesting on whether or not if I remember the first time I met them.
Yes: Don, Andrew, Josephine, Jiner, Lynn & Esther, Michelle and... that's about it.
In case you wonder, everyone else is in the NO list.
My updates are kind of lagging so bear with me.
On Thursday, Victor came by UCI to visit. He brought along Minority Report, which I had already seen but not on the wide screen TV at Arroyo.
And afterwards we watched another movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Now while I enjoyed this movie as a kid, I still enjoy this movie now but not because of the same reason. When I was a kid, this movie was all about the action. Turtles flying, Foot Soldiers... flying, and Casey Jones. Looking at it now, it's more of a comedy. The same things happen but the movie just seems dumber and more of a joke than anything else. That's why some things are better left in your childhood. When you're smaller you enjoy what you're doing rather than trying to pick up the flaws and figure out what's wrong with everything. Take the movie American Ninja. I use to watch that movie every single day when I was really young. The action scenes to me at the time were just awesome. FREAKING NINJAS I TELL YOU!
So about 2 years ago I recently came across it on some cable network and I'm watching this scene where the main character (Joe I believe) is in this warehouse and he's being ambushed by all these ninjas. He goes into some room where you can't see any of him but the shadow through the window. Then suddenly you hear some hitting and grunting and ninjas are flying everywhere. If it had been the same 7/8 yr old kid I woulda went, "THATS AMAZING!@!@#$@ OMG!" but in actuality I'm just looking at this event in disbelieve. I'm thinking, "Wait a minute, I saw two ninja shadows but that dude just kicked three ninjas out of the room? What the hell?!"
So moral of the lesson is. If you enjoyed something immensely as a child; whether it was a cartoon, book, movie, tv show or videogame, stop and think about it. If you haven't been in contact with it but you enjoyed it immensely as a child. DO NOT GO BACK TO IT! YOU WILL REGRET IT!
On Thursday, Victor came by UCI to visit. He brought along Minority Report, which I had already seen but not on the wide screen TV at Arroyo.
And afterwards we watched another movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Now while I enjoyed this movie as a kid, I still enjoy this movie now but not because of the same reason. When I was a kid, this movie was all about the action. Turtles flying, Foot Soldiers... flying, and Casey Jones. Looking at it now, it's more of a comedy. The same things happen but the movie just seems dumber and more of a joke than anything else. That's why some things are better left in your childhood. When you're smaller you enjoy what you're doing rather than trying to pick up the flaws and figure out what's wrong with everything. Take the movie American Ninja. I use to watch that movie every single day when I was really young. The action scenes to me at the time were just awesome. FREAKING NINJAS I TELL YOU!
So about 2 years ago I recently came across it on some cable network and I'm watching this scene where the main character (Joe I believe) is in this warehouse and he's being ambushed by all these ninjas. He goes into some room where you can't see any of him but the shadow through the window. Then suddenly you hear some hitting and grunting and ninjas are flying everywhere. If it had been the same 7/8 yr old kid I woulda went, "THATS AMAZING!@!@#$@ OMG!" but in actuality I'm just looking at this event in disbelieve. I'm thinking, "Wait a minute, I saw two ninja shadows but that dude just kicked three ninjas out of the room? What the hell?!"
So moral of the lesson is. If you enjoyed something immensely as a child; whether it was a cartoon, book, movie, tv show or videogame, stop and think about it. If you haven't been in contact with it but you enjoyed it immensely as a child. DO NOT GO BACK TO IT! YOU WILL REGRET IT!