Archives For joseph gordon-levitt

I totally messed up the date on my calendar xD
I thought it was gonna be tomorrow.

Anyway, some surprise, and some not so surprise.
You might have seen a few already~~~

Spirit Awards will be handed out on March 5th, 2010 at 8pm. PST.

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I should be really working on these more often because there are 3 more left before I get to choose the ones from 2009~~~ This time around, I kind of feel like i didn’t get to watch many good films. It was really tough to find 3 animated films to include, and considered to just choose two instead, but I found 3 xD so I hope it’s not mostly filler~

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Is Sci-Fi Also Doomed?

October 29, 2009 — 2 Comments

I watched District 9 yesterday, and I enjoyed it a lot. Actually, I watched Moon this past weekend as well, which was also pretty great. However, I had noticed that I had previously marked both films as “not interested“. Why? Actually, because I marked most films that way, unless I’m already interested. But this also made me think about the films I’ve watched this past year, and which ones I’ve enjoyed the most.

I’ve never followed Star Trek, but I admit I enjoyed watching the film this year.

And on a similar topic, I finally finished watching Battlestar Gallactica Season 1. LOL

But why do I seem so reluctant to watch Sci-Fi? Yes, it’s the nerd tag… I guess. I think my mother puts it best — She’s not interested in aliens, in other worlds, or UFOs — I think I’ve had the notions that Sci-Fi was just escapism, and it is in some of the films, but some of my friends (some sci-fi and comic book lovers) have taught me and made me understand that Sci-Fi can be so much more. And I do love a good drama.

But in the end, people don’t really listen.

My cousin, yes… that same one that told me Love Happens was money well spent, HATED District 9. Her brief Facebook status read something like “District 9, sucks! Badly…” and it got a bunch of comments including mine asking whether to believe her or not, considering she liked Transformers 2 (So good, she said), to which she replied “aliens!? c’mon>>>> no more comments“. LOL – The fact that she thought the idea of aliens is ridiculous should have hinted that she shouldn’t have picked District 9. Actually, she told me she didn’t wanna watch Inglourious Basterds either, to which I fainted. xD

What is good sci-fi? My friend made me sit in front of my computer screen (we haven’t seen each other since we graduated) and told me I was wrong. He told me Good Sci-Fi is Good Drama, you get social commentary in the form of metaphor and you can place those stories in the real world. Good Sci-Fi is about the characters… much more than the universe created. He is the same friend who made me watch Firefly. Yes, that same sci-fi show that my sci-fi-hating mom loved to watch.

So if you’re not sure you like sci-fi, you can give Firefly a try.

Good Sci-Fi is also not about how high-end and kick-ass your special effects are. It’s not about how many explosions you can get on screen at the same time. It’s not about how cool your props look like.

As we see on Moon, it’s almost as if this sci-fi world becomes a character piece in which the main character talks to himself and re-discovers himself in the process. About his daughter, about his wife, about his work. The miniature models are far from the high-end spectrum of regular CGI effects, yet hold this charisma or perhaps it’s nostalgia.

On District 9, what could have been an alien invasion film with explosions where people save the day turns into a film where aliens live in slums among us, as big corporate heads try to find the way to use their bio-technology weapons and think they can get away with it when one of their workers begins changing. The character sort of begins a transformation worthy of Kafka, in which he starts becoming more a “monster,” but in reality human beings are the monsters. It’s sad.

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And we continue to go through the years and film~

Some interesting observations on this one? There were a lot of GOOD male performances. I guess it’s by years, but I thought it was so tough to choose my Best Actors this time.

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Well, I don’t seem to have seen many films this time.
Hmm… I wonder why. I still haven’t made a countdown
of the music I’ve been listening to, so maybe I’ve been
busy with that. xD You know me, if I listen to much music,
I don’t have the time to watch many films, and if I read too
much, I don’t have the time to do either. LOL

So let’s begin… Continue Reading…

I blame my cousin for this, because she watched Love Happens. Yes, she actually paid to watch Love Happens, which currently has a 16% freshness rate over at Rotten Tomatoes, and OMG I just checked a 0% from Top Critics hahahaha.

Buahahaha. Sorry, I’m still laughing.

Anyway… it reminded me about an Inside the Gold post, in which K was having trouble writing a review for Made of Honor.

Mostly, I was just getting angry about it for reasons I couldn’t understand… then it hit me. There was nothing original about the film. There was so little effort or originality that went into it, that I started to get upset that the film was even made.

That was followed by a request of Chick Flicks – of course, I added a bunch. Good and Bad, and the Guilty Pleasures, because that’s what was asked… which brings me back to now. I just got to see (500) Days of Summer, which you could say it’s one of those “hipster” films, but in reality it’s a romantic comedy. The movie is good, I liked it a lot… in fact, I can’t wait to get it on DVD xD It’s a not-a-love-story, and it’s sort of a chick flick, I think – and it’s good. So I don’t think it’s a doomed genre, there’s just a lot of crap around the genre for you to take seriously the really good ones.

In reality, Action films should suffer from the same. There’s a lot of crap action films out there that outnumber the really good action films. You can just say “oh, it’s another mindless action film.” but it still has a better tone to it than saying “it’s a chick flick.” – that simply sounds negative, without having the intention to.

I made a list of films by themes, and one of them was the “chick-centric” theme – it contained some really good films with female protagonists as mothers, daughters, granddaughters, friends, neighbors, girls, young women and women… etc, etc. – and from the 3 different themes I put together, “chick-centric” was the only one with no votes at all. So we do have a trigger that makes us think the word “chick” immediately means bad PMS mood swings, put your panties up in a bunch, and make your ovaries ache for that brooding-but-charming or geeky-but-charming hunk.

With female-centric films such as Linda, Linda, Linda – or Rachel Getting Married, One Million Yen Girl, The Guitar, Il y a Longtemps que Je t’Aime, Whale Rider, Hana & Alice… Hula Girls, Swing Girls, Kamikaze Girls~~~ or Romantic Dramas and Romantic Comedies like Shunji Iwai’s Love Letter. Perhaps American Chick Flicks should think of moving away from the frivolous girl meets boy, boy meets girl and they fall in love forever and always stories that they love to tell over and over again, and actually focus on another aspect of their protagonists lives.

A group of friends trying to make it to the school rock festival, a young woman trying to get one million Yen, a woman who just found out she’s about to die, a mother that comes out of jail, a girl trying to follow tradition in the opposite direction. Two friends who are growing up and perhaps growing apart, a group of girls trying to save their town, another group of girls who find something special in their lives, and two girls who find friendship in each other… etc, etc etc.

=D

First for the obvious… many of us still haven’t seen Eve and her New York, I Love You shorts (the one she directs, and the one she stars in – there’s also one with Shunji Iwai!!).

Then, there’s also Brothers with Tobey and Jakey G~~~ later this year (?), then there’ll be Important Artifacts and Personal Property From the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry – *phew* that was long… with Brad Pitt.

There’ll be Hesher with Joseph Gordon-Levitt by Spencer Susser~~~

There will also be Your Highness by Danny McBride (Superbad, Fanboys, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder) – and now add to that, the Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain, The Wrestler).

You can all do a dance now.

LOL’

Does that say enough to you? Really, read the editor’s note. Lots of things on this new issue… new problems, new films, new music…

Reviews of films from the blockbuster season… Star Trek, Wolverine, Terminator Salvation, Up~~~ Brothers Bloom. Short film reviews, concert reviews… of Kiss in Lima. Music reviews of The Sounds, Green Day, Shiina Ringo… a bunch of K-pop courtesy of Julz~~~ off you go to Japan!!! WOOOOO – there’s Life on Mars, House M.D. and my more “professional” review of Yu Aoi’s Portugirl.

Yam004

Head over here.

Portman Dorkability

May 14, 2009 — 1 Comment

Natalie Portman on the set of the recently announced Hesher directed by Spencer Susser, and also starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Portman will be playing a character standing up to a bully… of a 9-year-old, or something.

Awwww… the glasses, man! It’s the glasses!!! LOL’

Natalie Portman - Hesher Set Natalie Portman - Hesher Set Natalie Portman - Hesher Set

For all the photos (some of her trying to take on the bully, and falling on her ass hahaha~~~ Those panties!!!) head over to the NP.com Gallery~~~ Dorkability~~~ xD

The sites AfterElton.com and AfterEllen.com have released their Hot100 list this year, and out actors Neil Patrick Harris and Portia de Rossi top their respective lists. Also in those lists…

Portia de Rossi

Jennifer Beals ranking in #2, Lena Headey in #3, Leisha Hailey in #4, Tina Fey in #7, Katherine Moennig in #11, Rachel Shelley in #12, Kate Winslet in #13, Ellen DeGeneres making up the Top15. Clementine Ford made it to #18,  Ellen Page (21), Pink (25), Emily Blunt (34), Jodie Foster (39),  Natalie Portman (41, what? behind LiLo??? Geez), Penelope Cruz (56), Mary-Louise Parker (57), Cate Blanchett (66), Anne Hathaway (83), Rachel Weisz (84), Maryl Streep (87), and Emma Watson at 99.

LOL’ That was a long not-a-list~

Neil Patrick Harris

The dudes at AfterElton show you the proper way to show a list… from the bottom up. Starting with Emile Hirsch (88), Patrick Wilson (86), Nathan Fillion (85), Matt Damon (84),  George Clooney (73), Clive Owen (72), Ryan Gosling (65), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (61), Lee Pace (60), Gael Garcia Bernal (59), James McAvoy (57), Christian Bale (56), Ewan McGregor (48), David Boreanaz (47), Justin Timberlake (42), Daniel Craig (32),  Johnny Depp (29), Brad Pitt (18). And rounding up the Top10, there’s James Franco in #10, Hugh Jackman in #8, and Jake Gyllenhaal in #4.

Not many Asians now, is there? =o(