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I read interviews of Chris Rock about his film, Top Five, which he wrote and directed, in which he said he loved Woody Allen. You can see it in this film.

Top Five is about a comedian who, in his bid to be taken seriously, has done a movie about the slave uprising in Haiti where lots of white people were killed. The comedian is spending the day doing promotional stops with a New York Times reporter tailing him in order to write a profile/review. The comedian is also engaged to a reality TV star and is about the be married in a televised wedding. In this one day, he tries to find out who he is and what he is about.

Chris Rock is most everyone's favorite comedian. He's not really any one's favorite director. I'm kind of interested in what he'll be doing for the future. I wonder if he'll follow in Woody Allen's footsteps. He may become an interesting director.

My top 5: De La, Tribe, Rakim, Grand Puba, Guru.

3 of 5 stars.

Labels: movies, review

Let us hope that the Tolkien estate will make Jackson's final installment of The Hobbit the last on he'll do. What he did to the Hobbit book is a complete sham. A sham almost too great that it has taken the sheen off of what he did with the Lord of the Rings. This trilogy will be on par with George Lucas's Star Wars prequels. A mistake that tarnished the entire enterprise.

Now that you know how I feel about the trilogy, this particular installment of the Hobbit wasn't half bad. It was one which Jackson has to craft from whole himself because in the book the battle of five armies was done offscreen. Bilbo was in it for a few paragraphs until he got knocked out before witnessing the arrival of the Eagles. There was no were-worms or trolls with missile launchers on their back. There was no Scottish Dain from the Iron Hills on a boar nor Legolas riding a giant troll. There was no Bard from Laketown fighting it out in the ruins of Dale nor Thranduil and his elk tramping on orcs. In the book, it was just Bilbo looking for help from the skies before a rock crashed into his head knocking him out of the fight. That wouldn't do for Jackson. He had to make the rest of it up. Without any of this, the Hobbit would have been done in one film.

When the movie opens, we find ourselves in the middle of Smaug's rampage on Laketown. We dive right into it giving us the feeling of walking into the middle of a movie. This is what happens when you try to stretch it out. Then it seems the battle of five armies starts immediately afterwards. This installment felt shorter than the others. Finally it ends with Bilbo back at Bag End. Back at whom this story was about. Jackson muffs it because he forgot that this is Bilbo's tale and not a tale of the waning days of the Third Age. If he only left it as the story of Bilbo, Jackson would've made a better movie. No need to know of the White Council or the battle with the Necromancer in Mirkwood. And we wouldn't need those Orcs.

This one, I actually liked though.

3 of 5 stars.

Labels: movies, review

Did you know that Into The Woods is an acclaimed Broadway musical? I didn't know that going in. I'm sure it's a fine one, but it didn't win me over as a film.

Into The Woods is an amalgamation of a few of the Grimm brothers fairy tales: Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and the one about the childless baker. All played an important role, but Rapunzel was cut short. Not sure why, but it seemed if Rapunzel's story was half hearted. She was in it, then she wasn't.

I believe that this film wasn't targeted to me.

3 of 5 stars

Labels: movies, review

Reese Witherspoon plays a bad girl looking to find salvation on a long hike up the Pacific Crest Trail in the autobiographical film, Wild. Witherspoon plays Cheryl Strayed, the author of the book from which the film was adapted. Cheryl was dealing with a lot of stuff: the death of her mother, the crumbling of her marriage because of her infidelity and sex addiction, a heroin habit. Cheryl just lived too much of a life for herself. She set about being selfish and it destroyed her. She hoped a long hike alone would enable her to find her way once more.

The film is an interesting one as it unfolds unconventionally. There were lots of intercutting of her on the hike with her life as it crumbled. There was voice over work that hinted at the Cheryl's mindset on the tramp through the trail. There was jumps back in time to her childhood with her mom. This whole lot showed more and left the viewer to infer what her motivation was for any of her mischief.

We could know what she did: the sex, the drugs. We could know what was the most psychologically damaging: the loss of her mother. We knew she took it out on her husband. We knew she was disconnecting with the world. The movie shows what, but can't explain the why. For that we have to look forward to Cheryl's explanation.

I'm not sure we got it. She was trying to live up to her mom's idea, but could not. Why did she have to? Why can't she be a woman all her own? Why would it take a solo hike on the Pacific Crest Trail to resolve that?

Perhaps, two or three viewings of this movie will resolve these questions. Maybe reading the book as well. But for all that, this film does a fine job in showing the trials and tribulations of a woman at the crossroads in her life.

3 of 5 stars.

Labels: movies, review

Noel. Noel. 

Labels: tis the season

At least we'll get more Haruhi in the year 2015.

Praise Kami-sama!

http://haruhi.tv/2015.html

Labels: anticipation, lotd, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Here's something really kawaii for your Friday coffee break. No idea what the song is about, but I can't get enough of the girls doing the singing.

How did I find out about this group, Goose House? Did I get to this video on YouTube from following their OP on the anime, Your Lie in April? Didn't hear about them from there. Wasn't watching at the time. Didn't even know that they also did the ED for season 2 of Silver Spoon.

Perhaps I was searching YouTube for anime covers. But I did find one from other members of their collective.

Anywhoo, it's kawaii.

(PS. Megane!)

EDIT: Wrong fucking video...

Labels: it rocks, so kawaii

I didn't write too many posts on this past baseball season. The ones I did write came towards the end of a pretty great season.

I should've written more from the start, but my laziness took over. It even took over at the bitter end with the dreams of postseason glory snuffed out in 4 meek games to the KC Royals.

After the ALCS, I wanted to write something to sum up the feeling of this magical season, but never got around to. I would need more than the terse sentences that this blog has been providing lately. I would need to put the elation and joy at going 14-2 in attendance of Orioles games. It was a lot of winning I saw this year. So much winning 96-66. The Orioles fans were the real winners. Thank you, Orioles!

Anyway, I wanted to post this video of Adam Jones's only highlight from the ALCS, the 2 run bomb to momentarily tie the game. I saw lots of baseball, and this was my favorite moment of the entire season. Yes, being there when Delmon Young won the ALDS game 2 with that double was amazing and unfathomable, but Jones first pitch swinging and clocking this pitch was just surprise summarized. And yet, I knew at that moment when he stepped to the plate, that it was going, going, gone. As soon as he hit the ball, I was up out of my seat and cheering a homerun as others waited for it the clear the left field fence. I knew, but I was still surprised.

And it was over after that. The game, the chance, the season.

I can't wait until next year.

GO ORIOLES!

Labels: Baltimore Orioles, baseball

Been pretty infatuated with this song by Scandal, a Japanese girl band. I just find it fascinating coming from josikosei. Let's all rock out!

Labels: it rocks, music break