Thursday, March 29, 2007

The Problem With City Life...

















So now that the weather is getting warmer I, like most people, venture outdoors a bit more in search of summer. I was wandering around the west side along the Hudson River the other day when I came across a small park that had grass cut as short as the fringe around a putting green; but it was real. So I took off my shoes and layed down on the grass for a while just reading and listening to some Jack johnson (he can make you feel like its summer faster than you can say hoola-hoop). After a couple hours, I assume shortly after school must have gotten out, a group of little kids showed up at the park to play soccer and they were having so much fun on the grass it was ridiculous. Their level of excitement reminded me of my ferrets when I let the in a new room, they run around and tackle eachother until the don't know what to do.

I felt so bad that these kids playgrounds at school is concrete and then I realized that I hadn't seen a soccer field, football field or any field with grass for that matter anywhere in the city. How awful these kids don't have grass to beat eachother up on, and sand to land on when they jump off at the top of their swing. No sliding in the mud when it rains, no making that annoying high pitched shreik from pulling a blade of grass taught between your fingers and blowing as hard as you can. Of course when these kids were on the grass it was like they knew what to do, that innate sense of freedom to fall. This one asian kid was falling all over the place (though he was by far the biggest flopper I have ever seen, I mean this kid would get the ball taken away from him then fall down and scream and say someone kicked his leg - I mean the kids little brother was getting annoyed). A little while later, two other kids came with a football in tote and that was like the showdown of the century. You would think they were fighting over the last piece of land in Manhattan. Of course there were more playing soccer so the football duo went to a corner of the park to toss their ball around. But how sad is that, there I was in a park smaller than my yard at home, and these kids don't even have enough room to play two sports at once.

I guess my point is that this city is for people over 21, without dogs (over a foot long), who don't have kids and who are not planning on ever having any here. Most of what I learned about life I learned on the playground. Not completely but you know what I mean. Anyways, as always get your feet off the ground and reach for the stars. Go big or go home. Pain heals, chicks dig scars and glory lasts forever. Carpe diem. Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it.

Hallelujah hollaback
-M, p & z

oh ps - movie reviews: Last weekend I saw three movies. You know how I feel about TMNT, but I also saw Reign Over Me and Shooter. Both were enjoyable. Reign Over Me is slow and methodical. Nothing really happens but the characters go through some pretty profound changes. There wasn't much of a soundtrack which was kind of lame and definitely made it seem longer. Not worth seeing in theatres but def worth a rental in a few months when it's on dvd. Shooter was different than I thought it would be. It wasn't the usual Mark Wahlberg action flick. It was much more plot oriented and had a Borne Identity feel to it. Some of the coolest sniping I have seen (besides me in Halo) but I enjoyed it. Not for everyone but if you liked the Bourne trilogy then you'll like this. Actually, I forgot the new Bourne hasn't come out yet but I can assume it will be exactly like the second one which was sadly the same exact movie as the first.

pps - in regards to the pic - the little asian kid on the right was my favorite, though the kid with the ball was hilarious because everytime it was his turn to be goalie he would run over to his mom and hang out and the other team would score

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Two Things...

Wow. First of all my bracket is officially dead with Kansas. Bastards. But really, I don't care. See this.












No lie. The best action adventure movie I have seen since X-Men 2. It was ridiculous. Everything you ever loved about the turtles is in this movie (with the exception of Bebop and Rocksteady). Anyways go see it now. Also this man is out of control right now. Any argument anyone has about Lebron can suck it.













For real. This is the golden child. I've said it on here before but Kobe may be the best ever to play the game. I am actually gonna go ahead and say that I don't like Lebron. He's cocky and overrated. He's good but he lacks drive, heart and the fire that Kobe has.

As always, yadda yadda yadda. I'm feeling lazy at the moment. Carpe diem and all that jazz.

hallelujah hollaback kid

-M, p & z


oh ps - And this.

Bill-
oh, and that drunk dial i gave you on saturday? i totally assaulted that girl on the walk home. she play-kicked me in the ass and then i for-real shoved her into a ditch. she went flying, tripped over a rock and scraped the shit out of her knees. no joke. she was so impossibly pissed. it was like something out of a romantic dramedy someone like you would write.


Also, I don't remember if I gave you all my review of The Namesake - the movie. But it was fantastic. It did the book justice which is saying quite a bit considering how often I talk about how much I loved that book. Kal Penn as always was great and I heard they finished shooting Harold and Kumar 2. What I heard was that it is not going to be about Harold and Maria (though she is going to be in it), Kumar gets a love interest, NPH is back and apparently insanely hilarious, more boobs and male nudity and though Freakshow won't be back, the actor that played him is going to be in a new role along the same ridiculous line. The bad news is that is slated for either late this year or early 08. Bummer.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

There's A New Sheriff In Town....

So here is my latest updated version of best shows on TV. It seems that with my profession I have developed a habit of critiquing anything filmed. I realize that one reason my blogs are so incoherent and tangent-ed is because I wait so long before blogs that I have so much to say (usually about nothing) and therefore ramble on and on. Today's subject is TV shows. Specifically the 5 best ones on air right now and why. And as always, presented in list format. Keep in mind this list is shows that are on now, meaning some shows like Heroes, Studio 60 (which has not been cancelled yet but is on hiatus), Psych and Monk are not on this list. Heroes would be but I am pissed that there are no new episodes for like a month and a half so they get deferred for the moment. Also at number 5 should be Scrubs but I already wrote something else so deal with it.

At number 5 is MTV's The Hills (mondays at 10). I know. A guilty pleasure to most, but to me it really is that good. It has everything that most drama's aspire to have, only it's 'real'. Seriously though. It's good. The main girl LC, is okay, but it's her douchebag roommate and her boyfriend (who may be the biggest douchebad every, I mean this guy pioneered douchebaggery) that make the show ridiculous. It makes me happy just knowing that I am not them.

At number 4 is what has been at the top of my list for years and has finally slipped: Grey's Anatomy (thursday's at 9 - abc). Seriously? Seriously. I mean seriously Grey's. What the hell. Why have you sucked for the past 5 episodes. It's stock has plummeted after George's dad died. It went from one of the best episodes to date to the worst 3-parter of any series ever. The dialogue has gotten stale and the characters are atrophying before our eyes. It's been a sad decline but in a few weeks the final 6 episodes air and I am hoping for some redemption.

At number 3 is the brand new BBC America show Robin Hood. It's a series. Not like 'men in tights' but badass like Prince of Thieves. It's actually quite good. It reminds me of Psych mixed with Heroes and all the old school crime shows you can think of. It's funny and well acted which is pretty standard for anything on BBC-A. If you get the channel you should watch it. It really has an old school feel, mainly because Robin has his nemisis Sheriff of Loxley who he encounters all the time and has all the chances in the world to kill, but he never does. There are very few shows anymore where the hero and villain co-exist like that. It makes me happy.

Somehow holding on to the coveted number 2 spot is Entourage. There really is no good reason this is still up here but I guess that's a testament to how good the show is. I mean there have only been 8 episodes so far this season, and those ran last summer. I mean I have lived in NYC for 7 months now and for some reason I haven't missed a single new episode of the same season. Just call is season 4. God. Anyways, it's up here this high because I just re-watched season 2 and also added HBO to our cable plan because it's FINALLY returning on April 8th (I think).


















That leaves number 1 to Friday Night Lights (wed at 8 on nbc). This is the best acted show I have seen in a long time. I mean actualy acting. By kids, well not little kids but these people are younger than me. It has been climbing my charts all year. I loved it from the first episode and I was sure it was going to be bad before it came out. The story lines are great and there is enough characters that you can give them each their own story which I love. The cool thing about this show is that it never lets you down. Each episode is a perfect compliment to the one before it and the one it preceeds. It balances drama perfectly with comedy and it's undeniably good. I have watched it with many people who have never seen it (skeptics) and they always agree afterwards that it is a good show and really well acted. Acting and directing has become very important to me for some reason (when you aspire to be like Jerry Bruckheimer those things don't matter so much. j/k) and this show has it all. Often I try and think of how I would have had an actor approach something or a different camera angle or why the director chose certain things but not when I watch this show. It's very good.






Thats all for now. As always, get your feet off the ground and reach for teh stars. Go big or go home. Pain heals, chicks dig scars and glory lasts forever. Carpe diem. Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it.

Hallelujah Hollaback
-M, p & z

oh ps - I will talk about some movies very soon. TMNT!! This weekend will be wild.

pps - I always format the pictures so that they show up on my computer without any text next to it, meaning i put a lot of spaces after pictures before my next line of text. On safari this works but does it show up on Internet Explorer as a big space after pics? I always wondered.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

My Day is Broken Up Into Units....


















Grocery shopping: 2 units. Showering: 1 unit. TV: 2 units. Procrastinating: 10 units... So classes are over and I have from now until May 1st to get all of my pre-production done for my thesis. I also need to work on 2 or 3 other thesis shoots before then, meaning I really only have about 4 weeks to get it all done. To some of you that may seem like a long time, but when you are producing your own film it takes forever. I could spend 3 or 4 more months on this to make sure every detail was perfect, but I don't have that long. I went home last week and I only got about 4 hours of work done on it which was slightly less than the 20 I had hoped for. The problem with not having classes is that I have no schedule. I can come and go as I please and sleep as early or as late as I want. I am going to have to get on Muki & Sameer's patented genius schedule soon, meaning I'll go to bed early and get up around 630. I am back on track now though, and am well on my way to being 10% done with my pre-production. My goal for the end of the week is to be 20% done. I'll keep you all posted on that. Anyone who cares to read my script can email me.

Speaking of going home, I am completely convinced that I prefer a life in Michigan to the City. I love living here right now, but as I assumed, I could never live here for more than a couple years. I remember making a list of pros and cons on this blog before I moved here and citing the only con (besides cost) of living in NYC was the lack of nature and that one con might overpower any pros it offers. I can't say for sure because I have yet to live here in the summer and experience all that is Central Park. Another thing I realized when I was at home was that I'm too old for the traditional St. Patty's day spectacular. It used to be that I would be up at 6 and be at the bar by 630 eating eggs and green beer. The thought of it makes me want to throw up, but it was a good time back then. Then you pass out around 4 or so for a little nap, wake up and start drinking again. This year I was going to go up to State early in the morning and do it big but instead I got up at 9, hung out with my mom, ate lunch and then went to State at 4. I was drunk by 9, stopped drinking around 1, was sober by 3 and went to sleep. I wasn't hung over in the morning, I didn't have the beer shits and I was fully functional for my flight back to NYC on sunday.

I'm not really sure when it happened exactly but sometime since I turned 24, I got too old to go on those fun undergrad benders. I don't like to drink much at all anymore, Saturday was actually the first time I was drunk in March and before that it must have been a little bit. I would put my foot down right now and say that I am not going to drink for a month but I am sure the minute I say it someone will call and say they are on a list for some bar in the village that is free open bar from 10 - 12. I will say that I am done drinking more than twice a month. Anyways this blog sucks so I'm just gonna stop writing. I figured it had been a while so I should write something.

As always, get your feet off the ground and reach for the stars. Go big or go home. Pain heals, chicks dig scars and glory lasts forever. Carpe diem. Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it.

Hallelujah Hollaback
-M, p & z

oh ps - the title and first sentences of this are from About a Boy if you didn't recognize it. Also, if you listen to country I need to know some good songs to download, this no country stations in nyc is killing me. another thing I love about Michigan, I can't pay people in nyc to listen to country, but I was at a party on saturday when Garth Brooks comes on and not just me but everyone starts singing along. I love it.

Friday, March 02, 2007

My life is about making movies...

...My card is American Express. I'll blog soon for real but for now here are some pictures of me being a bad ass wit the pana-vision.