Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Yep, Aquinas still believes in the unmoved mover.
I can't help but roll my eyes at how much Zeus's classes bleed into one another.
Monday, April 28, 2008
*YAWN*
So. Here's the lowdown.
Prom. It's over. It was worth my while.
Mrs. Warren's Profession. It's over. Also worth my while, but next time I'll angle for a paycheck. Lost the smoking bet with my stage crew partner (a good thing in this case), so I bought her a sandwich. Bought myself a jumbo pickle and proceeded to preserve my innards for the next few decades.
The two events listed above have murdered my sleep schedule. At least I have a long weekend coming up.
In a little while I'm off to Berkeley for Shakespeare class with L. Peter Callender. Woot!
One week until Reckless tech.
Prom. It's over. It was worth my while.
Mrs. Warren's Profession. It's over. Also worth my while, but next time I'll angle for a paycheck. Lost the smoking bet with my stage crew partner (a good thing in this case), so I bought her a sandwich. Bought myself a jumbo pickle and proceeded to preserve my innards for the next few decades.
The two events listed above have murdered my sleep schedule. At least I have a long weekend coming up.
In a little while I'm off to Berkeley for Shakespeare class with L. Peter Callender. Woot!
One week until Reckless tech.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Today...
A math teacher was duct-taped to a wall and had a stolen cupcake smooshed in his face (the cupcake was later returned to its owner). The piece of tape to cover his mouth was auctioned off for $30.
...I'd like to follow this up with a hilarious one-liner, but it just isn't coming.
...I'd like to follow this up with a hilarious one-liner, but it just isn't coming.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Blog bloggity blog
Saw Vince today in Cinderella at the Lesher Center. It was pretty enjoyable, although they could have turned down the mic volume a tad.
Pleasant surprise: On the way to Mrs. Warren's Profession I ran into Lilith and Gary! We had a nice chat on the train.
Frank compared me to a muppet at one point backstage. Something about the way I poked my head through the door.
Two more weeks of Reckless rehearsal before tech. Which reminds me...
Reckless is not the only component of the spring play. There are also two shorter pieces, one of which is (or was, as the case may be) at student-written one-act titled Sex in High School. About a week ago the administration banned it, which severely ticked off everyone who was involved (and quite a few who weren't, as evidenced by the well-argued-but-poorly-edited speech distributed trough student mailboxes yesterday). Attempts at negotiation have been unsuccessful despite the fact that this play contains nothing that surpasses previous productions (Bat Boy? Cuckoo's Nest?) in objectionability. I suspect that things would be different were it a published work but the deans are unwilling to admit it at this point.
My stage crew partner and I have a bet going as to whether she can last the entire run (ending April 27th) without smoking. She wanted to kill me for the first several days, but it looks like she'll win.
Back on the subject of Reckless. Tim Timko is a very fun character to play (imagine a randy Regis Philbin on crack), but I feel that I don't have a very good handle on Tom. My acting doesn't feel very convincing, and I'm not sure what I can do to fix it. Whatever I do, I need to make sure I differentiate Tom from Tom Jr. Yeah, that's right: I have three named roles in one play (plus Third Doctor, for which I have all of six lines).
We've moved on to our third and final art assignment in Humanitas. This one is a diptych: who you are and who you are becoming. I'm about halfway done, and I'll try to post pictures of the finished work.
History of Justice has finally become interesting, now that we are working on our research papers. Mine is outlining the strategy for convincing the Supreme Court to overturn Walz v. Tax Commision of the City of New York. What that? You've never heard of that case? Shame on you! It is one of the most infamous, almost as egregious as Plessy v. Ferguson, in standing since...okay, it was just a ruling about churches holding tax-exempt status, but I still say it violates the Establishment Clause.
And that is my life in a mix of sound bites and paragraphs.
Oh, yeah: one week until senior prom. I wasn't initially planning to go, but I changed my mind. At least I got a free suit out of it.
Pleasant surprise: On the way to Mrs. Warren's Profession I ran into Lilith and Gary! We had a nice chat on the train.
Frank compared me to a muppet at one point backstage. Something about the way I poked my head through the door.
Two more weeks of Reckless rehearsal before tech. Which reminds me...
Reckless is not the only component of the spring play. There are also two shorter pieces, one of which is (or was, as the case may be) at student-written one-act titled Sex in High School. About a week ago the administration banned it, which severely ticked off everyone who was involved (and quite a few who weren't, as evidenced by the well-argued-but-poorly-edited speech distributed trough student mailboxes yesterday). Attempts at negotiation have been unsuccessful despite the fact that this play contains nothing that surpasses previous productions (Bat Boy? Cuckoo's Nest?) in objectionability. I suspect that things would be different were it a published work but the deans are unwilling to admit it at this point.
My stage crew partner and I have a bet going as to whether she can last the entire run (ending April 27th) without smoking. She wanted to kill me for the first several days, but it looks like she'll win.
Back on the subject of Reckless. Tim Timko is a very fun character to play (imagine a randy Regis Philbin on crack), but I feel that I don't have a very good handle on Tom. My acting doesn't feel very convincing, and I'm not sure what I can do to fix it. Whatever I do, I need to make sure I differentiate Tom from Tom Jr. Yeah, that's right: I have three named roles in one play (plus Third Doctor, for which I have all of six lines).
We've moved on to our third and final art assignment in Humanitas. This one is a diptych: who you are and who you are becoming. I'm about halfway done, and I'll try to post pictures of the finished work.
History of Justice has finally become interesting, now that we are working on our research papers. Mine is outlining the strategy for convincing the Supreme Court to overturn Walz v. Tax Commision of the City of New York. What that? You've never heard of that case? Shame on you! It is one of the most infamous, almost as egregious as Plessy v. Ferguson, in standing since...okay, it was just a ruling about churches holding tax-exempt status, but I still say it violates the Establishment Clause.
And that is my life in a mix of sound bites and paragraphs.
Oh, yeah: one week until senior prom. I wasn't initially planning to go, but I changed my mind. At least I got a free suit out of it.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Sleuth
[The below review will be fairly spoiler-free until otherwise noted.]
This afternoon I saw the recent remake of Sleuth. For those of you unfamiliar, Sleuth was a 1972 thriller starring Sir Lawrence Olivier as Andrew Wyke and Michael Caine as Milo Tindel, whose actions and attitudes toward one another result in an escalating series of games of wits and one-upmanship with several major plot twists. Some might find it long at 138 minutes, but it is quite enjoyable nonetheless. The 2007 remake features Jude Law in Michael Caine's old role and Michael Caine in Olivier's old role. Between the source material and Kenneth Branagh as the director I had high hopes for this movie. As it turns out, Sleuth has been considerably diminished, both in length (98 minutes) and--unfortunately--in quality.
Despite being a good forty minutes shorter than the original, Sleuth '07 felt draggier, particularly because the games war took up less of the movie. It was a tad slow to get off the ground (most likely it didn't take more minutes than Sleuth '72, but the latter established the atmosphere right off the bat with the hedge maze), Inspector Black (Doppler in the original) spent too much time making small talk and not enough time inspecting, and by the last third the game just withered away. More on that area later.
Speaking of the beginning, Wyke dropped so many insults in the direction of Tindel's Italian heritage in the first five minutes that I was surprised the character wasn't immediately on his guard, and with the class-warfare angle abandoned the insults didn't even retain their significance.
A high-tech mansion fit Wyke's character perfectly in concept, but too much focus was put on surveillance, modern art, and lighting that doesn't fit a living space at all and not enough on...well, games. It lost the sense of eccentricity necessary for the premise to remain secure.
Tindel's second game for Wyke reeked of heavy-handed terrorism as opposed to wits. As such, it trod dangerously close to breaking the rules.
Now for the biggest mista...I mean alteration from the original: it was hinted earlier, but at least the last twenty minutes of the film solid were spent on a vaguely homoerotic element that was not present in the original. It was not present in the original because it is does nothing for the characters or the plot. First of all, it is made quite clear in the beginning that neither one is gay. Second, even if they were, it makes sense that they would respect one another as adversaries but not that they would be attracted to one another in the slightest. Third, the viewer is left unsure as to whether they were even serious. It just bogged down the movie.
[Spoilers are located below. If you haven't seen the original yet, do yourself a favor and PLEASE stop reading. The '72 movie really is worth watching unspoiled.]
...
Inspector Black talked about hunting after "sex addicts...perverts...homicidal maniacs." Which would be all right if Tindel hadn't already dropped that precise phrase earlier in the film. The guy's intelligent; he would not risk blowing his disguise like that until he had played it to the hilt.
During the aforementioned last third, Wyke offered a truce. Wyke would not do that; he is a proud man, he invited Tindel to his house for the express purpose of putting the young man in his place, and he would never ask for a ceasefire when Tindel had had the last word.
Finally, there is the shooting. When Wyke finally shot Tindel in '72 it was completely understandable that 1) Tindel's revenge games had truly driven him to that action and 2) that, by shooting Tindel, Wyke broke the rules and lost. There was no such support for the '07 version. I knew what was ultimately going to happen and the killing still came out of nowhere. On a similar note, Tindel went flying off the handle too much in the second half of the film. No, no, no! Wyke has the upper hand in the first half, and then control shifts to Tindel, who retains it (and knows he retains it) right up until Wyke breaks. If Tindel is the one who keeps losing composure while Wyke remains calm the shooting is so much less meaningful.
...
[End spoilers.]
I suppose one who hasn't seen the original might enjoy Sleuth '07 more than I did, but given a choice between a good version of a story and a not-so-good version...it wasn't broken, Kenneth, so why did you try to fix it?
This afternoon I saw the recent remake of Sleuth. For those of you unfamiliar, Sleuth was a 1972 thriller starring Sir Lawrence Olivier as Andrew Wyke and Michael Caine as Milo Tindel, whose actions and attitudes toward one another result in an escalating series of games of wits and one-upmanship with several major plot twists. Some might find it long at 138 minutes, but it is quite enjoyable nonetheless. The 2007 remake features Jude Law in Michael Caine's old role and Michael Caine in Olivier's old role. Between the source material and Kenneth Branagh as the director I had high hopes for this movie. As it turns out, Sleuth has been considerably diminished, both in length (98 minutes) and--unfortunately--in quality.
Despite being a good forty minutes shorter than the original, Sleuth '07 felt draggier, particularly because the games war took up less of the movie. It was a tad slow to get off the ground (most likely it didn't take more minutes than Sleuth '72, but the latter established the atmosphere right off the bat with the hedge maze), Inspector Black (Doppler in the original) spent too much time making small talk and not enough time inspecting, and by the last third the game just withered away. More on that area later.
Speaking of the beginning, Wyke dropped so many insults in the direction of Tindel's Italian heritage in the first five minutes that I was surprised the character wasn't immediately on his guard, and with the class-warfare angle abandoned the insults didn't even retain their significance.
A high-tech mansion fit Wyke's character perfectly in concept, but too much focus was put on surveillance, modern art, and lighting that doesn't fit a living space at all and not enough on...well, games. It lost the sense of eccentricity necessary for the premise to remain secure.
Tindel's second game for Wyke reeked of heavy-handed terrorism as opposed to wits. As such, it trod dangerously close to breaking the rules.
Now for the biggest mista...I mean alteration from the original: it was hinted earlier, but at least the last twenty minutes of the film solid were spent on a vaguely homoerotic element that was not present in the original. It was not present in the original because it is does nothing for the characters or the plot. First of all, it is made quite clear in the beginning that neither one is gay. Second, even if they were, it makes sense that they would respect one another as adversaries but not that they would be attracted to one another in the slightest. Third, the viewer is left unsure as to whether they were even serious. It just bogged down the movie.
[Spoilers are located below. If you haven't seen the original yet, do yourself a favor and PLEASE stop reading. The '72 movie really is worth watching unspoiled.]
...
Inspector Black talked about hunting after "sex addicts...perverts...homicidal maniacs." Which would be all right if Tindel hadn't already dropped that precise phrase earlier in the film. The guy's intelligent; he would not risk blowing his disguise like that until he had played it to the hilt.
During the aforementioned last third, Wyke offered a truce. Wyke would not do that; he is a proud man, he invited Tindel to his house for the express purpose of putting the young man in his place, and he would never ask for a ceasefire when Tindel had had the last word.
Finally, there is the shooting. When Wyke finally shot Tindel in '72 it was completely understandable that 1) Tindel's revenge games had truly driven him to that action and 2) that, by shooting Tindel, Wyke broke the rules and lost. There was no such support for the '07 version. I knew what was ultimately going to happen and the killing still came out of nowhere. On a similar note, Tindel went flying off the handle too much in the second half of the film. No, no, no! Wyke has the upper hand in the first half, and then control shifts to Tindel, who retains it (and knows he retains it) right up until Wyke breaks. If Tindel is the one who keeps losing composure while Wyke remains calm the shooting is so much less meaningful.
...
[End spoilers.]
I suppose one who hasn't seen the original might enjoy Sleuth '07 more than I did, but given a choice between a good version of a story and a not-so-good version...it wasn't broken, Kenneth, so why did you try to fix it?
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Must...restrain...video...game...geek...side...of...self...
Can't.
If The Legend of Zelda is not on your interests list, hit the Back button now.
This trailer is clearly an April Fools' hoax. A very well-done hoax, but a hoax nonetheless:
1. The trailer was released on April 1st, which was also the given release date for the movie. Case closed.
2. IGN Entertainment was listed in the credits. I have yet to see that in any real movie.
3. The flashed image of Ganondorf when Link reached out for the Triforce was blatantly ripping off The Fellowship of the Ring. (Wait, I get geekier...)
4. Ganondorf himself was sloppily done. Nobody could take him seriously with that lion's mane.
5. The trailer appears to be based on a combination of Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess (story seems more based on the former, but the scenery seems nearly directly lifted from the latter), but then we get the apparently random inclusion of Sahasralha, who is from A Link to the Past. We're jumping all over the timeline here!
6. Watch the trailer carefully and you will see Link wielding his sword with his right hand. LINK IS A LEFTY! Any devoted LoZ fan would catch this mistake.
7. No. Way. Would the Triforce be as accessible as the trailer indicates.
So why do I even bring it up? Because at the same time it's a little disappointing that it is a hoax. I would really like to see what a GOOD Legend of Zelda movie would be like. Why do I capitalize "good?"
This is why.
If The Legend of Zelda is not on your interests list, hit the Back button now.
This trailer is clearly an April Fools' hoax. A very well-done hoax, but a hoax nonetheless:
1. The trailer was released on April 1st, which was also the given release date for the movie. Case closed.
2. IGN Entertainment was listed in the credits. I have yet to see that in any real movie.
3. The flashed image of Ganondorf when Link reached out for the Triforce was blatantly ripping off The Fellowship of the Ring. (Wait, I get geekier...)
4. Ganondorf himself was sloppily done. Nobody could take him seriously with that lion's mane.
5. The trailer appears to be based on a combination of Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess (story seems more based on the former, but the scenery seems nearly directly lifted from the latter), but then we get the apparently random inclusion of Sahasralha, who is from A Link to the Past. We're jumping all over the timeline here!
6. Watch the trailer carefully and you will see Link wielding his sword with his right hand. LINK IS A LEFTY! Any devoted LoZ fan would catch this mistake.
7. No. Way. Would the Triforce be as accessible as the trailer indicates.
So why do I even bring it up? Because at the same time it's a little disappointing that it is a hoax. I would really like to see what a GOOD Legend of Zelda movie would be like. Why do I capitalize "good?"
This is why.
There it goes again
April Fool's Day today. Normally I don't do anything for the day, but today I spun a story about having dislocated my knee while working at Shotgun Players last night after saying "Macbeth." Only three people even thought to call me on it. Vince only got the set-up, though (he was gone by the time I took off the brace and crutch), so he won't find out it was a joke until tomorrow. With luck he won't kill me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)