Job Hunting

My first student film! See it here.

Reading List

On the plane-ride home from Birmingham...

1. Newsweek - "What Bush Got Right" by Fareed Zakaria

Zakaria thinks the Bush administration of 2008 has come a long way since version 1.0 but is still chiefly marked by ignorance and disrespect for the rest of the world. Still, he argues that Obama and McCain must avoid simply reversing his policies just as Bush did with those of the Clinton administration.

2. Newsweek - "Rise of the Sea Turtles" by Melinda Liu and Duncan Hewitt

Liu and Hewitt seek to get to the bottom of China's continued and anti-Western sentiments, ultimately citing a successful propagandistic nationally-enforced education and wondering if this deep-seated nationalism will make China's rising, overseas-educated stars good for the world or only China.

3. Newsweek - "The Pickens Profile You Haven't Read" by Karen Breslau

T. Boone Pickens' capitalist-driven energy plan aims to make the American plains the "Saudi Arabia of alternative energy" and appears to be driven by a pure legacy instead of self-seeking profit. After all, the famed oil-man and takeover titan is 80 years and has more cash than he knows what to do with.

4. The first 50 pages of Secrets of Film Writing by Tom Lazarus

Lazarus' wonderfully readable and irreverent style reveals sensible nuggets of wisdom from a career spanning more than thirty years. I hope my screenwriting professor doesn't look down on his sometimes controversial methods...

"Would it be wrong if we prayed for rain?"

The religious right has thrown aside any notion of supporting John McCain, presumptively since many pundits have been adamantly opposed to his candidacy from the start. Instead of promoting the republican candidate, conservative religious think tanks like James Dobson's Focus on the Family are "humorously" telling their followers to pray for "rain of Biblical proportions" during Barack Obama's outdoor acceptance speech at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Why should we pray for rain, you might ask? Well, you probably don't have to since the video cites the only two family values that the religious right promotes: abortion and gay marriage. Those are the only ones that matter, not America's evaporating middle class or our endless "liberation" of a middle-eastern country that's taken thousands of lives. Man, if only Charlton Heston were still with us to reprise one of his famous Biblical roles of old and stir up a miracle on par with the parting of Red Sea for conservatives and the NRA. Without him, I'm tempted to think it might not work.

Told you so!

I don't know who I'm talking to since most of the film-viewing world agrees, but The Dark Knight is nothing short of a masterpiece! One might expect one of the most artistically dignified superhero epics in history to send comic book purists and summer popcorn crowds home with equal confusion or disappointment. One might also expect the most hyped, aggressively marketed films to be incapable of delivering on its gratuitously polished promises (and rightly so). Fortunately for audiences and filmmakers everywhere, The Dark Knight does neither. Clearly there are rave reviews a-plenty, but my personal highlights include Aaron Eckhart's impressively subtle portrayal of a man caught between his own zealous idealism and seething rage; Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman's enhanced character developments and extended screen time, both ushered in with great performances; Christian Bale's improvements on Batman's growl and Bruce Wayne's earnest wrestling with morality; and finally, Heath Ledger's uncanny tour-de-force as the maniacal Joker. He makes us despise him, cheer for him, laugh with him, and most frighteningly, fear ourselves. Professionally and artistically, this brilliant character immersion only deepens the tragedy of the young actor's untimely death. This historic film fulfills its promises and more. Christopher Nolan, now a proven giant behind the camera of art-house indies and epic blockbusters alike, has secured his place in history with this electric reminder that filmmaking is still an art no matter how much it becomes a business; most impressively, he has coherently merged these two realms: for once we will remember the film itself more than the hype that preceded it. 

Oh please make it soon...

Of course it may just be my absurdly palpable anticipation that's been building steadily within my heart and soul with a cosmic fierceness since the end of Batman Begins (2005) or the fact that I'm studying Hitchcock right now, but I've recently realized that not only is Christopher Nolan one of the greatest contemporary directors in Hollywood, but his suspenseful films full of deceit and misdirection actually bear strong resemblance to those of the original master. Obviously it would be difficult to find a modern director who does not tip his or her hat to the famously plump king of "pure cinema," but in my estimation, Nolan goes above and beyond. In his films he is extremely meticulous and calculating, never shooting a single take before perfecting it in his mind. Everything on screen is intentional. Often his camera movement, sound design and editing are more important to telling the story than his dialogue -- a key Hitchcockian style. Nolan revels in thematic notions of things not being as they appear and blurred morality, and in real life, his wife is a key creative collaborator just as Hitchcock's was to him. I am certainly not asserting that their styles are identical or that Nolan seeks merely to copy his predecessor, but I am definitely liking the similarities I see. 

All this of course merely leads to one undeniable truth: The Dark Knight (2008) will be EPIC. After early rave reviews comparing the film to Heat (1995) and The Godfather II (1974), particularly by my man Peter Travers, all pretenses of reigning in my personal expectations for the film are lost and I am fully expecting to see a miraculous combination of childhood fantasy and gritty modern adulthood convincingly brought to screen in the package of a conventionally larger-than-life blockbuster. Between Nolan's virtuosity behind the camera, the final proof of the late Heath Ledger's incredible talent on screen and an all-star cast, even the most gargantuan of IMAX theaters will prove unable to contain this phenomenon. It will be the best movie of the first decade of the 21st century. I can't wait to see how right I am....      

Wimbledon Final

INCREDIBLE. These two are real-life superheroes. What other two professional athletes have ever been so physically and technically dominant AND absurdly humble, especially in the midst of such a close professional rivalry? I was hoping (and pretty honestly assuming) that Federer would take the record and win 6 in a row, but who in the world can complain about the match he and Rafa gave the world last Sunday? Rain delays and drama abounding, Nadal took home his first Wimbledon title 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 just after 9 pm, proving beyond a doubt in even his toughest critics' minds that he is far more than just a clay courter who's been lucky and, perhaps even more incredible, that Roger Federer is actually a human being. 

Blue Condition

Blue Condition is the sweetest rock band in Texas. Period. Stemming strongly from heroes of old like Zeppelin and SRV with just enough (relatively) new blood like STP, the Black Crowes and yes, even a hint of Creed. My great friend Mr. Garrett Mucha, who athletically rocks most the shredding duties, formed the band with lead singer Michael Elford. I'm still looking for a way to squeeze my way into the band so I'll become absurdly rich when they catch the gravy train (as a musician, manager, etc - hell, I'll even clean the van). Until then, I'll just be happy to catch every show I can, and you should too. 

Homosocial bonding

So, I'm still best friends with Alex and Lee and Jackson after 4 years of college in different cities, as evidenced by Lee and Alex's awesome visit that included:

- Lee's cannonball in what appeared to be an empty condo pool, immediately followed by warning call from Roberto (our awesome building manager) who told us he'd received a complaint from another resident that "someone is doing cannonballs."

- Matrix action scenes re-enacted by three 22-year-olds in the pool

- Lots of Top Golf action (I am an abomination on the links - links means golf, right?)

- Stupid conversations by the TV and/or pool

- New spinning quarters game

- Dirty looks from Carlie that all said, "Damn it, you don't act like this when they're not around!"

- Meeting the worst dad ever as he yelled, "That's not what a wind sprint looks like!" to his 7-year-old

- good times on McKinney

It's awesome to have great friends and know they're not going anywhere. Y'all are awesome! 

Catching up...

Hey me in a month or so (and the 7 people who have viewed my Profile if they actually read this ever), 

It's been almost a month since my last post, so obviously I've been busy... or I'm just really lazy when it comes to blogging. And working. Get off my back. This post is simply to provide a list of key events in my life since the last time I was here. Hopefully I will post in more detail about specific events in the near future:

- I got a B- on my Batman Returns paper (A- with a day-late penalty since I emailed it in half-way through class even though the syllabus clearly stated late penalties were not enacted until the END of class!!!)

- Jonny Lang is not only an amazing musician and guitarist, but he's easily one of the best live acts I've ever seen. INCREDIBLE.

- I'm still best friends with Alex and Lee and Jackson after 4 years of college in different cities

- I can cook out for 4th of July without burning down my overpriced Italian-designed condo AND without doing anything (thanks Carlie and Steven)

- I got an A- in my Diversity in Film course

- Got my Dark Knight I-MAX tickets a month in advance

- 2 new courses: Great Directors study of Alfred Hitchcock (GENIUS) and Golden Age of American Cinema (1925 - 1950)

- I survived my first concert with Mitchell London - The Fleet Foxes. Surprisingly good for a "Mitchell" band. Every song seemed to have a strong "Battle of Evermore" influence, but they were all notably different with varying levels of energy. Sweet. 

- Blue Condition is the most amazing new rock band in Texas and will surely be conquering the world in no time...

- It's mathematically impossible for me to graduate before August 2009

Yep, all that and more has happened in a short three and a half weeks. Don't worry, my other posts won't be so dry - I'm hoping to get some creative work up soon. Short stories, screenplay ideas, maybe even some new songs, etc. Prepare yourselves... 

On a related note...

Here some great links related to my Batman post below:

1. Kevin Smith rails on Hollywood and the process of Superman's development hell. Trust me, it's hilarious and worth the time.

2. Watch this.

Batman

I'm writing a paper right now about gender and race as portrayed in Tim Burton's 1992 sequel (don't tell him I called it that) to his career-making unprecedented blockbuster Batman (1989) entitled Batman Returns (1992). Right, the one that parents flipped out over because it was too dark for their children since Danny DeVito's Penguin was too gross and scary and Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman was a ferocious blend of sexual liberation and modern female victimization. On a personal note, I've since decided that her phenomenal performance led directly to a perplexed discovery of my own male primal instincts at age 7. Anyway, now that I'm a self-righteous intellectual film student (before I was a self-righteous undeclared student) and too smart to be entertained or provoked by a comic book movie, I was surprised to find on a recent viewing that it's actually a complicated character study with subtly realistic allegorical implications. This is probably what ultimately sunk the film. Even though it made WB plenty of money (albeit not as much as the original), the parent protests and lack of happy meal accessory deals proved enough to convince studio big wigs to make the woeful decision to hand the franchise over to Joel Schumacher. Ugh...

The fact that Batman's up-and-down journey has found redemption in the profondly talented Christohper Nolan is nothing short of amazing in my eyes. I used to revile the notion of filmmakers, writers, et al settling for the same story over and over. While this is essentially how Hollywood (and humanity for that matter) seems to operate, I've recently had the epiphany that story repeats do not have to be synonymous with cheap cop-outs. It's the nuances that tell the story. Batman can jump off roof tops, fight bad guys, and brood around the batcave all he wants, and depending on how that same simple story is told, audiences can be anywhere from intensely engaged to intensely nauseous. Joel Schumacher and George Clooney are still apologizing for the abomination of Batman & Robin at every other interview, yet only 7 years later Batman Begins managed to lift the legend back to its rightful pedastal in and eager public's mind. As much as we love to bitch about people's failures, I still think we're most captivated by the successes. I know I'm using what some would consider a silly, meaningless example in Batman (some people simply do not understand art, and far be it from me to assume that I could cure them of their lack of taste and respect), but the point is that it's inspiring to realize that one individual's treatment of the same source material can result in a drastically different product than someone else's. Good or bad, we always want to talk about it.

Also, The Dark Knight is going to incredible. RIP Heath Ledger.

(PS: In case you haven't figured it out yet, self-righteous or not, I'm extremely entertained by comic book movies...even the crappy ones.)

Welcome. Things may get weird...

This is a place for my thoughts. Any of them, whether absurdly stupid or surprisingly profound (but apparently I'm not that surprised since I'm anticipating my own profundity), offensive or bland, passionately active or alarmingly apathetic...any of them. I've been meaning to keep a journal recently and have proven pretty bad at that, so I thought I might be more likely to get some thoughts down electronically. Clearly Steve Jobs and Apple are one product line away from creating the technological monster that becomes self-aware and enslaves or destroys all of humanity like in Terminator, The Matrix, etc. Anyway I'm 22 and still don't have much of a life-plan (but I still consider that more a good thing than bad - at least I'm not signing my life away to corporate hell...yet), so I figured having a place to document the ideas that bounce around in my head long enough for me to type them up might help me pick out a pattern in my thought process or writing that could point me in some kind of direction. Speaking of writing, people tell me I'm pretty good at it, and I agree. It just takes me a long time to get it done. But hey, like real-life American hero Stephen Colbert says, if you make the first one good enough, you don't have to write another one, right? Here are some topics that will likely end up on this blog:

Christianity, religion, faith, etc. (but not the Pat Roberson / Ann Coulter kind)
Politics (I tend to be liberal, but that just means open-minded)
Music (especially Third Day or Marc Broussard)
Writing (of any kind)
MOVIES (because even the shitty ones are awesome)

I guess that should do to get things started...