No Aaraa this weekend; she was up in New York. Too bad, considering that I'm up in New York next weekend, and she's gone for quite a while shortly thereafter. I'd certainly like to see her again before she goes, but if not, well, absence makes the heart grow fonder, so by my calculations, by the time she gets back this summer she should be madly in love with me.
Anyway, spent the weekend doing the usual hang-out with friends thing, and also continuing the re-decoration of my apartment. Got some stuff for the bathroom (no more toothbruch in a plastic cup!), sent a picture off to get framed, and so on.
I also saw a couple of films:
Good Film, Bad Film
So, I've been looking to see V For Vendetta for a bit now, and I was hoping to go see it this past weekend. However, my usual movie-going friend, Amanda, had already seen it (it's supposed to be good). She proposed that we instead see Stay Alive.
Now, in our defense, neither of us expected for it to be any good. Rather, we were hoping that it would be bad in a cheesy sort of way. But no. It was not. It was bad in a terrible sort of way. It was so phenomenally bad that it had the honor of being the first film I have ever flat-out walked out on. The acting was miserable--I can do better drunk (and have!). The script didn't help--practically every line was clearly written by someone who had no idea what they were talking about, who had never played a video game nor even met a teenager, much less had any familiarity with teenagers who play video games. The special effects were pitiful--I can see scarier stuff by going home and playing Silent Hill. The second one. That came out 5 years ago. Considering that the characters were supposed to be playing a "next generation" video game, you'd think they'd have at least bothered to make it look better than what exists on half-a-decade-old technology.
So, if at any point someone says to you, "Hey, Stay Alive looks like some cheesy horror fun!" know that they are wrong. It is not cheesy or fun, and more horrible than horror.
On the other hand, I went to Arundel Mills this weekend. Normally, I consider that to be a hellish experience to be undertaken when necessary (I needed something mounted/framed for my wall), but this time it had a redeeming quality. A foreign films booth has sprrouted up, and they had something I've been looking for for a long time: Battle Royale. It's a Japanese film, but not anime. As you can imagine, that makes it pretty rare. The plot is a little strange, but it's just a really good film. It's a characteristic Japanese film: it uses excessive violence intended to shock, as opposed to the casual violence found in a lot of American action-type movies, and then juxtaposes that with what is essentially a coming-of-age drama. Of course, I may be reading a little too far into it, but it's a good film, is my point. It's exciting to watch, and interesting to think about, and that's all I want in a movie. As far as testimonials go, let me just say that I'm willing to watch it enough times to show it to my various groups of friends. If you can dig it up, give it a try. I won't guarantee that you'll like it, since tastes vary, but I think it has a good shot.
Anyway, spent the weekend doing the usual hang-out with friends thing, and also continuing the re-decoration of my apartment. Got some stuff for the bathroom (no more toothbruch in a plastic cup!), sent a picture off to get framed, and so on.
I also saw a couple of films:
Good Film, Bad Film
So, I've been looking to see V For Vendetta for a bit now, and I was hoping to go see it this past weekend. However, my usual movie-going friend, Amanda, had already seen it (it's supposed to be good). She proposed that we instead see Stay Alive.
Now, in our defense, neither of us expected for it to be any good. Rather, we were hoping that it would be bad in a cheesy sort of way. But no. It was not. It was bad in a terrible sort of way. It was so phenomenally bad that it had the honor of being the first film I have ever flat-out walked out on. The acting was miserable--I can do better drunk (and have!). The script didn't help--practically every line was clearly written by someone who had no idea what they were talking about, who had never played a video game nor even met a teenager, much less had any familiarity with teenagers who play video games. The special effects were pitiful--I can see scarier stuff by going home and playing Silent Hill. The second one. That came out 5 years ago. Considering that the characters were supposed to be playing a "next generation" video game, you'd think they'd have at least bothered to make it look better than what exists on half-a-decade-old technology.
So, if at any point someone says to you, "Hey, Stay Alive looks like some cheesy horror fun!" know that they are wrong. It is not cheesy or fun, and more horrible than horror.
On the other hand, I went to Arundel Mills this weekend. Normally, I consider that to be a hellish experience to be undertaken when necessary (I needed something mounted/framed for my wall), but this time it had a redeeming quality. A foreign films booth has sprrouted up, and they had something I've been looking for for a long time: Battle Royale. It's a Japanese film, but not anime. As you can imagine, that makes it pretty rare. The plot is a little strange, but it's just a really good film. It's a characteristic Japanese film: it uses excessive violence intended to shock, as opposed to the casual violence found in a lot of American action-type movies, and then juxtaposes that with what is essentially a coming-of-age drama. Of course, I may be reading a little too far into it, but it's a good film, is my point. It's exciting to watch, and interesting to think about, and that's all I want in a movie. As far as testimonials go, let me just say that I'm willing to watch it enough times to show it to my various groups of friends. If you can dig it up, give it a try. I won't guarantee that you'll like it, since tastes vary, but I think it has a good shot.
morgan:
I think it's one of those things that lots of people thought up on their own...I know I didn't get it from anywhere in particular!