'30 Minutes Or Less' A Review

Two idiot slackers strap a bomb to another idiot slacker in order to force him to rob a bank for them. That's pretty much it. No one in the film is really likable. Eisenburg and Ansari seem to have phoned it in and McBride is regurgitating the same thing we've seen him do in the past four movies he's done. I suppose I was entertained, although I did check the time frequently. But it seemed like the film got fast tracked, no one really took the time to create much of a story, and everyone was going through the motions.

Don't See It.

Open Letter To Regal Entertainment

Dear Regal Entertainment Group,

I recently watched a movie at one of your theaters and there was a disturbing advertisement that ran before the film. It started off as a montage of 'classic' scenes that might be in movies. The camera panned out until the action was pictured on a small television screen. A caption appeared "No movie should be reduced to this." The television then exploded and in bold type it said "Go Big Or Go Home."

I have two major problems with your ad.

1. Wrong Media. You're running this ad to try to get people to go to the movie theater because everyone does netflix, redbox, or illegally downloads. I get that. But you're running this ad at the movie theater. You already have our money. You're running this ad to the exact demographic you don't need to run this ad for. If you're actually serious about this campaign you should be running this ad on television. And by the very nature of this ad you're alienating the people you receive good business from. Which brings me to point two.

2. The Tone. The tone of this ad is douchely chastising. As if your stupid or weak if you don't go to see movies in the theater. Newsflash, you can't guilt people into going to see movies in the theater. I don't know who came up with the ad or who decided to run it in the theater but they should be fired. This ad is offensive, ineffective, and quite frankly insulting. For someone who sees any movie in the theater it makes me want to go to the movie theater less.

So, I'd like to take this opportunity to say to the Regal Entertainment Group-

Fuck You.
Fuck Off.
Go Fuck Yourself.

Regards,
Steve

P.S. I want my money back for 'Conan The Barbarian.'

Graffiti 0

This was the first picture I took of graffiti in Chicago. It was two years ago on the way to a FireCup rehearsal. The sentiment struck me at the time and has stuck with me since.

"Art is a revolt against fate." -André Malraux

"To revolt is a natural tendency of life. Even a worm turns against the foot that crushes it. In general, the vitality and relative dignity of an animal can be measured by the intensity of its instinct to revolt." - Mikhail Bakunin

Day 20

Fun Cake

I just found this photo, blast from the past. My mom made me this cake for my 3rd birthday.

Hello coconut bear
It's my 3rd birthday.
Balloons for me?
You shouldn't have
I'm only three.

Whats your life like
sitting in a cave,
waiting to come out
and celebrate a bday?
No need to pout.

Gum drop claws
and buttons and eyes.
I'll eat you up,
you'd better hide,
before I wash-up.

Surprise!

Steve's Guide To Relationships

1. Communication- Talk about it. If you're upset, if something is bothering you, if you're not getting something you want. You have to let your partner know. They can't read your mind. They could do something that irritates or upsets you and not even know it. If you are about to make a big decision or a small decision, bring them in on your decision before it's made. It doesn't affect just you anymore. Make sure to talk about your feelings and expectations, you always want to be on the same page.

2. Compromise- One person shouldn't dominate the relationship. You shouldn't always do what one person wants to do. One person likes movies, the other person likes concerts, then alternate. One person likes to be social, the other person is a homebody, alternate. It can even be as simple as going out to eat. One person likes to try new restaurants, the other person likes to go to the same 3 places, mix it up. Both parties in a relationship should be happy. Sometimes it happens naturally, other times you have to work on it and that's ok. Even beneficial. You get out of your comfort zone and do things that you don't normally do, and you do it with someone you care about.

3. Sex- Talk about it. Talk about what you like and what you want. Relationships usually start off hot and heavy and then cool off. That's ok. People range from hyper sexual to asexual, so after the honeymoon period you have find out where you and your partner fall in that spectrum. If, for example, you have a long period of time without being sexual and you want to be but your partner doesn't seem to be interested, talk about it. It may seem weird or make you feel uncomfortable but talking about it is better then getting so frustrated you do something you'd regret. Also there's nothing wrong with wanting to try things that are out of the norm. If you have a particular kink that you want to try or that turns you on, bring it up. And to quote Dan Savage, a partner should be GGG within reason(good, giving, and game).

4. Friends- You don't have to be best friends with your partners friends but make an effort to hang out with them once in a while and get to know them. Your partner cares about you and wants their friends to know how great you are. You don't want to be 'X's boyfriend/girlfriend' you want them to know who you are.

5. Family- At a certain point you should meet your partner's family if you can. Don't look at it as a pressure situation or an obligation. Look at it like an opportunity to get to know a greater context for your partner. Where they come from. And who knows they could be super awesome!

6. Separate Lives- Have a life that's outside of your partners life. Whether it be work, a hobby, or friends. There's nothing that can aggravate a relationship more than spending too much time together. Spending time together is great of course, that's why your in the relationship. But make sure to have some alone time once a week, make sure to go out with friends without your partner. If you have separate apartments don't spend the night together every night. If you don't see your partner for a day or two you're going to be that much more excited when you do see them.

Graffiti 31

I'm a big fan of John C. Reilly. I identify with big guys who are funny and dramatic.

From a 2010 Interview.

You don’t think some of the comedy in this film is derived from the characters feeling awkward, and the audience, by extension, feeling awkward as well?
John C. Reilly: I guess so. I hadn’t really put the two together, but yeah.
And that seems like a form of comedy that you’re attracted to.
John C. Reilly: Well, I’m a big fan of not letting the audience of off the hook, as they say. I like it when things feel real, and that’s oftentimes not comfortable. Life is often confusing and sad, and I’m a big fan of the slap and the tickle, as they say. You get them laughing, and then you can… Any movie or play or whatever that’s too downbeat—Like, I’ve seen stories about working-class characters, and it’s just [drumming on the chair] one horrible thing after another, and then just marching through their lives. I come from a working-class family, and that’s just not how it is. The way you get through having a shitty job is to laugh a lot and goof around.

Do you think growing up in Chicago affected your evolution as an actor?
John C. Reilly: I like Chicago for its lack of aggression. New York and L.A., they’re both such commercial places. New York especially, as an actor, it will just eat you alive, and Chicago—the lessons I learned here doing theater were like, “The play’s the thing, and I only succeed if all of us succeed.” That kind of thinking. It’s a lot different in New York. Usually, the people I’ve met from there have much more of an attitude of, “Well, good luck to you out there, I’m going to take care of myself. Hopefully you’ll be fine too.” [Laughs.] But it’s dog-eat-dog out there, baby.
There’s more of a sense that you’re in competition with everybody.
John C. Reilly: And Chicago’s more of a sense of a community. And it doesn’t seem like, when I was coming up here—maybe it’s different now—no one really felt like, “Well, if I do well in this play, I’m going to be an overnight sensation.” The stakes were lower. Most of the people doing it here do it because they really love it, not because they want to be famous or get rich.

'The Guard' A Review

'The Guard' is an odd crime/comedy set in rural Ireland. Brendan Gleeson stars as a local policeman whose brash and sarcastic but the only cop in the area with integrity. He plays dumb but is very smart, Columbo type. Don Cheadle is an FBI agent that comes to Galway investigating an international drug ring that is suppose to dock in the area.

Gleeson shines as our surly but gentle hero. He lights up all the scenes he's in. His chemistry with Cheadle is great, their scenes are like a ping-pong match. Gleeson also has some great scenes with his ailing mother, tender but also bitingly funny.

The villains are also great. Quirky but menacing, sinister but intelligent. The entire cast rings very true to that part of Ireland. The movie feels authentic and Irish humor is rampant. The film totally wins you over, surprises you, and leaves you with a smiling heart.

The best movie of the year so far.

Don't Miss It.

Afterward: After I saw this movie I was on an Irish movie kick so I watched 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' per Eli's recommendation. This song stuck in my head.

John Carpenter

I've been going through a hardcore John Carpenter phase recently. A lot of his 70's, 80's, and early 90's movies are on instant. I don't know why it took me so long to see some of them but they are amazing! I started watching them because when 'Super 8' came out JJ Abrams said one of his first inspirations was John Carpenter. He saw one of the firsts screenings of 'Escape From New York' and gave a small note which John Carpenter took.

Recommendations:
Assault On Precinct 13
Escape From New York
The Thing
Big Trouble In Little China
They Live
In The Mouth Of Madness

They're all simple, weird, and fun. I watched 'Assault On Precinct 13' yesterday for the first time. It's pretty odd. The theme song which comes in and out through the whole movie is awesome. Simple, eerie, and catchy as hell. I've been humming it ever since.

Graffiti 30

Photo credit to Adam.

"We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away." -Zhuangzi

Matt was in town over the weekend and I had mentioned this tag, it's done in chalk. I've been unable to get a good picture of it cause it's always been smudged or partially washed away by rain when I've seen it.

Matt: We had a guy in college who'd do graffiti with chalk.
Me: What was his name?
Matt: Hardcore Johnny.
Me: (laughs) And he did graffiti in chalk?
Matt: Yeah.
Me: Well this one, the point is that it's in chalk.
Matt: Yeah, Hardcore Johnny just didn't want to get in trouble if he was caught.
Me: That's kind of...against the spirit of it.
Matt: Yeah. he cornered me at a party once and was just so intense about it.
Me: (pause) He should of used a paint pen.

"I don't think that jazz, as any kind of an art form, has any permanence attached to it, apart from the practitioners of it." -Norman Granz

'The Devil's Double' A Review

'The Devil's Double' is the story of Latif, Uday Hussein's body double. He's pressed into service with threats of death to his family. We see the corrupt, disgusting world Uday inhabits through Latif's eyes. The best part of this film was the trailer. There is no story to speak of and no character development. Dominic Cooper does a great job as Uday but is somewhat passive and unreadable as Latif. Most of the actors flounder with a flat unmanageable script.
The story itself is just a series of unconnected horrible things that Uday does: rapes, murders, and excessive drug use. Graphically portrayed. There is no resolution and we never really sympathize with Latif because he's so stoic, we never know who he really is. Uday, although crazy and horrible, at least energizes the scenes that he's in. All the other actors float through the movie with no direction. My favorite part of the movie was a brief scene with two of Saddam's doubles playing tennis. But 30 seconds can't save a film.

Don't See It.

On Being Hidden

Flowers open to the sun
We open to the night

The moon guides the tide
Light skips along the sea

Darkness hides a flower
But not you,

aaaI see you better in the dark.

Graffiti 29

I've seen this sticker a couple places it says "Winter has a Posse" and it also has her height and weight which I think is very odd. Most graffiti in the city is covered up relatively quickly, I'd say within a month or so. This sticker has been on a parking sign by Second City for two years. It reminds me of a personal ad.

"An artist is always alone - if he is an artist. No, what the artist needs is loneliness." -Henry Miller

Graffiti 28

I, too, do not believe the sun
is a hole in the vault of heaven.
For if it were, would not its light
in us burn holes into the vault
of the earth?

'Another Earth' A Review

'Another Earth' is an odd film. It opens with a girl recently accepted to MIT driving home from a party and seeing a glowing blue light in the sky. She becomes fixated by it, doesn't pay attention to the road, and hits a car with a family head on. The wife and child are killed while the husband survives. The next scene is the girl, Rhoda, getting out of prison four years later. She has a hard time adjusting. While she's been in prison the blue light has gotten closer. It appears to be another Earth. She goes to apologize to the man whose life she ruined but lacks the courage so instead becomes his cleaning lady.
The film is quiet and sweeping. Slow motion shots and powerful underscore are used heavily. We see Rhoda on her journey of guilt and atonement. Earth 2, as it's termed, is a metaphor for second chances but also a reality. There is no wink in the film about it, Earth 2 is real which I appreciate. I think it's interesting that this film and 'Tree Of Life' came out so close together. 'Tree Of Life' is all images up to our interpretation where as 'Another Earth' is a satisfying real narrative but the implications and connections are left up to us. The film is full of real, moving characters. Rhoda has a co-worker, an old man, whose presence in the film is beautiful.

My favorite scene of the film is one in which Rhoda goes to a shop to buy gummy bears. It's shot in such a careful, patient way that we understand all the implications of the purchase. First and foremost she hasn't had candy in four years. She runs into a former high school classmate in the check out line. He's with his girlfriend and at first were afraid it'll be ugly but it's just sad. She leaves without making her purchase because she's ashamed. As she exits the girlfriend asks the guy "who was that?" and he simply says "we went to high school together..."

I went into this film expecting to hate it. I loved it. It's subtle, meaningful, and soulful.

See It.

'Terri' A Review

'Terri' Is a sweet coming of age, quirky, unexpected picture. It's about an overweight high schooler dealing with the life he has been presented with. He lives with his uncle(played by Creed from The Office') with an unnamed disease which we presume is Alzheimer's. He wears pajamas to school and is subtly ridiculed by his fellow students. The vice principal played by John C. Riley takes an interest in Terri and befriends him. Terri goes on a quiet, sweet journey through out the film. Develops friendships and a possible romance.

The film doesn't offer great epiphany's or a clear resolution, it's more a true slice of life. We identify with Terri, we like Terri, but he never 'overcomes' anything we merely see him on his progress of becoming an adult. We see him grow through his friendships and experience.

The chemistry between Terri and the John C. Riley character are reason enough to see the film. You get a sense of care, concern, but also a joy for life, a real desire to help. Two men, one old/one young, who actually see each other. When I watched the film I wished I'd had a VP like John C. Riley who could have identified with me and been my friend. There are many amazing small, quiet moments in the film which I'm tempted to describe but I won't. You should just...

See It.