June 10, 2005

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Latest news in my life, Movies, some pictures, etc

Today I'm going to apply for a job at Carrabba's. I can't think of any decent places to wait tables here. We don't have a PF Chang's anywhere nearby. I may also apply to Chili's, but that is by far the inferior of the two choices. I would have applied to Friday's, but the manager here is the most peppy and strangely fake happy ridiculous person ever, and I don't want to deal with that. Any other suggestions for places where I'd get decent tips and it wouldn't completely suck?

Since I got home, all I've really been doing is watching movies, editing Israel photos, and slowly unpacking stuff from Vanderbilt. The problem is, my dorm room was bigger than my room at home. My dorm room was beyond full, as many of you know. My room at home was also basically full (although not like my dorm room). So, I've no more room in my bedroom, and I've got to fit approx 150% more stuff in there. I have a pile of stuff to give to Goodwill. The pile is about 4'x10'x3'. I also started selling some of my old saleable stuff (old video game systems, etc) on eBay to make space and money.

I've viewed the following movies:

Layer Cake - Pretty awesome. Written and directed by the producer of Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels. It's pretty similar, but more gritty, more dark, and less humorous. The cinematography on this one was stupendous. Soundtrack was cool. This movie also had one of the most perfect and fitting endings I've seen in a very long time. I definitely recommend it.
Crash - Just saw this tonight with my friend Amanda. Though some of the setups and dialogue are a bit ridiculous and way over the top (especially in the first act), the movie redeems itself. The second and third acts are great, and almost every subplot ends up satisfyingly. It's a very emotional movie. It does a great job creating drama in interesting ways, though it does so with a very large and didactic hammer.
Cinderella Man - Very good. I'm just full of good reviews, huh? This one was less hokey than some of Ron Howard's stuff like A Beautiful Mind. It kept things more straightforward, to a fault. It definitely oversimplified the "villain"--Max Baer, who in real life was apparently a very nice guy. It makes him to be one of the most purely evil characters in recent memory in a movie. And then when he boxes, he has the Star Of David on his trunks. I'm surprised there wasn't more outcry about the movie ruining Max Baer's legacy. Also, an interesting bit of trivia: Max Baer's son played Jethro Clampett on the original Beverly Hillbillies.

Lilies Of The Field - Good movie, but a bit too churchy for my tastes. Sidney Poitier is always good.
Eating Raoul - Not as good as I'd hoped it would be. Brilliant writing, brilliant opening montage. Bad acting all around, which dulls the comedy. But nevertheless unforgettable. It's got some very hilarious stuff.
The Apartment - Jack Lemmon classic comedy. Good stuff, but nothing that special. I've read that the way it treated relationships and sex was very cutting edge and risque at the time of its release.
Summer Of Sam - I bought this a couple days ago. I had seen it once before several years ago. It's Spike Lee, and it's very good, though as with most of his work, it's also very flawed. For all the over the top stuff Spike throws in, this movie somehow manages to have a frighteningly realistic and gritty portrayal of a marriage collapsing in a single night.

In fact, Summer Of Sam, in combination with something that happened to a friend of mine got me thinking a lot about relationships. It's funny the way something so external and contrived as a movie can manage to make us question things we think we believe about the viability of love, monogamy, and satisfying sex with one person. No one is ever faithful in movies. Understandable, since there is no drama in fidelity. But that movie in particular puts the characters in a situation that is so human and tough that the way it breaks down is beautiful and terrible and made me feel so dirty and puerile. Weird feeling.

I still haven't seen Episode III. Everyone's already seen it, so I can't get anyone to go with me.

Here are some strange pictures from the ride back home from Vanderbilt to Tampa. We passed this really weird "Roadside Bizzarre" (sic) that had a bunch of eerie stuff it called folk art. Strange and interesting stuff. Then there was some shack. And then I happened to pass by where that purple hippie bus was that we saw when McGill went whitewater rafting with Jonathan and Melissa two years ago. It's still there, and still sealing hemp jewelry and beads and shit.

Posted at June 10, 2005 6:11 AM | Comments (0)


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