~ [ Fanta§tic Voyage ] ~

back to basix

2010-08-25T00:30:00.004-04:00

So I just started posting what movies I've been watching in the JoBlo thread that I used to post in back in 06/07. But stopped.

Here's my first post here

Lately I've just been sitting home and sleeping until late in the afternoon. All this will change next week when I start my autumn semester at GMU. To be honest, I'm tired of just sitting home by myself and doing absolutely nothing. Last year I had a job at least, this year I'm just bullshitting.

So this will be my hobby once again as it was when I started it in December of 2005.

Wow

2010-08-10T00:18:00.004-04:00

Can you believe this shit? last post was on Dec 18, 2007. But that was the time when I used to be watching 2 to 3 movies a day so I would post the total amount of what I've watched every month. Good times. Well, I have no intention of ever really closing down this space, as it allows me to put down my thoughts on "paper" so to speak of whatever it is I'm going through in my life. So far this has been online since 2004. Six years already. Here's to six more. :)

I think I'll turn this into something really awesome one day when I have the money and maybe even some sort of direction other than just posting random rants and whatnot.

I think I'll also update this once in a while with what movies I've seen lately, once again, as before. Keep track of what I watch, kinda.

Been listening to a lot of good music over the summer. Dubstep and autonomic have been charting my music on last.fm lately. It's a cool sound, I especially dig the more "chilled" dubstep, the likes of my newfound favorite Clubroot. We've also got some awesome stuff from Phaeleh, eleven tigers, GYU. As for autonomic, I'm currently listening to ASC very much. His new album, and his The Astral Traveller album which is drum n bass actually, but very spacey.

Awesome stuff really. Consequence gets a mention as well.

I'm kinda going through a downer of a period right and and got a lot of things on my mind, but it only takes one thing or another to "snap" me out of it and realize I shouldn't be comparing myself to others. That's a very important thing to remember, it really helps - and to realize life is like a 'zebra' - thanks to a friend.

I've also started watching Twilight Zone, back in May. I'm almost finished with the second season. I really love this show. Has so much to say about human's stupidity as well as a lot of valuable lessons to teach about life and other things. I can't help it but come back to the pilot episode; "Where is Everybody?" Such a great, great lesson at the end, that need for human companionship and how we can't survive without it - literally, we will go insane. I love it. "The Howling Man" is also another strong favorite of mine.

On this note I'll end this, and I'll definitely keep writing more - since nobody reads this anyways, this is just enough for my own account of my life. Who knows maybe somebody will stumble upon this when I'm gone and will enjoy reading what it was like to bitch in the 00's :)

past four months

2007-12-18T19:26:00.000-05:00

man did i take a long break, somehow after july I became so lazy that I skipped the monthly update of august, september, october, november, december... I had to go all the way back in my posting history on joblo to count up everything i've seen since the last update and create this big list of films here before you. Just 13 days left until 2008 - hopefully I'm able to fulfill the promise I made for myself and that is to knock out Kurosawa's filmography..wish me luck, cos I aint even started on it!

ok here we go.

August 1

a decent detective/sci-fi. While it's plot is a tad far-fetched and unrealistic, it makes up for the entertainment it offers although some of it cliche and predictable. Ray Liotta plays it kool in this, and Linda Fiorentino is...same as in any other movie.

6/10

August 2

August 4

August 6

I'm a FAN of Linklater's Sunrise/Sunset movies, so I sorta knew what to expect in this clastrophobic, dialogue-driven piece of drama...and, I also like movies about 2 people or in this case 3. This plays out like a stage play (because it is, adapted) shot on low-budget, with digital cam, which works for this movie very well, and acted decently by everyone. I was engaged as a viewer and had a lot of fun listening, and reminiscing a few times on the topic of high school myself - which I'm glad is in the past.

7/10

August 9

August 10

as effective as it was back when I first saw it in the 90's as a boy. and the commentary is very informative and entertaining.

10/10 - one of the best sci-fi horror films there is, and ever will be.

Psycho-inspired Hammer production, with a great act from the late Oliver Reed (Proximo in Gladiator) with twists and turns, good for a horror night showing.

6/10

August 11

I regret not seeing this when it was out. Despite the fact that it's essentially a Rear Window "ripoff" for a lack of a better word. It's quite entertaining, and it delivers exactly what it sets out to do. Entertain. I actually find Shia to be more and more appealing of an actor in roles like this. More power to him. Thought it had a great combination of teen romance, drama, suspense. all in PG-13.

7/10

August 12

a so-so spaghetti western that uses the same formula of the badass hero that has a trademark attached to him, in this case, he kills with an axe (blade) whatever u call it. It sports some stylish and interesting shots, but overall not really interesting I thought. cheesy/laughable scenarios.

5/10

August 16

7/10 - in general, a good classic sci-fi, with practical effects. anticlimactic ending though.

August 17

August 18

August 20

has that Cool Hand Luke vibe, but with two leads and racial tensions. Thought the two leads were great and the overall film was easy to watch. Nice ending

8/10

August 21

eastern Dirty Dozen.

starts off fast and keeps the flow going, with an exception to maybe a 1 or 2 slow scenes; it's energetic and entertaining. Fulfilling ending too, with a nice fight sequence that had me at HELLO.

8/10

August 22

quite an informative look into the history of the gangs in LA, and the whole beginning of Bloods & the Crips, spans 5 decades with informative insight into each. Does the job well for someone who doesn't have a clue about the history, so I was pleased.

8/10

August 24

August 25

August 30

a waste of time. plain and simple, never thought I'd say that.

looked like fun, but in the end boring bullshit, the only good thing is weta workshop's special effects, and somewhat decent performance from Peter Feeney (Angus), everyone else sucks, and so does the humor. Retarded.

4/10

sleazy exploitation revenge flick that hits the exploitation revenge cliche pretty well, the most obvious one being They Call Her One Eye (a mute). Story about a good girl, a mute, who's been raped and finally has had it - she goes through a radical transformation on a killing spree! If this sounds like you then by all means check it out.

6/10

one of sly's other silly attacks on the good ol' cccp (first being rocky 4)

as an action film, it has it's "fun" moments despite the believability factor (which is pretty freakin UNBELIEVABLE), but hey Commando is like that too, yet it rocks. This one is merely ok.

as the whole premise, characters, moral - it's pretty stupid, cliche, and untrue. even after you watch the film you can understand what our american friends think about us, oh russians are evil, cold-blooded brutes!! go gallant people of afghanistan!

especially, it sounds quite offensive when the character of richard crenna blames us for starting the war and whiping out a peaceful population, but forgetting the fact when american planes dropped napalm on vietnamese villages. nothing else to say.

mediocre and silly.

September 4

i won't deny that this film is highly philosophical and to my knowledge - original, but it certainly is long, drawn out, and boring. You're watching it, and you're thinking to yourself "Man, Depp is good!" and that's what saves this film, in my eyes. I thought it began well, and had potential to be a highly 'great' film, but it's definitely not for everyone, and more aimed at a certain audience. And Neil Young's score really was a bit too much, it got in the way with that electric guitar too many times and just became redundant.

5/10

September 5

I don't usually watch anime, and for a long time I had some kind of prejudice against this genre. I guess mostly it's because not a lot of what I saw of it really appealed to me. I remember watching Princess Mononoke at one time back in the 2002, and remembering it being quite the cinematic endeavour in my eyes, in the anime department. It had a sort of melancholic atmosphere about it, and what do you know it's from the same director as Spirited Away. Last night, an anime bug bit me and I've decided to watch Spirited Away. Little did I know that this would actually be an amazing, and an emotional piece. I shed tears about 2-3 times, sometimes it was overwhelming with the beautiful sight and music combined to not let emotions break out. This well deserved its' Oscar, and the rating on IMDb.

I think it's wonderful.

9/10

September 6

Being a player, and a huge fan of the game since a boy, I enjoyed this. But when you know the game inside out, you begin to spot many errors (for an average filmgoer this doesn't matter) but some things stuck out (like improper form when taking a shot, etc) but I can let all that go. Since this is an "underdog" story, the archetypes and cliches are to be expected. It didn't really have a great effect on me because stories like these have been run into the ground for too long with a few of them actually being EFFECTIVE. So this was JUST entertaining to me. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of the sport? Could be a factor, I don't know.

This has some nice visuals which I dug, and an overall entertaining flow to it, but I've seen this story too many times and that's why it gets a low grade from me. There's nothing really NEW here to be added in the "underdog" genre.

6/10 - can't bee too harsh, afterall.

i actually thought it wasn't that bad of an adaptation, like Zombie initially set out to do, he added a tad more of a backstory in the first half, which isn't completely good or bad; it's more in the middle. When it gets down to Haddonfield scenes, it begins to feel more like the original Carpenter version, but only modernized. The use of original and new music is also effective I thought. There's the usual Zombie trademark white trash, characters, dialogue, content - but it's to be expected.

a 7/10 from me.

September 8

Director's Cut/International version

I still think that there's too much yapping and not a whole lot of action up until the last 20 mins or so. That's just how 'Tino intended.

7/10

September 9

September 12

There's movies like "Super Size Me" which show you the aftereffects of fast food quite EFFECTIVELY, and NOW, there is a movie that shows you everything that's going on in the politics AND factories of the meatpacking industry. A very, very, effective exposé on what REALLY goes on before you see that "hamburger" on your table.

Linklater, has truly become one of my favorite filmmakers in the contemporary cinema - but with this movie he has shown that he can also make an effective political statement without being preachy, shoving-it-down-your-throat. I thought he handled all the multiple storylines really well, raising highly moral questions that make you really think for a while - and with that - what I think is - one of the most chilling endings in recent memory; you're left pondering and thinking.

9/10

I know this was Miike's take on the "creepy-girl-with-black-hair-meets-cell-phones-meets-spirit-horror" but I couldn't understand what was going on. I can't tell whether Miike was just screwin around with the genre, or was actually serious. If he was serious, then it's a letdown, if not - he suceeded in teasing it, but still a letdown.

There's a neato scene at the abandoned hospital that's semi-creepy. And the scene at the TV show when one of the victims is brutally whacked, but that's about all that is memorable. The ending was anticlimactic too and confusing, and made me scoff. However, on the atmosphere level it's dark, decent enough to pass - visuals are also alright in my book.

5/10

September 15

September 16

September 17

interesting reversal, even metaphorical. But of course, ya can't ignore the fact that this is an american film, they who love to make themselves out to be great heroes. All that aside, this was a decent 2 hours. Propagandistic, yep, entertaining, yep. Some cool compositions, and GREAT score.

almost reminded me of the time the germans invaded us too

long live the partisans!!1

7/10

September 18

a horrifying film. Difficult to watch it at certain times. It's a psychological thriller in the most extreme of the genre. The events take the time over a course of one night during which two young males hold hostage a family that has come to a beach house. Without giving anything away, this SHOULD NOT be missed - and I believe should be seen before the remake. It left me with a very..uneasy feeling in the stomach because it really hit hard. You think that there will be enormous bloodshed, but there hardly any. It's got the atmosphere and vibe of Panic Room (by the way, you would THINK Fincher would remake this one - this is SO up his sleeve.. I remember back when Hostel came up someone brought up the same thing, that Fincher would be a good director for THAT movie too). The acting is so legit that you begin to forget that this is a movie, and you become involved and feel like it's happening to a real family for real. Applause on that department. Direction is extremely tight, without any subplots or excess scenes, and very, very suspensful.

Within each frame, the intensity grow more and more. This evidenly happens towards a vital part in the film, about halfway or more through the film (beginning with a very long one take) the level of inhumanity in this is so grandiose that you have to just stop and think just WHAT was wrong with those people. I saw it coming, but the very last scene before the ending had left me shocked and in stupor.

I could go on writing a huge review, it seems, but the best way is for YOU to just WATCH IT.

9/10

September 19

September 20

i can't even choose the words to describe this, afterall how do you come up with something do describe surrealist cinema? exactly - it's just surreal. There is no plot, it's just dreams within dreams within dreams.

7/10

September 21

an average thriller, and actually predictable. I knew - on the basis of the setting of the film and my own experience living in eastern europe - who were the "bad guys"

unfortunately it's common to find idiots like "them" - but hey, this movie is sort of like a social commentary on exactly this topic. (im not revealing a lot here, so it's okay for those who haven't seen this to go "wtf is he talking about")

5/10 - apart from some tense scenes, this was just average thriller to me.

September 23

September 26

September 27

very minimal, calm, but hard-hitting drama from Bergman, with very beautiful B&W cinematography that amazes. My favorite was the latter half of the film, where intensity plays a large role. Bergman handles silent moments with extreme expertise and knows how to keep your attention alert at all times.

9/10

September 28

i think only japanese can make something so calm, but have such a brutal emotional impact. There's no overacting, or overly dramatic scenes to get a point across. You see it on the actor's and actress's faces. Images speak for themselves, the rest takes care of itself.

this is one of those 'multiple characters' studies, so if you liked Babel, or 21 Grams you definitely will like, if not love, this film.

9/10

September 30

disappointing.. from the preview it looked like at least decent. Large part of this movie is so meh, the characters, especially the main girl was just a ridiculous character. Am I supposed to believe that at the end of the movie she starts 'hearing' him ? At least the soundtrack is good, good tunes play throughout and music is nice. The scenery is very nice and makes me wanna visit Vancouver =D but this movie is unbelievable, but what do you expect?

4/10

Hold's up, and still the superior of the double feature, even though I like DP too PT is just much more entertaining and shows what grindhouse genre is about. A fun time overall. The return of Biehn was one of the things I was looking forward to seeing.

"You have to come with us Wray, we need to talk"
Doc Block: He has to sign her up
Biehn, with that look: "Do what now?"

Fahey did steal the show I thought, and many of the cliches of the genre were a great treat, and I applaud Rodriguez for his attention to detail in that department, jokes did work for me as well. On a purely atmospheric level it succeeds too.

I only wish that this was a franchise, but unfortunately it won't be due to the public's un-interest in it. Too bad. I'd want to see "Don't" and all the other faux trailers (Machete which will happen)

8/10

October 5

October 11

There is a reason why I stray away from giving every movie I like in one way or another that perfect rating. That 10, that by looking at that number, which is just a number, signifies that THAT film had made an impact, a grand impact.

When I look back at most movies I've seen and compare them to what I have just NOW seen, I know, that this perfect 10 is deserving. To really grasp what I'm talking about one has to really see for themselves the beauty this film carries with it. To describe this, I could write a whole essay - but I'll leave it to the Criterion essayists if one is interested. There's also a reason why the Palme D'Or was awarded for this in 1997 - it deserved it. I can't give any film that moves me in one way or another anything lower than a 10. This does not mean one will enjoy it as much as I did, but every film speaks to individuals in different way. As for me, I was moved. From the very beginning - I was gripped by images on screen, by that minimal, simple, everyday feeling that was portrayed on screen. I could go on, but the less words, the better.

I hope somebody reads this and find this film because I can guarantee it, you will love it.

10/10

October 12

BEST FOREIGN FILM 2007 NOMINEE - mark my words.

Russian remake of 12 Angry Men by a famed Nikita Mihalkov (Burnt By The Sun oscar winner). Mihalkov proves here, why, he is at the top of the game as a Russian contemporary filmmaker, and as a filmmaker in general. To take an american version and completely make it his own film takes genius. It is longer than the original film, running at 2 hours and 30 minutes - a mesmerizing play where time blurs and you become immersed in what goes on. Of course I'm speaking about it this way because Russian is my native tongue, I can't speak for everyone because there is a big cultural difference between the east and the west and many things westerners will not understand - it takes a russian to understand "russian soul". Judging it on the basis of general filmmaking, it was a pleasure to watch. Cinematographically, I can only do nothing but applaud the DP, acting wise - everyone has their "scenes" to show for, each and every actor captures your attention when they deliver their monologues and points of views about the case.

I can't wait for others to see this, I'd like to raise awareness of this film NOW, even though there's no doubt in my mind this will be pushed for Best Foreign Film this year. Mihalkov himself said that he would like americans to see his version.

10/10 - what can I say, I'm on a roll for two nights straight with two amazing films.

this is without a doubt one of the most influential political films in history about people's struggle against an occupying force. Even though this is a struggle against colonialism, when you look at it with an open mind it can be applied to any kind of struggle against ANY occupying force; colonial or invading. This is the kind of movie that should be shown to idiots who support the war in Iraq and yet ask the question "why so many suicide bombs??? these people are terrorists GO USA!"

Ennio Morricone's music never seizes to impress.

9/10, very minor nitpicks with some technical aspects. otherwise, an important film gets a 10 from me.

October 17

An eye-opening look into a life of the Eskimo. Everything you’ve ever wanted to know is revealed. It’s the first film of its’ breed and shows and tells a great number about the life of a single family in the harshest conditions on earth. The kind of lifestyle they lead, that was shown before my eyes really amazed me in that how closely-knit they are and mentally strong. You put a single “modern” family in their place, and it will disintegrate into little pieces – but these people, are special. Also, if you ever wondered how Igloos were built – it’s all there. It has its’ faults in the filmmaking department, but essentially the point is brought across. Interesting account of life far from civilization.

7/10

October 19

Journey Beyond Three Seas (1957)

first ever co-production between India and Russia. Based on the real-life merchant Afanasiy Nikitin who opened up a trading path from Europe to India in the years 1466 - 1472. That's a bit of history for you. As for the film itself I can't speak ill of it. I loved it, and that's mainly because it IS a great piece of cinema. Beautifully shot in the widescreen format the film runs at 2 hours and 23 minutes telling us the story of this one merchant who has a strong desire to go to India and discover new people. The scale of this film is masterpiece material. Great art-design, production value, lavish landscapes of both countries, costumes, photography and how about that beautiful SOUL this film carries with it. It's not just about a man making his way to some country. Along the journey he meets evil as well as great people and as cliche that might sound it's done with utmost knowledge and experience of life by the filmmakers (a Hindi and a Russian respectively) Such collaborations are to be cherished, you get to see both lands and cultures from an unbiased perspective. This should be released on Criterion!

great, and touching film I thought.

9/10

October 20

This is by far the biggest disappointment, for me personally. After having seen Hard Candy and being impressed and knowing that this is Slade's next film, I was greatly looking forward to this. I even got the graphic novel and read it in an hour (it's short). Instead, this was so disappointing. I can't begin to describe. It started off good and was setting up the tension pretty well but something happened..and it all went downhill. Things were taken out from the film that explained a bit of a background in the graphic novel -- but nothing major, still it bothered. Then there were also changes done to the "boss" of the pack which to me were bothersome a bit because I liked how it played out in the novel. Slade impressed with Hard Candy, but disappointed (me) with 30 Days of Night. Not much going on, predictable at certain moments. Shaky cam was getting on my nerves. Not scary at all, but then again, it's rare to get scared in modern horror. This ain't no The Thing.

Some 'wow' moments, but few of them, I actually rarely do this -- but during the film I was just quietly crackin jokes with a friend...yeah.

4/10

October 25

Nightmare on Elm Street has an oddly similar concept, the difference is that Elm is a horror film and this is sci-fi. Both released in the same year. I've always thought Max Von Sydow and Christopher Plummer looked similar, and here they are together. Plummer is good at being a villain, he carries an evil presence everytime he's in the scene. Other than that, average 80's sci-fi, but it does have some decent production sets during dream sequences, like the post-nuke setting, some good make-up effects as well as vfx when the dream state is initiated. Everything else is pretty average and unrealistic but hey, it's sci-fi...still when it comes down to entering someone else's dream state without any equipment it becomes laughable.

5/10

a little sci-fi that was ahead of it's time in certain instances. Also the first to begin straying away from the cliche that plagued so many other sci-fi films set on "different planets" as this has absolutely no interplanetary monsters or killer vegetables.

7/10

October 30

got to soak it all in before fully analyzing it. A definite recommendation if one hasn't seen it. Very true and realistic portrayal of what it means to fall on hard times and what determination one posesses to change it all. We see just how badly you must want something that nothing or noone will stop you. To me, it's the epitome of films about determination. Timeless and universal, with an ending that you do not see coming.

9/10

November 2

Not GREAT, but very good. It's refreshing to see the gangster formula that Scorsese perfected taken to the streets of Harlem. At 2:40 mins this runs very smoothly, just like Zodiac did. Despite many talkative scenes the viewer is kept involved (at least I was). Interesting contrast of Danzel & Russel's characters as well. It doesn't hit you right away but it comes to you later when you think about how similar yet different they both are. Great, great, GREAT "infiltration" sequence towards the very end of the film. No words, just action - so intense.

That ending entered my list of favorite endings of all time.

8/10

November 3

November 7

lot's of talking, slow beginning but around the 40'sh mark it gets a bit interesting. Maybe just me but I found this to be a depressing film. I guess it's because this deals with something that's real and it hits on a personal level.

6/10

November 10

second film from Andrei Zvyagintsev, a contemporary Russian filmmaker of philosophical standard. I highly liked "The Return" which was his first AND a winner of the Venice festival. Now he returns with a new film that competed at Cannes this year and won the lead actor the best actor award. It's got a certain level of abstractism as none of what you see really rings a bell. No country is mentioned, no city, or anything to identify the location of it. It only adds to the film's concentration on showcasing the family, not knowing where it all takes place makes the viewer unbiased to the situation. Simply put, this film is about a single family, specifically about a man and woman, husband and wife and how it all falls apart. You won't find any over the top yelling or screaming that normally is present to showcase how it all breaks down, none of it is in here. Everyone is just so calm. It's a very poetic type of film, beautiful cinematography only adds to the already established poetry of it. It's lengthy but because of the expertise of the director and the DP you are glued. Very interesting art-house film.

8/10

P.S. I just want to add that this film has a very very big Tarkovsky influence, both visually and conceptually. I think Zvyagintsev is becoming the NEW Tarkovsky.

November 13

November 14

November 17

I haven't seen anything else from Kaufman or Jonze, but I know that I have to see the rest now. I thought this was fresh, and Nic Cage isn't the bad actor that everybody seems to think he is. It's got it's themes, maybe even metaphors so I'll have to check this out again because it's hard to understand the Kaufman world. I liked how the film itself played out like the screenplay Kaufman was writing and when you see stars from past movies in this, or flashbacks, you begin to appreciate its' complexity.

8/10

Despite the excruciating seizure that I got from looking at the screen trying to put 2 and 2 together and find out WHAT was going on, this movie had kept me interested just like its' two predecessors did. I am hopefully not alone in this when I say that the Bourne series are some of the best, most realistic action movies ever produced. And that goes for just overall attention to small details in how the real world works. This one had me talking back at the TV for more than 1 instance, as well as having the "o" face on me. Some pretty hardcore chase scenes, especially these two (Supremacy, Ultimatum) that made me go "whoa". Having said all of that, biggest nit pick with this is that Greengrass should cut down on the hectic camerawork. I am NOT against it, the handycam stuff actually adds on to the REALISM, but when it comes down to some action it just goes WAY too A.D.D. for me.

I'd like someone else take on the fourth film, just out of curiosity and a little bit of "change" in the filming style.

8/10

November 18

I was completely unaware of the fact that Rain Man won Academy awards for Best Actor, Director, Screenplay, and Best Picture. Hoffman of course did an awfully convincing job playing a "rain man" and Tom Cruise plays his usual self, but plays it great as always. I couldn't really get into the movie in the first act, but when it got rollin with Cruise and Hoffman on the road it became interesting. A film about humanly relationship towards one another and how we need to be a little bit more patient with each other. The transformation of Cruise at the end was felt by me especially in the ending scene when everyone gets together to decide rain man's fate. To me, that was the best scene because it had my full attention. For that, Barry Levinson convinced me that he deserved the award. One other thing, Hans Zimmer's earlier scores are really touching and innocent, reminded me of True Romance cue because of how similar the music was.

8/10

November 20

first of an acclaimed trilogy. Fairly short, and the pacing is very good here, same with the structure. Technicolor is so nice, and the overall imagery was easy on the eyes. I thought the story progressed quite well, showing us a transformation of one deluded and cocky samurai into a wise one by the end of the film. Can't wait to watch the rest.

9/10

November 21

November 22

So Soderbergh decided to go back to the Casino heist formula again, and while it's better than the Ocean's 12, this still lacks something. I think Ocean's 11 is the best, and can't be outdone. The vibrant colors were cool and nice to look at. I don't know if it was just me, but it dragged until the finale, which was really short and disappointing. The suspense of the first cannot be matched.

5/10

November 24

I really liked this one. With the unique minds like Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry combined this could be called a surreal mindfuck masterpiece with a romantic spin on it. If one looked at it as a "who would YOU erase" after seeing the film, then you totally missed the point of the film. A great story about real life, about how it all goes starts and goes downhill when you meet your love. It certainly requires a few rewatched and many analyzations to fully "catch on" to what's happening, but the core message is there, amidst the surreal wizardry of Gondry.

8/10

November 25

November 26

November 28

Alone (2007)

second film from the makers of Shutter, which by the way, kicked my ass. I didn't think it was better than Shutter, but as far as the suspense and the scares go, it had some effective scenes. I lost count how many times those "boo" scares actually gave me goosebumps. Directing is tight, good pacing, and the film itself is short - under 90 minutes. Unpredictable to where it was going and caught me off guard. Unfortunately after "the twist" it became very generic - oh well what can you do? Still, an overall nice addition to an already awesome asian horror collection, and to these guys' resume. What's next? I'm down. BTW, the lead is B-E-A-Yootiful, man I found myself a new hottie.

7/10

November 29

Supposed inside look into the lives of skins. I think the only good thing about this is the young Crowe, besides that, everything else is pretty much average. Some cool shots in the beginning and the blue tint added a cold vibe to this but there's not much substance here nor even plot.

4/10

not bad at all, aside from some of the more distracting "shaky cam" during hectic action scenes. This one had me intrigued from the beginning. Very much enjoyed the cast here, they carry it all well. The film itself carries a dynamic therefore always remaining interesting, no stale moments I thought. Another thing to mention here is the location, glad to finally see a film about middle east actually taking place in the real thing so I dug the authenticity here. I guess they're learning from the Bourne series. Berg is looking like a capable action director if he decides to make more of these type of films. Also, I was surprised at Danny Elfman's score, pretty high-tech stuff, a definite change from the usual orchestraic cues.

8/10

November 30

December 1

So I'm liking Cronenberg's direction now after his horror pieces. Is this a newfound collaboration of director/actor? Cos it's working. Overall well made film, I dug this to bits and most of it due to Viggo. You da man knockin off that character like nobody's bidnezz. Mortensen along with Gary Oldman (circa Air Force One) have pretty much nailed the Russian in them, and I would know except when Oldman spoke Russian all I could hear was mumbling, whereas Mortensen's dialogue is very clear to a native listener. He also got down some of the mannerisms as well. The film itself had me by the bawllz and kept me intrigued and entertained all the way through, until - the last 10 minutes or so. The little twist didn't really make me go "good shit" because it just felt, in one word - anticlimactic. Perhaps it was just me, perhaps I was expecting something else, but unfortunately it didn't do it for me and that's what kept this movie, at least for me, from being near perfect. Other than this little nitpick, this was a good addition to the crime family, no pun there

8/10

December 3

December 5

Another very informative and eye-opening doc. from Greenwald about how Iraq war has become a ground for profit and exploitation of american people who work for private corporations. This one is also more technically improved and crafted than his previous works which are great but look 'cheap'. Greenwald is moving up there - new Michael Moore minus screen persona?

8/10

December 6

up there with Saving Private Ryan and other greats of war films. Brutal realistic portrayal of the war, and a story about brotherly love during its' harsh nature. I thought the pacing was well done for a two hour and 20 minutes. There's a perfect balance of story and war scenes so it's not just full on action film. It's got a story to tell and a lesson to teach along the way and I think it does it well. Very well made on a technical level; Kang must have learned from Spielberg's SPR, as I've spotted certain scenes and effects reminiscent of (circa.) SPR. For the most part of the film I was kept intrigued and glued to the screen, but I did however lost a little bit of it during the third act but that's all a minor nitpick; you're bound to get those in any movie.

8/10

December 7

50 minute short documentary shot exclusively on location in Pyongyang following one family, hence the title. To fully know whether this is propaganda orchestrated by the govt itself, instructing Fleury all the way through we'll never know - but it could be very well plausible judging by the state the country is under (Stalinism, in this case Kim Jong-Ilism ) so I'll refrain from bluntly labeling it as such. What is seen here is a happy society, and it's hard to determine whether they're really happy, or not. Unfortunately, the real truth is that these poor people have been brainwashed to such an extent that it becomes hard to 'just watch' it knowing that truth. All that aside, this was captivating to watch as it's one of the very few modern inside looks into this isolated utopia. It could have ran a little longer and Fleury could also have provided at least some kind of narration to go with it such as own views. Technologically; well shot.

7/10

December 11

a 1934 propaganda film by Leni Riefenstahl depicting a six-day 'review' by Hitler of the National Socialist Party. I actually didn't notice until the end that it was close to two hours long - 1;50 to be exact. This film includes many of the speeches given by Hitler which were filmed by Riefenstahl in an interesting way - such as dollying the camera sideways while pointed upward at the tribune at which Hitler was giving his speech. So, innovative for that time. However some of it is a bit tedious where I drifted off but in general it's an interesting experiment. I'd do something like that for sure.

7/10.

Welcome To North Korea

informative and short exposé on North Korea and its' totalitarian state. I find this country absolutely fascinating and scary at the same time. Straight out of 1984, the monuments, the control, loudspeakers that wake everyone up in the mornings.

7/10

December 14

December 15

I have seen Vincent Price's version of this adaptation - The Last Man on Earth, and dug it. There's one thing that I would have liked to see, and actually thought Last Man on Earth did better than this one - use of narration worked well in Price's version and I thought it'd be nice to have at least some of it in this.

Obviously the whole empty streets scenes were done very well and were captivating to watch. For the most part I really liked the first half and the inside look into what it's like to be living alone (or with a dog) and knowing you're most likely all alone. The scene with the mannequin out on the street, which felt like a silly scene at first but became clear later why Smith acted the way he did was intense during the twilight half of it. The dark basement scene as well, had a sort of Silent Hill vibe to it. Smith's good overall, but the silly scenes didn't do it for me. Some of the camera shots and visuals overall were impressive and I applaud Lawrence and his DP for that.

Cons, I don't like the use of CGI for something that could have easily been achieved by real humans and great make-up. Sorry, organic works better for me and it carries a sense of real dread with it than something which you know is constructed by artists on computers, which is why I love traditional make up effects so much. I understand that such things as rhythm and speed of these 'creatures' could not be accomplished by real people, but maybe they could have compromised somehow.

I have not read the novel so I can't say if my next point holds any value, but I would have liked to know more backstory on what exactly happened - what went wrong, this key is not developed well here and if it's not in the novel I guess it's okay here, but does not mean it should be excused like that.

The last half of it was...okay. I did like the building up of the first half but it sort of just became very "cliche" but then again I didn't know what to expect, maybe I was looking for something to blow me away.

The backstory scenes of the evacuation didn't add on to anything in my views, building up some real story to the character so we could care what happens to him - but it just felt like it stopped - like just a cut out of a scene chopped up in three different places.

I'll watch this one again for sure, but it didn't really "wow" me or leave me talking for a long period of time after having seen it. I didn't feel sense of "damn, that was some good post-apocalyptic shit right there" For the most part, I agree with Arrow's review.

6/10 sounds about right. Not a bad movie by any means, just didn't quite get there.

December 18

Acts I & II - Spike Lee's doc. on the New Orleans disaster is worthy of a Peabody award it received. Delving into the event deeper than media has allowed people to see/know.

21

2007-10-31T22:35:00.001-04:00

i got BF2 today, and i probably spent more time TRYING to play, than actually playing. Odd, as I've never had the lag problem. Maybe it's comcast having a bad day? who knows. Listening to GU#28: Shanghai. Starecase - Sunshine.

.

2007-10-08T17:03:00.001-04:00

it really has been a while.

and a while it has been! a lot of things, a lot. a lot has happened. i stopped - wait, let me be straight - lost interest in daily blogging since i moved out here to the east coast. back when i still lived in mound things were a lot different than now all my friends are back there but new ones are here as well. then there's the factor of change that goes in. as you grow up you change.

i thought i should write something here and express my thoughts a little bit. i've been doing some reading the past month. i'm on my third book now and i find myself surfing amazon.com more often than imdb.com nowadays because i'm in constant search for knowledge, for enlightenment.

as you can see, my word-form entrees are replaced with posters of movies i've been watching for the past year. last december, i decided to go on a film watching spree. i've been watching movies before, but not in the extent i watch them now. sometimes i average 4 movies a day, but have slowed down a bit of course. =)

i track every film i've seen for the past year and make a monthly list, or a whenever-i-feel-like-posting list.

a lot of new music has entered my sound vocabulary. mostly i've been listening to the label of "MERCK" which is now dead, unfortunately. some great works from that label.

i'm attending school, yes, NOVA, i'm finishing up this community college (which really, is just another high school) and will be transferring to George Mason as far as I now know.

my interest in cinematography still remains, and as long as that passion is burning it will never seize to exist. i turn 21 on october 20th, and i hope to celebrate it well, around friends and family.

last friday; i went to my best friend hassan's house for a sleepover. we watched Tarantino's Death Proof, followed by Doug Liman's "GO" it was a total of 4 of us, me, hassan, and his two brothers, hammad, and haris. the TRIPLE H after that we went to sleep, and around 3am or so, as we usually tend to do - started to randomly talk about various things in our lives.

in the morning, we went to the store that hassan holds, Budget Beatz - and hung out- later went to a mall while the two were left in charge of the store. saw beatiful babies at the mall and cruised around listening to breakz and other muzack in hassan's car - testing that bass to da full.

right now im sitting and its 5;15pm - the weather....is actually quite beautiful

=)

JULY - 41 FILMS

2007-07-31T21:05:00.000-04:00

july 2

july 4

july 5

july 7

july 8

july 10

july 11

july 12

july 13

july 14

july 15

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july 17

july 18

july 19

july 20

july 22

july 23

july 24

july 26

july 27

july 29

july 30

july 31

72 DAYS - 122 FILMS

2007-07-02T21:32:00.000-04:00

february 23

february 24

february 27

february 28

march 1

march 2

march 3

march 6

march 7

march 8

march 9

march 11

march 12

march 13

march 15

march 16

march 18

march 19

march 20

march 22

march 23

march 28

march 29

march 31

april 2

april 4

april 5

april 8

april 12

This film has left me in tears, not in a few tears rolling down the cheeks, but a lot of tears and a choked up throat.

What a film, and what an ending. No, not just that - WHAT. A. MESSAGE. This is by far my favorite inspirational film.

The film gets to the deepest parts of your soul. It let’s you to think, to understand, how important it is to walk on the least trampled road; to select your own way. This film gives you an understanding of the fact that what is important, is not whether your paths are the same as other peoples, or whether you are intentionally searching for something special, but that it is absolutely necessary to only have your personal path, only your own persuasions and not to attempt to live under someone else’s “hand” and always worry about the fact that someone else will take care of you.
Striking finale. Splendid film, and excellent acting. The boys are very alive and natural in this film. It has everything; drama, comedy and a philosophical meaning…This is what I call real cinema.

The most deserving 10 I've given.

april 14

fun experience, planet terror is especially the most exciting. death proof dragged, only towards the end that stuff got my adrenaline going. kurt russell. man that ending is so true to how those movies ended.

dont..dont..dont. dont dont dont dont dont ! Edgar Wright totally got the trailer thing down, the look, the concept, the atmosphere, everything! I thought his was the best of them all. Eli Roth also got it down, Rob Zombie disappointed me I don't think he "got it" a 100%, but he tried. Machete is going to own as a flick.

april 15

Oh how painful - 80 minutes of pain I had to endure watching this trash. First time I see a Fulci flick, and something tells me everything else is as shit as this. But I'm still going to see the "talked about" Zombi, which is supposedly zombie exploitation (and I'm on my exploitation spree right now, so that one's on the list)

Trash, trash, trash, trash trashtrashtrashtrashtrash. Made me think of Cronos and how he has the endurance for crap movies.

april 17

pretty brilliant.

reminded me of 8 1/2 somewhat, with the concept of a "block" - except, this is better than 8 1/2.

8/10

april 18

april 23

The first in the 7-films saga of the assassin and his child wandering the Japanese country side, in feudal era. This is the first film that tells the story of Ogami Itto, the most fearsome samurai executioner to the shogun. Betrayed, and wanted he seeks revenge on everyone from his former clan who had tried to kill him.

If you're looking for a blood splattered samurai flick featuring revenge as the main entree for the plot, accompanied by awesome old school 70's swish-swoosh sword sound effects and badass zoom ins on characters faces as they deliver their lines -- this is for you. With the recent exploitation genre resurfacing, thanks to Rodriguez/Tarantino's Grindhouse...this film is the perfect dish to satisfy your exploitation cravings.

april 26

Second in the series, we follow the assassin now living on the countryside with his son. A hired killer, he is asked to protect a group that specializes in making Indigo dye from a clan that's trying to steal the secret process. Sending their three best hired 'swords' to do that job as well as assassinating the makers.

As Itto makes his way to the destination he was assigned, he meets an all woman assassin clan (Tarantino loves to borrow i think) that tries to kill him for other reasons (watch the movie)

blood splatter ensues, as well as the continuation of all the elements that makes kung fu exploitation films so dang AWESOME.

8/10 - sweetness towards the end.

april 28

3rd in the series, the continuous wandering through the countryside by our skilled assassin with his child in a cart. This time he's tortured, and beaten - volunteering to save a prostitute. Then he is hired to kill a betraying lord who has sold out his master and his clan in order to gain power.

A little less countryside wandering here than the previous 2, and more enclosed, especially towards the beginning -- the blood splatter (TM) is of course there. What else would the Lone Wolf & Cub series be without it??? As per usual, Itto stands up for the weak and fights for what's right as well as "walking the way of hell" with his son. (I love these two) Some nice swordfights, and a night attack of ninjas on Itto! Also that has got to be the best 'one man army' scene towards the end! Wow, who knew Itto has about 10 machine guns hidden in that cart! LOL 8/10 -- i don't think these movies will gain anything below 8, just too entertaining.

april 30

may 2

may 7

may 10

may 12

This time Itto goes up against a female assassin. I thought this film was actually less badass than the previous 3. This time the dialogue nor settings are as badass as before. I think they even cut back a bit on the "splatter" it's still there, but not to the excess like the previous 3 are. The beginning was promising but then it kinda went back and forth from ok to great again. it's still worthy film

7/10

may 13

hmm, actually really not all that bad. dont know what the reviews for this were but i was entertained. conveys the teen life pretty well. i thought they got the right director for this (coming straight from Thir3een) Ledger got it down good. not bad, i thought

7/10

this is a fairly unknown film as far as I know outside of France. Written by Luc Besson (which indeed has his trademarks) in this. The best description for this comes from a quote in the film. "The Japanese have the Seven Samurai, Americans - The Significant Seven, unfortunately we've got Seven Monkeys" This is an adrenaline infused film about seven friends who's idea of a great time is climbing high rise buildings. And a pretty awesome opening of it shows that (great stunts) the police department doesn't like it, so they've declared them menace to society. A boy with a weak heart is succumed to climb up a tree by two other youngsters, and when he does, he has a heart attack and falls to the ground. The Yamakasi feel guilty, and from there on...it's a fun ride.

This isn't the Seven Samurai, or The Magnificent Seven greatness, although the influence comes from those - it's only an entertaining movie that doesn't require you to think deeply about what's going on. All it wants you to do is just sit back and watch while you chew on your snacks in a dark room on a friday night. If you liked District B13 (another Besson) you would probably like this.

may 17

...My good NESS.

What the f%$$%k was THIS? what did I just watch? This is quite possibly the worst movie I have watched THIS year. I'm not the one to write rant reviews on movies I don't like, but this is just stupid. A sequel to the decent original french parkour film "Yamakasi" in the vein of "District B13", this one takes place in Bangkok...with all "seven" of these "new samurais" going there...for --- %$54 if I know what reason. Cos it's not explained. The beginning there's some brother and sister robbing a Triad tycoon's "Dragon" statue, then escape..then these Yamakasi come to Bangkok and somehow run into the triads and bla bla bla wtf? was going on?

Seriously, the first movie AT LEAST had a plot that made sense, this is just a series of multi storylines that make absolutely NO SENSE at all. Convoluted, confusing, RETARDED. Man, these guys REALLY had to have been paid a salary to reprise their roles for this shitfest. It's so stupid, I'm lost for words. I spent pretty much 80% of the movie laughing and scoffing at the stupidity of it. There's so much idiocy that it becomes unintentionally funny. One of them leaves to "find himself" going back to the temple somewhere in Bangkok, bla bla bla --- another meets up this chick who was seen in the beginning robbing that triad's statue, the other walks through the streets and sees a master training a group of students Thai Chi or whatever it was, then we see it cut to the Master and him practicing -- then cut later to him giving some sort of an "exam" to the master showcasing that he has "learned the skills that be!" whatever. It was so stupid.

Then at the end there's this huge battle between Triads, and they have a choice to get the hell out of there but all 7 of them and including the chick and the brother decide that they "must fight to prove something" whatever.

The only GOOD thing I can say about this is that some visuals saved it from me giving it a big fat 0.

2/10 and I'm being generous + thank your cinematographer, even he couldnt save it though.
Cub 5 - This one is back to basics. Unlike the disappointing 4th film, this one redeems itself storywise and content wise.

may 18

saw this last night with friends. well made, and involving, everything always seems to be happening, no slow, dragged moments. DiCaprio is a good actor, but that accent wasn't very good. I thought everyone did what they could do, a couple of things distracted or were "meh" for me - That's NOT how you shoot pictures Jeniffer, you close your left eye and focus not shoot with both your eyes opened. And Djimoun seemed to overact a few times.

It was interesting look at Sierra Leone, but definitely not Zwick's best, I thought The Last Samurai was really his best. Didn't like Glory all that much.

neil marshall is the one to watch out for, he IS the future of horror and with Dog Soldiers and The Descent he can prove that. Suspense is the main factor of all horror and this movie was all about it. Just like the cover quotes say this has a bit of Jaws, Aliens, and Predator - and I completely agree. Especially the Predator element in the first half was apparent. This movie was intense, well acted, and most of all well WRITTEN. A horror film would not be effective with a shitty script. What's cool about Neil Marshall's movies is that he can take on the whole "Splat Pack" combined and his movies will still be more badass and memorable because they don't rely on gore.

This one is back to basics. Unlike the disappointing 4th film, this one redeems itself storywise and content wise.

8/10

may 20

the last of the series, in which itto ogami finally confronts the yagyu clan that so eagerly wants him dead that they have sent every warrior of theirs to try and kill him. even though it is the last, the ending, while feeling like it was the closure, still ends a tad more like a cliffhanger. Not fully ending the adventure that was so grandiose throughout the series. This remains to have all the trademarks that made the rest so good and memorable; blood splatter, unique kills, fun swordfights, and music. The ending culminates at a snow capped mountain where the term "one man army" is the best description to Itto's side.

8/10
may 21

Rated 11th on Entertainment Weekly's Top 50 Cult Films list. This is a story about 5 deadly trained martial artists whose identity no one knew, not even the master, nor they themselves knew each other. Wearing masks, and specially trained in different style's they posessed skill no one else could match. The Centipede, The Snake, The Scorpion, The Lizard and The Toad.

Whoa. Didn't think I'd find a clever story in a martial art film. First SB film for me and something tells me I'll like the rest. Behind the slick characters lies an actually interesting and involving story about corruption, secretive identities and badazz fight choreography...accompanied by an actually cool score. You can call this a sort of a murder story noir meets martial art. Pretty slick stuff, don't miss out on this piece of celluloid - cause it's entertainment on a friday night.

8/10

Oh shiii.. I think I liked it a lot better than 5 Deadly Venoms -- not to say that, THAT movie was bad in any way, these are just slighly different plot points, because One Armed Boxer is pure 90 minutes of entertainment. Jimmy Wang Yu, so young and so talented, write, direct and star in his own movie. This baby spawned a sequel, Master of the Flying Guillotine which I hear is mad. If you like your dose of martial art without any hype, start with One Armed Boxer. You won't be disappointed.

another generous, slightly higher 8 from me.

may 22

Some call this one the superior sequel, and in a way it is - but not wholly. What made the One Armed Boxer so great is the continuous developement of something that's about to go down. It was like when you pressed play, it kept going until the end. The Master of the Flying Guillotine is a bit all over (at least how I saw it) The opening is not as fast as the One Armed Boxer and not as gripping but still interesting.

This time, One Armed Boxer has opened a new school, and in the beginning we see the Master of the Flying Guillotine, a blind badass who uses his senses for sight, and can jump up out of a house breaking the ceiling like one bad muhf(*43ka. He is the one who is on a journey to avenge his disciples from the first film who have sent him a message before they died. Meanwhile, a tournament is about to go down with fighters from all over Asia - during this fight the Master shows up, killing another one armed fighter (because he made a vow, even if it's not THE one armed boxer, whoever IS one armed, he will DIIIIIIE....lol) So, after all this the One Armed Boxer tells his students to lay low before he can think up a plan on how to get rid of this master. Indeed they do, and when they do - there's a harsh battle between one of the master's accomplices (also from a tournament) that's pretty gruesome and the ending battle between THE One armed Boxer AND the Master of the Flying Guillotine.

Despite some slow moments (the tournament scene) this one was entertaining, and it kept me involved throughout. Its' unique fighters and fight scenes were key in this type of film and thats what matters. However, I have to say something was missing that I was in the first movie - I can't quite tell what that spark was but this one is missing it.

7/10 - you'll be entertained if you love kung fu/martial art overall with over the top fight scenes and plot points (extending arms? awesome!)

weakest of the three, plagued by the blance of multiple characters with storylines. but nevertheless still entertaining. it's just that spidey 3 didn't feel like it had a real "structure" as opposed to 1, and 2. venom was seen only for a few minutes, and sandman didn't have much screentime. it was more about parker and watson - and their love. anyway. entertaining. so i'd give it an 8/10 for now.

may 30

If you feel like watching something along the lines of "Crank" (which I myself have not seen, but know what it's like) then this movie will be a perfect treat. Written by Luc Besson, this is 85 minutes of fast-paced action with energetic foot chases and the amazing art of "parkour" (look it up) complemented by a hip soundtrack with sweet electronic cues. You won't find Die Hard greatness, or else in this - but you will be entertained for 85 minutes if you are willing to let a somewhat cliche storyline/plot slide (although the concept of a closed off District is actually a fresh idea, I don't think I've seen it done in anything else, but then I don't remember) Just like the Besson written 2001 film "Yamakasi" this is a brainless and harmless action film that should be enjoyed by any fan of the action genre.

a decent 8/10. I dug it.

...WOW I think I'm speechless, but not entirely - because I have SO much to say about what I have just seen.

This movie is perfection. An absolute cinematic gold. I wish I could describe what I'm feeling right now...but you could go with a visual instead - I'm grinning like a madman. This is quite possibly the most entertaining 90 minutes I've sat through. From the three characters that I just fell in love with throughout the film and wanted to be real friends with, to the fast pace, memorable quotes, beautiful scenery, thrilling car chases that did not involve any projection, and cinematography --- in a GRINDHOUSE film. Think about it. This is a road movie, about people running from the law and yet, it is SO GREAT. Never in my wildest dreams would I think i'd like it so much. I started this movie with no pre conceived notions, or expectations. Just another grindhouse movie - but this movie kicked me in the ass. The colorful characters, and more specifically the chemistry between Mary and Larry was just priceless to watch. At time I had a stupid grin on my face just observing the two talk.

If you think I'm rambling, see it for yourself

and What. About. That. FREAKING. ENDING!

Gold. Simply Gold.

9/10 -- This is a high 9, quite possibly a 10. Perfect. Just perfect, loved this to bits.

Not as good as the first Hostel, once again, takes a while to "get to it" but you definitely learn a bit more how the 'cell' operates. I especially liked the "bidding war" scene, which gives you an idea of the scope of this thing. I think that the Hostel movies have an original concept, but the execution isn't a 100% success. I liked the character of Stewart, he was interesting to observe, and I'd like to learn more about him and his 'inner struggles' I also liked Todd, there was certainly something about them that made think about. Of course though, this movie has a lot of flaws, screenplay and character development isn't really present - you just learn a few things about them here and there, but when it comes down to the killin' you don't really care for them. I thought the first torture scene had some sort of suspense for sure, and a lot of disgust to it as it was sickening. Also another one I thought had some 'sick humor' in it, but in the end sort of 'kicked you in the nuts' "All fun and games until you [fill in for yourself]"

Yeah, this one was worse than the first, not to say that Hostel was greatness, it did, however contained suspense - but i wasn't a fan of the nudity (give me the fake plasma and good practical effects). But the last half of Hostel to me, was were it was at. Hostel 2 didn't have that suspense, and it's definitely an inferior "part 2". I did appreciate the fact that Roth tried to delve deeper into this network.

6/10

Cronenberg was truly the man of his time, and GENRE. I thought this was an interesting story, and concept. The way it began, and evolved, with the conversations between the doctor and the young scanner kept me interested, but as it went on it sort of became hard to believe how they got him to do the things the doctor asked...which became a tad unrealistic and laughable. Sometimes it dragged and I began to drift off - but for the most part, this film kept me entertained and when it was over the 1 hour and 40 minutes seemed to fly by.

7/10.

june 1

as I'm sure it's been mentioned numerous times - multiple viewings, and that's what i'm gonna do. As of what I thought, presently, without fully understanding its' various scenes and symbolisms. Absolutely touching. Made or should I say, created with utter brilliance, from the music, to the acting, to the lush visuals - this film is strong. I found myself being gripped by the performance of hugh jackman - who invoked emotion to run amok in me. This film has a strong theme, that I don't think has been explored on such a level before, whereas some films might make it subtle, this one is crystal clear.

9/10. Deserves the praise, certainly.

june 2

Fun, fun, and more fun..and then more fun. Haven't had the time to check out the critics reviews, or RT fresh-o-meter, or anyone else's thoughts and opinions on this one. But this baby had me at "hello". Hear's *groans* from everyone who read it. Really, I think this one is the most entertaining in the series. It's the most "grand" out of the three, it's adventure felt interesting to me, and its' many colorful characters, Sparrow, Barbossa, Davey Jones, Miss Swan, Turner...and Chow Yun-Fuckin'-FAT..with a badass scar for what time he has been given were all impressive. The POTC series are guaranteed entertainment, and a good escape from ordinary lives. Don't know what holds for the future of the series...as it definitely didn't feel like a final closure, but I'd be up for 'nother one. Beautiful to look at, and while I didn't really laugh at the humor, I was entertained just by observing it. I don't know what else can be said other than a simple summation of the fact that this is a perfect movie to catch in the theatre with a group of friends or family on a weekend. Because all it is, is a damn good ol' time. Great visuals, colorful characters, grand production, beautiful costumes, visual effects, music...and a fun adventure story.

9/10.

june 3

Never read the comics, so I don't know how faithful it is to them - but from a movie standpoint. Entertaining, and that's all it delivers. Almost makes me wonder why this wasn't a summer release, because really, it feels like a big blockbuster with visual fx to satisfy anyone. That said, don't know why they went with Nic Cage, especially if you compare the younger fella that plays Johnny Blaze in the beginning to him, they don't look like one person at all. So that was one nitpick. I liked the rooftop sequence, and the character of Ghost Rider is badasss. Sequels are a given, I think this is an interesting character.

7/10

june 4

Bizarre. And definitely 'artsy' for lack of a better word - well, we also can call that one "arthouse" i think that's better. Surprising for Cronenberg, as he strayed away from venereal horror and now focused on a different path. Can't say I loved the movie, or "liked" it, but I didn't hate it. A tad long, but all that aside..it carries a message, figure it out on your own I'm still analyzing the film. Some neat performances from Spader and Elias Koteas. I had to read Ebert's review after seeing this, and I think he's got it figured..he also says, you take away everything in this movie, and it becomes a porno flick. Yup, can't disagree with that man. Bizarre this one indeed.

7/10

june 6

Not much to say here, sort of a mad scientist movie this one. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee together on screen. This movie isn't phenomenal horror, I think maybe if you're a 5 year old child you'd be scared since I found nothing to be scared of. Actually some impressive shots in this one. Story is 'ok' funny one liners that weren't intended to be funny in the first place. Nice ending though. One of those occasions that a movie is 'so bad it's good' - a good friday night flick when you're with friends.

6/10

The second feature from the Pate Brothers, first of which I did not see, and I read it was straight to video thus making Deceiver their 'first' theatrical release. This is a relatively under the radar neo noir film starring Tim Roth, Chris Penn, and Michael Rooker (and Michael Parks in a cool small role) I've seen this movie about 3 times now, third being last night and I have to say I still didn't completely get it. Despite the film's interesting and stylistic visual approach, and almost "I-think-Tarantino-wrote-this" dialogue, which is pretty great actually - this movie is too clever for its' own good. I think the plot is convoluted, and most of the time I had a hard time understanding some things. But, as JoBlo said it in his review..if you like your movies to make sense, you won't like it - but if you are willing to put your brain to work, it's for you. Definitely a kind of film that you'd be analyzing after you've seen it, talking amongst yourselves. Pretty intense acting from Roth, and Rooker, and the late Chris Penn proves he can act without cussing and dancing. This movie also feels like The Usual Suspects in noir.

7/10

june 8

Wow...this film depressed me. I literally feel like crying. I don't know what to say, this movie had such a profound effect on me with its' bleak atmosphere and heartbreaking story that it puts me in a very surreal kind of mood right now. Especially those last 20 minutes of the film were some of the best I've seen in movies. That emotional story Travis tells, which unravels into a deep and sorrow dialogue driven scene. The way Wim Wenders uses the camera, with least cuts and editing - sometimes even focusing on the person's face for more than a minute to show us how emotion changes on the characters face, I thought, was just astounding. And who would've thought the lovable Sam Shephard was behind the whole script of this film? I'm amazed. This film needs to be seen by everyone, we can start here. Social alienation is so depressing. Wonderful film, I'll be showing this to everyone I know. I can't praise this film enough. Really, watch this it's a very moving film.

9/10

...I dont know how to begin this blurb, so I'll just say what comes to mind first. Wow. Yes indeed, a very overused word - especially by me, but..wow. This exactly shows why classic movies of the past were and ARE so great. A combination of everything from the visuals, to the production, to the breathtaking acting by Kirk Douglas and to most importantly an amazing script. This film gripped me from the start and didn't let go until the end. Not a moment where I *sighed* or wanted to check the watch, because everything was perfectly executed - everything that makes a film, a TRUE film. What an achievement by Kubrick, I've only seen a few of his films (2001, FMJ, Dr. Strangelove) and thought they were all very well made, but this one is my favorite of what I have seen from him. It is no wonder why he is the most praised filmmaker of the 20th century, he's just GREAT.

That ending shows exactly the genius that is Stanley Kubrick, I could not hold back the tears, moving.

10/10

june 9

Decent, certainly better than Last House on the Left, in terms of filmmaking. Can't say I was 'scared', maybe if i was 5 years old. But being buried alive, certainly is fucked up. And the aspect of the 'whats real whats not' was decent. Some NOES, references in the end. Bill Pullman rocks.

6/10

june 10

Easily one of the best, if not the best action flicks of the '90's. From the start, until the end. it's an adrenaline infused rollercoaster ride. If you think you've seen the greatest action film and have not seen this...you BETTER get on it. Last time I have seen this film in its' entirety was almost 7 years ago, I saw it today..and it was even better this time.

9/10

june 11

june 12

H.P. Lovecroft is f'd up. The stories he wrote.

4 vignettes (one of which is all throughout the film shown between the rest 3) all directed by various directors, one of them who's Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf, Silent Hill). All these short films are short stories by Lovecraft, the mastermind horror genius writer.

I'm not going to summarize you can check here for that.

I think this was decent horror, all stories were f'd up in their own way. The special effects here are old school and are effective, mostly in the last two stories where they were used to a particular limit. The last story was the most freaky out of all of them, and actually carried a message believe it or not.

7/10.

Here, Gore Verbinski shows that he can not only make movies about Pirates, but films actually about something. Totally dug this movie. To me, I think these are the kind of roles that suit Nic Cage best, family man, troubled man, etc. Not to say he should be typecast, saying that they just work for him out of everything else he's done (except The Rock, that rocked) Beautiful to look at, and provides an interesting inside look at a successful man without a successful family all due to his own self. At least that's what I got. But the movie definitely touches on a much deeper meaning when you analyze it, it's not just about a wealthy weather man with problems - it's a social commentary on the american culture. This also has strong ties with American Beauty.
8/10

june 13

an unconventional, black comedy with a sci-fi tinge...or vice versa. Beautifully photographed, and nice to look at. But...I had no idea what was going on, maybe I didn't catch on to something which resulted in me "getting lost" but the plot was all over the place, didn't understand why some of these characters did what they DID, or were presented as they were..symbolic? I don't know, but it's a confusing movie that may require one to use his brain a little bit harder when watching. Won't deny that this was refreshingly different, and original cinema that I've seen but again I can't say it's greatness. Somewhere in between.

7/10, maybe would've been higher if I knew wtf was going on.

Running at 75 minutes, pretty short, right? but the best thing about this movie is the pickpocketing scenes, everything else is sort of meh. Whatever Bresson was trying to get at in this movie - I didn't catch on to, the underlying message or theme of this movie was sort of unexistent in my eyes. Maybe there was none, maybe I'm looking into it too hard and can't see it. Maybe I should rewatch it.

Although a 7/10 it gets.

But all I know is that...

Marika Green = Natalie Portman

june 14

stephen king's adaptation about a dog that gets bitten by a bat and becomes rabid. that's all you need to know. 50/50 movie, first half introducing to characters and their unhappy marriage (a theme by the way) and second half is our demon dog from hell Cujo scaring the shits out of the mother and her son in the car. This is horror. I like getting scared.

7/10

june 15

What can I say, an impressive sci-fi film with a depressing mood. Beautifully everything. I think Danny Boyle is becoming one of my favorites. Spotted elements of Cube towards the end. But if you wanna compare this movie to another sci fi film (especially the last 20 mins) Event Horizon is the one. This movie definitely gets a lil' bit weird in those minutes.

8/10

june 17

haha, i love movies like this one, high school themed. And this one had so much humor in it too, that worked. Well narrated, acted, directed. And the way they made Reese Witherspoon such a bitch was fantastic. Such an entertaining film that would most likely hold up on repeat viewings. Great job Payne.

9/10

such anti-soviet union propaganda, fun montages though, and the training. semi-fun movie too, but it's bad, and its' porpagandistic views don't help either.

"If I can change, and YOU can change, den eeeeeeevaryboooody can chaaaange"

5ish./10

june 18

one of those classic fun horror films that you could watch more than once alone on a friday night or with a bunch of friends and have a laugh at its' (unintentional?) humor, although still it retaining the grossness of the traditional horror. For a few minutes I was saying to myself is that Elias Koteas? yes it is, young and with hair. Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West is gold, a Swiss with an American accent, not to mention his presence in the film overall is intense. Great stuff, of course nothing is perfect in the horror genre, so a couple plot holes here and there were met. But it makes up for horror-comedy, and the kickass THEME that I have now looped 3 times while writing this baby blurb. Where have I heard that theme before!?

7/10

june 21

spaghetti western grindhouse classic. a character who drags a coffin with him to wherever he goes played by Franco Nero, perhaps Italian's answer to The Man With No Name aka Clint Eastwood. Mysterious, sexay (for the ladies there..) and dangeroussss. And also dubbed by someone who sounds a LOT like Clint himself. This was a decent look inside the spaghetti western genre OTHER than Sergio Leone's films, so it's refreshing to see someone else take it on. As for the feature itself, It's short, but it's slow with the pacing resulting in some moments i didn't care for. One of those movies where the character makes the movie - without Django, this movie would be worthless. Franco Nero played his part well, I think he did his homework studying Clint.

6/10

june 22

- trademark Hitchcock spy thriller, about a worker at an air base who is blamed for the death of his friend during a sabotaged fire. From there on, he's chased by the cops and meets shady characters. A noticeable, almost too obvious theme of this film is about the greatness of america, and its' democracy. This is shown through the truck driver that helps him escape, a blind man who believes all men are innocent til proven guilty, and the man's daughter who believes in justice..etc.

40's, so you can expect the laughable, unintentional 'wooden' acting and comical line deliveries...man, especially that blind man who pretty much knew everything about the protagonist til he stepped into his house. That just made me LOL.

It dragged on though a bit for me, especially the circus segment that could've just been taken out - more 'america is great' scene.. i get it.

Then there's the climax that takes place during the Statue of Liberty, with the famous shot that's been copied in Die Hard, Batman, Last Action Hero.

5/10, not my favorite Hitchcock, but that is not to say I hated it. Rating speaks for itself, I think.

june 23

a terrifying look into alcoholism, director Mike Figgis shows just how scary this disease can be. There hasn't been a lot of cinema about it, we mostly see films about drug abuse and how addictive it is (Requiem for a Dream for instance). But now we know there is a movie about alcoholism and that it shows that not only drugs can be addictive and destructive. Nicolas Cage proves here that despite the majority of his films don't show his ability to act, Leaving Las Vegas is his epitome. Elizabeth Shue is the supporting actress, and it's nice to see that the Academy at least acknowledged her ability in LLV with a nomination. She is a strong act, and supports Nic Cage reasonably well. Mike Figgis shows us the reality of what one can do to himself and lose everything. The scenes where Cage is shaking in the mornings because he needs a fix are tightly directed and are intense, almost scary to watch. At times I said to myself "geez" Figgis really knows how to make his audience feel for the characters on screen by showing their imperfections; Cage - an alcoholic, Shue - a hooker. It's a very well made film, and worthy of the awards it receieved and worthy of any praise. But it's also a depressing film that leaves a mark.

9/10

june 25

shiii that's what I call cinema.

I can't remember the last time where I was absolutely mesmerized by a film. Lost Star manages to do just that. Sergio Castellitto is my new favorite Italian actor. Basic plotline is that, a chinese corporation buys parts of a factory from an Italian one, Castellitto plays an engineer that finds out those parts aren't perfect. When it's too late, he makes a trip to China himself to hand over a new perfected part. From there on he meets a girl who translated for the Chinese when they were in Italy, now she is fired because of the boss's disappointment with her translations during a scene in which Castellitto tries to explain that the parts are faulty. Now in China he tries to find a specific plant and asks her to be her translator. All things aside, because I could go on forever describing the plot this is pretty much a 'road trip' film..but it's much deeper, because throughout the film Vincenzo (Castellitto) learns about the Chinese culture, seeing how different it is from that of his; skyscraper apartments that include whole families living, children playing in factory areas, etc. All this is directed with utter professionalism and an understanding of the real world. It's a truly eye-opening film (at least to me it was) complimented with a beautiful, almost euphoric, ambient but subtle score. Beautifully photographed and well written. No excess BS here. It almost has a sad quality in its' atmosphere.

Just an overall truly GREAT piece of cinema. I've never seen Gianni Amelio's films, but this was enough for me to want to see what else he has made.

9/10 if not a perfect 10! that will remain to be seen on repeat viewings.

june 26

gotta spread the love for Hammer Horror. These flicks, there's something about them that's appealing. Maybe a combination of everything that makes a movie; acting, sets, music, etc..Or maybe it's just the presence of Peter Cushing. I'd call this one a bit mis-titled since there is no "revenge". Also a hammer horror without a plothole is nonexistant, so of course those were met. Everything else aside, a fun 90 minutes to kill. I didn't see the first movie, so I don't know how this stacks up to the original but..I can say it's got that 'Hammer formula' that is in what I'd guess many of the Hammer flicks. There are some unintentionally funny scenes, like the fight between some dude and the "Stein's creation". It's also funny how the 'flaw' is that he turns into a cannibal. Ah ha ha!

that's great.

7/10

june 27

Anyone who has seen at least one Jean-Pierre Jeunet film knows that he is a great visual storyteller and this film is not an exception. Visually beautiful, on a scale of epic proportions this film is about not giving up hope when everything else seems hopeless.

It's an unconventional kind of romance film with a tinge of The Notebook.

8/10

june 28

Boondock Saints is in the same vein of the previous works of Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino - it's a mixture of characters, dialogue, humor, and content that were made famous by these two. I haven't seen a film like this before, which is why I can't comment on whether this is a fresh idea or not, but if there hasn't been anything like the plot of Boondock Saints before, then the idea is quite original. Good work by the two main leads Norman Reedus, and Sean Patrick Flanery where Reedus is the humor in contrast to Flanery's more serious take. Without Willem Dafoe, this movie wouldn't be anything - he's the glue, and what fun he's having playing his role!

I can't say I loved it, but I definitely enjoyed it and would gladly give this one a rewatch, this could perhaps be a film where the more you watch it, the more you appreciate what it is.

7/10 Decent entertainment.

june 29

saw this was on tv so I just gave it a rewatch. I know this movie receieved a lot of bs from everyone but I for one thought it was decent. Not a lot happening, only til the end..but my eyes did not tire of seeing Camilla Belle for all that time answering the phone a thousand times and being scared. Plus maybe it's only me, but I appreciated the film's atmosphere and how it was shot practicall all on soundstage, including the exterior. I guess it's the nostalgia in me. Love that slow mo shot of Scarface in the cop car.

610 - rewatchable and fun for what it's worth

man, I don't know if I should give this a rating as I sat through 2 hours of plot going over my head. Maybe the Coen's writing is just too smart for me, maybe it's cause i saw it late at night. Whatever the case - had no clue what was going on.. all I got was two rival gang leaders having a feud and Byrne's character in between all that. Other than that, it was decent, if only I knew what was going on.

based on true story, but you can't deny it feels like a 70's road exploitation movies. So, if you wonder what it's like if Spielberg made an exploitation film - then this is worth checking. But, it lacks something, there's not a lot going on in this film besides holding a patrol officer hostage in the cop car and running away from a stampede of cop cars. There's just no real character development which is why this movie didn't grab me as much. Now if you take a movie like Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (also 3 people, pretty much same kind of plot) in contrast to Sugarland Express - Mary suceeds JUST because the characters are so likeable, and so developed. I understand this is based on true story, but that doesn't guarantee I'll like any movie on the basis of that fact.

6/10, still decent, maybe there's some sort of subtext in that cause it sure felt like it had something deeper than 3 people running from cops to get the baby from foster parents.

I didn't see the original, just the extended 133 minute version. With this movie in the bank, I have faith in Wiseman's future and DH4. Here lies an interesting concept of the war between Vampires and Werewolves - two horror mediums that nowadays or throughout the cinema history has been run into the ground. But Len does something interesting here, he brings them two together and creates a world reminiscent of The Matrix. The constant use of natural phenomena; thunderstorms and rain creates an atmosphere just right for the movie like this. Asides from the appealing visuals there's also an exciting story that captivated me until the finish. And then there's the lean 'n mean Kate/Selene (Shiiit that rhymed; "lean 'n mean Kate/Selene" haha) in tight leather that gives man 'lotta wood. A plus.

8/10

june 30

an alright "monster-animal" picture, nicely photographed. Takes a while to get going, but in the third act it gets interesting. Stiil, i had issues with the quick cutting - which got annoying during the action scenes. Not really scary, just semi-entertaining.

5/10

The most fun I've had at the movie theater this year, and maybe in a WHILE. If you're one of those who are turned off by the PG-13 rating - do yourself a favor and just IGNORE it. All it means is less McClane cursing like a sailor and the now infamous Yippie-ki-yay mother*gunshot*. The rest rings true to a Die Hard film. This reminded me a lot of Die Hard with a Vengeance. It had that same momentum and adrenaline; fast paced and exhilirating. McClane isn't "watered down" in any way AS a character. He posesses the same humor and wit as in the previous films. Despite what you may think of Justin Long, he's actually pretty OK in this movie and not as annoying as the trailers showed him to be. Len Wiseman does a great job of making this movie FEEL like it's part of the DH family and for that I salute him. I have to warn you though, that if your "movie standards" are HIGH, and you like to pick apart an action movie like THIS to such things as plot, and you question everything - you won't enjoy it. There's a few or maybe a lot (seriously there's not really TIME to question anything, you're immersed in the film that you forget everything and you just enjoy it) of plot holes involving the HOWS and the believability factor - you can kiss goodbye. A lot of sequences are pretty insane, but they're done not for the viewer to question why or how that happens but to boomblast your adrenaline to a dangerous high. This is why if you like your 'action' films to be grounded in a reality - you'll scoff at it. But if you go in there to just HAVE A GOOD TIME. This baby is a MUST SEE.

9/10.

P.S. See it with a big audience, prefereably.

testing Last.fm signature

2007-05-16T19:38:00.000-04:00

American Education from a Russian man's perspective

2007-03-30T18:35:00.000-04:00

This is just one small chapter out of the dozens that he has wrote about chronicling his life experiences in the United States over the span of 5 years - I particularly picked this one to translated because he nails practically every point he makes about the education in America - oh man, I'm going to translate the rest of what he says and I'll spread that stuff around like candy cause American people need to have a look at what others think of them and their country and hopefully take a careful look at what they're doing with themselves as well as their country.

I'm a Ukrainian.

here is the translated article.

History 2.10 “a little bit about education”

From a Russian student’s perspective

   I will be brief: educational systems in the US just don’t exist. I haven’t seen this many uneducated people anywhere else. It is agreeable, there are exceptions. Among the Americans I also encountered very clever and educated people, but their percentage in relationship with the total number of ignoramuses is simply incommensurable. What did you expect? Americans read nothing, travel nowhere, and teach nothing. By the way, when you speak to Americans about traveling, they think you exclusively mean tourism in their own country. The majority of them have never visited a foreign country, nor do they plan to. Therefore the idea of other countries is after all, distorted. I swear, they are simply assured that there is no better country than the one of their own exists, not to mention, their little town let. Less than one tenth of Americans have a foreign passport. Moreover, a third of senators only have them. And these people provide can provide for themselves and allow themselves to travel wherever, conveniently. But in their minds it’s not “required”. It is much simpler to watch a report of the status of Europe on the Discovery channel, and to then make decision about the bombardment of Yugoslavia or the assignment of aid to the Ukraine being oriented exclusively on the globe. As for the schools I can give you a small comparative analysis. The child of my associate attended both the Russian and American schools. So I will say this to you: This was like the sky and the earth. Yes, the child wasn’t pleased attending the Russian school. Because there, they are scolded it, are assigned homework, and are asked to come before the blackboard. But in the third grade the boy could already solve complex calculations of multiplication and division, and in the American school he still sketched the butterflies and puppies.

     In the American schools the teacher simply fears children. Children there do not write dictations, do not take tests, and are not asked to the blackboard to show how to solve a problem. And what if suddenly the child did not study and for it the teacher must give an F? It will offend and will develop a feeling of inferiority the child. The simple fact that the child graduates secondary school as a simple moron does not disturb anyone. The basic object in American schools - is gymnastics. I do not argue, it’s wonderful, but nevertheless, the year in which Columbus has set foot on their own country is also necessary to know. There are two forms of schools: public, after the end of which the children do not know how to read and cannot show their state on the map, and private, where education is better, but not considerably, since instructors simply cannot give students F’s as the students will go home and complain to parents, and teachers will be simply fired. Both school and traveling, and everything else in the world for a child in the US substitutes a television set. You can go into any ghetto in Harlem, where instead of the beds there will be mattresses, but a television set will be there no matter what. In my opinion Americans carry out a large part of their conscious life before this box. Television set - this is the basic supplier of both entertainments and information for Americans. If there was no international event being reported on TV it simply means that it does not even exist. Yet American television exclusively illuminates events about USA and Israel, other countries simply do not exist. It’s true, they of course recall Afghanistan, when they begin to bomb it. Or Russia, when a submarine sinks. Educational programs in American television is quiet a sufficient amount, not to mention they are of excellent quality, I, for example, simply adored The History Channel and Discovery.

   But Americans practically ignore these channels. But as for me, besides these two channels in American television, there’s simply nothing else to watch. I had 74 channels, and on half of them I saw nothing but soap operas, on the second half, they showed terrible talk shows. Talk shows - this is a whole different thing. For example, the most casual of the participants on the show are a couple who cheat on each other with their best friends, or how about the daddies, who sleep with their daughters, moreover they begin to explain direct relations in real time before the public. Usual participants in a talk show are homosexuals, zoophiles, lesbians, killers, maniacs. The audience applauds and encourages them. A young and stupid American watches the show daily and thinks to himself: “Wow, then it’s indeed normal - to be a faggot or a killer! – there look, they are even on shown on TV!” Yes, I agree, these terrible shows have already made their way here as well. Alas. Unfortunately. A bad example is infectious. To have a higher education in the US is prestigious. It is prestigious, but it is very expensive. It always killed me to know the fact how Americans had the power to know in advance: if I graduate from certain institute, I will then be making 80 thousand dollars per year, while if I graduate from such and such – I will be only making 75. In this case, this system actually exists, without looking at the ability of a man, his mental acuity and mind. If a diploma exists, it means that the wage is not lower than a certain point. So then, if someone tells you that in the US higher education diplomas are not necessary, do not believe! Although generally, not everybody in the US can allow himself a higher education. Just per year, education will bypass into 20-25 thousand dollars depending on the prestige of the university. This is without considering expenditures for textbooks and stay in the campus. And don’t even get me started on scholarships; in essence, they are only obtained by either Negroes or Hindus, or sexual minorities. However, a normal white person with normal inclinations to obtain a scholarship – Oh no, it’s not so easy. In essence, students take out loans for education and when they graduate, they not only have a diploma on their hands, but also a debt into several thousand dollars. All Americans I know where shocked when I told them that I have two magisterial diplomas. Upon hearing that they indeed made calculations in their mind about how much money I poured into my education. I did not want to disappoint them and did not say that it was almost free. By the way, I remember, how I somehow brought one emigrant from the Ukraine to tears. In 1985 he left for the states in order, as he expressed it,” to give to his sons a good education”. He climbed into the debts, lived half-starving, nearly happened to be sentenced to prison for a swindle, but nevertheless gathered the sum necessary for the education of his kiddies. True, the money he made was sufficient only for college, but even that made him happy. And he was happy, up until the exact moment when he met me. Well, as is usual with emigrants, he began to brag about how he succeeded in life and how his sons obtained outstanding education, and he said whom would they be in the Soviet Union, and such. On what I reasonably stated that college - this is the analog of our PTU, and to name it a good education is possible only with a large stretch.

   And secondly, in the Ukraine I obtained two free diplomas, free of charge, and “the legalization” of these diplomas in the US for me was simply put on “hurray”. I gave documents to an MBA to the prestigious university UCLA. They opened two very big such reference books, looked for Ukraine in the alphabetical order, found my institute. And they say “No problem”. The man was in shock. It was not just a simple shock, he was in a stupor. I quietly maliciously rejoiced.

26 days, 49 movies

2007-02-23T15:28:00.000-05:00

jan 25

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feb 1

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feb 23

15 days, 37 movies

2007-01-25T02:30:00.000-05:00

wednesday, january 10

"i just got through with this - and I didn't know that Vanilla Sky was a remake of this until about a few minutes into the movie when I saw a "familiar" scene..and it was the "mask" that looked strikingly familiar to the one in vanilla sky. I did not see Vanilla Sky, just a few scenes here and there, but I'm glad I saw the original first. This movie really sucked me in. Complex plot, but excellent execution. Requires a rewatch, because I didn't fully "get it" the first time."

"dang, this movie was unexpectedly good. Mamet is becoming more interesting as I continue to see his movies. His writing and stories are as well original.

Although I had a problem with this one..the acting was..not good. I don't know how Mamet could even allow that to pass. For instance in the beginning when the doc is talkin with the patient...that was just laughable, I didn't know whether it was on purpose or really a 'final cut' scene. The plot though is hella interesting. I dug the 'con games'.

I recommend."

thursday, january 11

"surreal flick, that's all I gotta say, but at the same time cool to watch, complex plot which I haven't figured out what it was REALLY about - but symbolism is there. Most surreal one I've also seen revolving around "love""

"boy did he have a vacation..."

"I saw this movie for the first time back in late 2004 on TV, i started watching it and that FIRST 8 minute tracking shot (which is of course not all one take, but cleverly edited) or so scene was what GLUED my eyes to the screen. It was a great set up and when the intro was over the REAL stuff began and THAT was intense.

I just rewatched this, 2 years later, better understanding the movie, with more attention paid - and I absolutely freakin' love it. I took a look at IMDb and I can't believe my eyes at the rating it has. I also never heard this being mentioned on here either. This is by far my favorite Nic Cage movie, favorite DePalma directed movie (other THAN Scarface), favorite Koepp written movie. The thriller grabs you by the balls and the pace at which this movie goes is slick. Love the multiple flashbacks from different perspectives, and those awesome Long shots DePalma utilizes are just sweet eye candy. I loved how it was edited too.

Music was a huge part that I enjoyed too, the score is sweeet sweet sweet. I can't give this movie enough praise and I don't see why it would not deserve it.

What I say to you is that if you hadn't seen it - please do. You might not enjoy it as much as I did, but it sure is not a bad movie for sure, very underrated.

8/10"

friday, january 12

"boring"

"caught an ol' favorite of mine on TNT. It's fun. Always hysterical to watch Tommy Lee Jones in his hippie role. Ignoring its' faults, this movie was actually well shot during some of the action bits around the ship and the submarine, felt genuine - which is what I love in my movies."

"You and me, we're the same" =D

saturday, january 13

"I thought it was average. 7/10. Definitely does not compare to the far superior The Prestige, but then the stories are different anyway so why even compare?

Don't know what was up with the cinematography aspect - either it was intended to be so damn dark that it's hard to see (or it's my monitor) or just plain sucky style."

"fun to watch gwyneth paltrow play a british gal in two realities, one real, one alternate."

"hahaha, this movie rawked. Tim Roth plays a hotel porter and it's his most and only comedic role in his career. He plays this quirky, nervous guy and I couldn't help but laugh at that.

The movie is basically a frame tale; 4 different stories in one night you can read about the premises here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Rooms

there are two segments which are written and directed by Rodriguez and Tarantino. Both of which are the most memorable.

Rodriguez shows with his episode where that whole "children" aspect comes from in his future films (Spy Kids, Sharboy...) and that episode was great laughs, especially towards the very end I found myself lolin'

Tarantino's episode is the trademark dialogue driven story. (he also stars in it) I noticed that most of his segment was shot with steadicam, utilizing LONG single takes, I figured the whole flick was probably shot in two long single takes, plus/minus a few normal scenes. It's pretty much everything you can expect from Tarantino. He references a few movies here and there, including Hitchcock's movie The Man From Rio, which pretty much this whole episode is based off of on. The ending, I gotta say - was funny shit."

sunday, january 14

"Wow...

a movie about a day in the life of 3 friends, a jew, an arab, and a french-african..showcasing their daily lives, which aren't so great. Filled with hate and racism as the main messages of the film this movie had me glued to the screen from the opening credits all the way until the CHILLING ending, to which I had to sit a little and process my mind at what just happened.

Performances are top notch from all three leads, and direction is just outstanding. Easily one of my favorite French films.

I recommend"

"Ho-ly goodness.

what an amazing movie I can't even begin to describe how f'n awesome this is. Wow. I really can't. You have to see it for yourself. Ryan Gosling is going to win an award for this. He's gonna get a SAG for this shit.

And wow at that ending, I got goosebumps. Perfect ending, right on cue. Music is the shit."

just got done with the japanese horror remake fest marathon.

two rewatches and one first time.

boo at Grudge 2, the first one was at least suspensful and actually scary (i watched it at night by myself) but The second one is just sdjkfh454kjfdkfjsd...whatever man, too many characters and cheap as fack laughable scares that sometimes worked in the first one - and here become just laughable.

tuesday, january 16

"great little suspenful thriller from Hitchcock. So this is where the long take trademark really begins.. very exciting to watch those long takes. some bits were stale though, but as usual towards the end the tension always becomes grander in a hitchcock film

talk about false advertising on the poster though, both old one and new cover...i thought Stewart was one of the killers all this time before I actually watched the movie"

wednesday, january 17

"man..it really makes you stop and think about yourself during this movie. shiiiet, I think this is the beginning of my beautiful friendship with Bergman."

"fun to watch."

thursday, january 18

"9/10. movie with a message."

friday, january 19

"wow...after this movie i am simply speechless. I can say this though, if you've ever wondered what war can do to people - it's portrayed here without any bias, or bullshit. This is easily the best film about the effects of war that i have EVER seen. It's actually terrifying to watch. You may think Schindler's List showcased the fascists at its worst, but you're mistaken...because EVERYBODY needs to see THIS film..and what these fucking bastards did to those poor people in the villages. I really have not a single shred of sympathy for any of those fascists that were later caught. Fuck war, this should never ever happen..it should've fucking stopped with WW2.

I'm not even going to rate this movie, because I don't see it as entertainment..nor do I want to associate it with it, not even at how well made it was.

All I'm going to say is that this needs to be seen by EVERYONE."

"my first Godard...and I'm impressed. I can definitely get into the french new wave. I laughed on a few occasions too."

"cutesy little comedy with great performances from both leads, Redford and Fonda. Fonda especially is bonerriffic."

saturday, january 20

"awesome comedy by farrely bros. I couldn't help it but draw comparisons from Happy Gilmore, i'm trying to understand the relationship between the two, or just pure coincidence? (not to mention the same year release date)"

"i forgot how good it was."

"great movie dammit"

sunday, january 21

"slow-ish buildup but nevertheless interesting look inside two aging impersonators of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers reunited again after some years at a christmas TV special to perform one last time.

the performances from guiletta masina and macello mastroani are especially fine, and crafted with the excellence of Fellini, this movie shouldn't disappoint those looking for a warm tale - not to mention a humorous one.

8/10"

monday, january 22

"ho-ly #$%$...i just watched quite possibly the scariest horror movie in a looooong time, or - of 21st century. and who would've thought it's origin was Thailand.

man, my friend who is from Thailand, went back to his homeland in 2004, and when he came back he told me about this movie and since THEN I've tried to see it. I finally found it, and I decided earlier tonight that I'll watch it, I specifically waited until late night for it to have a greater effect on me...and boy did it freak me out. I'm not easily scared with modern day horror - AT ALL. It's all about gore and guts these days with zero substance..the spiritual horror that comes out of asia does it better for me..the problem is - i haven't SEEN many originals - JUST the remakes. But, the recent one that truly had some effect on me was The Grudge. I haven't seen many of horror coming out of Asia, but after watching this horror masterpiece it tells me that I better catch up on it, if they're even half decent as this was.

Man, as you know I barely get past a few sentences after I watch a movie, but this one just begs for huge essay..it oozes with greatness. When my friend told me it was scary, how could I for SURE know when I had not seen it? and now that I have...daaaamn man, had I had a weak bowel or bladder, I would've probably shit and pissed myself, respectively.

the tension really builds from the beginning, and then we see glimpses of the "spirit" in photographs here and there, then we move on to a scene where one of the main characters is experiencing some physical type of 'contact' (think SAW scene with Leigh Wannel's character walking in the room using his camera's flash to light up a scene) the tension and suspense doesn't stop and throughout the film it's balanced... then there's a scene when the two characters are driving down a road at night...and then...it's trick editing that REALLY gets you - I won't spoil that scene, NO WAY that's the beauty of it, that it made me go "FUUUUUUUUUUUCK"

I couldn't tell you how many times I got chills and goosebumps altogether, because I lost count..

the movie just owns on every single level of production in a horror film...w/e that means..but directing is suspenful up the @$$...cinematography hella nice on the eyes...no flashy Pulse-esqueness here, just good ol' fashioned images.

the plot and story of the film is explained. I didn't find it convoluted, I understood everything right away, without any need of rewatching (although I must say, i'm showing THIS BABY to everyone I know...and then THEY can tell me if Grudge 2 sequel was TRULY "scary")

man..this movie just surpasses every modern day horror I've seen lately. But then let's be honest, modern day horror isn't really that great.. I could be hyping this baby right now, seeing as how I was JUST finished with the movie and I'm truly under the influence of it...but I doubt it.

I suggest you hunt this movie down anyway you can if you want your horror refreshed..and DEFINITELY watch this at NIGHT, no f'n afternoon bs here..make it pure after midnight showing..try to watch it ALONE too, cos if you're with a lot of people it won't work much seeing as how you'll be too comfortable..you gotta watch this puppy by yourself in a LOCKED ROOM (which is EXACTLY what I did, believe it or not...and yes, it's still locked, I'm going to sleep here tonight..the comp room)

Anyway, I think I said everything that needs to be said about this. Man, this movie owns..

final verdict: 10/10"

tuesday, january 23

9/10

"a pretty good film about self-discovery

8/10."

wednesday, january 24

7/10

thursday, january 25

film 004

2007-01-10T01:56:00.000-05:00

january 1st (continued)

january 2

january 3

january 5

january 6

january 8

january 9

film 003

2007-01-01T19:12:00.000-05:00

wow! this movie owned me. the script is great, and the acting is superb by Braff. i think it's an important movie, because it studies the moment all people will eventually go through in their lives. discovering true meaning of love, confusion, setting down with their lives.

i recommend to everyone, if you liked Garden State, before sunrise/sunset type of movies.

film #02

2006-12-31T22:21:00.000-05:00

wednesday 12/27/2006

nice performances by tom berenger and mimi rogers, as well as the actress playing berenger's wife.

it was decent. not a big watcher of westerns--so maybe that explains why I'm not praising it. I mean, it's the same feeling like I have with Apocalypse Now; It's not bad, but I wouldn't find myself rewatching it many times. Very impressive visuals though that part, I dug.

thursday 12/28/2006

f'n WOW... i've heard about this movie dozens of times, but never really got around to watching it...so I decided to, and I just got done with it.

To give you an [i]IDEA[/i] of JUST how great this movie is...I paused the movie to go to the bathroom, and I looked at the time and I was 1 hour and 13 minutes into it...the movie devoured my attention. Performances are SICK, especially Pacino - and that classic Pacino speech at the end to Spacey's character...and the TWIST Ohhh man, I didn't expect it at all..

this movie deserves a 10/10

yeah it was alright

9/10 - wows, surprisingly great writing from Damon + Affleck, a movie with a message. Performances by Damon and Robin Williams rocked the show for me. I found myself teary-eyed toward the last few scenes. Contains drama but covers the depression by some humor that works in the end.

"sonofabitch...he stole my line."

:D

friday 12/29/2006

just overall well made, a definite closure to the saga, and a good one. Sylverster Stallone still has it in him, he's a great writer and a director. I liked this movie and with this it only excites me to see how the next Rambo will turn out.

8/10

a movie that will grip you and will make you feel for the main character until the end. emotional, heartbreaking, [i]real[/i]. everyone SEE THIS. Will Smith definitely deserves the Golden Globe nomination, and after seeing this movie - I [i]want[/i] him to win. As for the Oscars...there's no [u]doubt[/u] in my mind that he will be nominated and hopefully WILL win.

saturday 12/30/2006

takes a while to build up, but after the one hour mark, the suspense is greatly intense.

long, drawn out, and sometimes boring. Not saying this is a bad movie, but it's not too interesting EITHER. Just a movie you watch once, and nevermore. And what the heck was up with the Pesci cameo? it was like 1 minute long. You blink and you miss type of scene. Pointless too, such a shame.

and

I liked this movie so much that I had to REWATCH it. Just amazing writing and acting.

sunday 12/31/2006

9/10

my last movie of 2006

with 2007, and this could already be my new years resolution - it is to watch as many GREAT and NEW movies to me, NEW as in movies I have not seen; classics, 80's, 90's, award winning, and all that jazz. I will be now expanding my knowledge of film to prepare myself! woohoo, I will be a walking encyclopedia!

film journal 01

2006-12-26T21:22:00.000-05:00

today is my first of what i hope to have, an ongoing, continuous series of daily film journals. I saw a thread on Joblo, in the general section "how many movies have you seen" and I had this idea from now on to keep track of how many movies, and what movies I see each day or whenever.

at the end of next year i will sum them all up in one huge list.

--
woke up at 12pm..and went down to nova, closed til jan 2. went to best buy, got home..and at around 2pm started watching.

a surprisngly good debut from Tommy Lee Jones, as a director. Interesting plot, and thoughtprovoking theme of loneliness/alienation.

then I went on to

first time for me, in FULL. I saw about an hour of it one time back in 2001 - but never finished. Today decided to get through it all.

This is not a bad film at all, but I don't see myself "rewatching" this anytime SOON, for sure. Very long and drawn out, I don't know what it was, maybe the tiredness, or maybe the film itself - but at times I just felt bored.

performances are great, very nice directing, and visuals. But not very interesting to watch on a regular basis.

edit: 11:46pm - just got done with

one of the better ones, if not, in fact I think it's the best Justin Lin movie so far. Well written, directed, and acted. To the likes of Dazed & Confused/Go type.

officially done...

2006-12-13T21:10:00.000-05:00

not yet, but with 3 of my classes.

math 4 = ah..not sure about that one, it's a developmental

spd110 = speech class - did great on my speech, 95/100, and turned in my paper. great past two classes listening to speeches.

and finally art111, or whatever it's called, did my presentation today, and took the test which we aced (wink wink)

ahh, @12pm, hassan and I, were at class (but he came at like 11:10am, we chilled at my house for a few mins - then we went to campus, both took our tests til 2pm - i don't know how i did on my final for this one, even though i went over that shit. oh wells

i then see hassan around after 2pm mark and we go to my house - then we decide we want to go eat @ subway, which we went to and got our snax - then we stopped by to get the lusciously delicious ARIZONA green tea, which i love - we went to my house and we ate our subs while I played back some scenes from heat (1995), the first heist, and towards the middle where they're spying on deniro and his gang.

anyway, we go over like some chapters for the art class - and then we roll to campus, at 4pm I get there, and sit at my usual spot - by sexy cameron whom I love, and we have fun with for the past 2 classes, lmao/knai. so she's nervous, but when she goes up there, she had given an nice speech, very speedy though. jose was so nervous, he's a great frickin' dude though, man - has a wife, very humorous speech. good shiz.

well, hassan surprises me and when our class is over, he shows up at class and we chill for a lil' bit at class, talkin' to cameron, and saying goodbyes to various people in class. and you know, now as i'm sitting here - thinking...i miss those people already, and you know even though i barely knew any of them, just seeing their faces, working with MY group members, all throughout this semester - i will miss that, because that became part of the routine..and i get very attached to such things, I really do. It's nothing i have control over, because it is just the kind of person i am. and you know, i will get over it of course, but now that this is over, it'll be a little time for me before i can recollect my thoughts and progress. you know, i dont feel the same way for different classes, like the art class or the math class - (but really, just a bit for math) Speech class, and my english class were fun, but the most i will miss is the speech class.

I will actually miss a lot of things from this semester, like playing soccer outside campus on the field every wednesday at 3pm - and then going to my speech class all red in the face, and sweaty. and then waiting for my 7pm art class with hassan - you know, all those little things greatly amplify my state of mind right now - the thoughts that, everything is already gone, and next semester, there will be everything new. and i will get used to that. it's just like that...

i felt like i had to say this - and let it off my chest, because i feel this is the only place where i can truly reveal anything about me, or how i feel, and think. this may not be a big deal to some people, because they are preoccupied with things and they move on rather fast - but for me, it just takes some time - i mean, we are all different - we all think differently, and feel differently.

and now...i have to finish this up - and start writing that paper, before i waste anymore time.

g'night 'n good luck.

--iggz

2006-11-29T00:09:00.000-05:00

Butterfly Caught

[ Massive Attack - Buttefly Caught ]

2006-11-28T01:01:00.000-05:00

HOLLA HOLLA HOLLA

the past 2 days...

2006-11-22T18:46:00.000-05:00

have been unlike anything i had experience SLASH done in woodbridge, or virginia total.

since about 2pm yesterday, I hung out allllll day with chris & kara, until 11pm, and throughout that 9 hour period we have managed to do so much.

played sum ball, drove around, watched zoolander, had dinner at kara's house, went to howison to play, got back, watched tv, went to silver diner for deserts..in other words, a lotta shiznat was dunn.

but today, today was special. today was like the day. woke up nice 'n early at 9:30. ate some breakfast, and chris picks me up - we roll down over to kara's house and sit 'n wait for her best friend holly to come pick us up - because we're goin to the dc, to a natural history museum. she needed to go there for a projekt so we just tagged along.

we drive drive and drive in this living yellow spongebob of a car - i swear. spongebob everywhere! hahahahahaha!

then we try to find a parking space in vienna, since the metro station is there, and we're taking it.

'twas me fairst tiem! very fun...kara pulled out shiznaytload of these metro passes that we used to slide to enter. so like..mine didnt work, neither has holly's but kara's works - and the funny thing is, she used it and the thing is still open..so we just quickly sneak thru bwahahah. we stole! woohoo, thats not good.

oh man, and then it's just too much fun that i could write a whole essay about - but i'm just going to summarize. we get off at DC's national mall..which the conductor in the train calls the "Smith-a-sonian" which we get a laugh out of. It rains, we get wet. we make our way to the natural museum of history..and look around. go to the geology section and the girls work on their stuff while me and chris go and have fun imitatin' Antonio Montana..a political regufee..from COOBA. Wait you like DAT? you like DAT? Taka piss on ya!

anyway we go see the Best Photography which is right around the corner from Geology section.

we spend a good hour in there i'd say. get out and go back on the train/metro and oh man there was just sooo much crazy shit in between everything.

in the end we go to Fuddrucker's and i spell out my name for this dude who serves me and in the end he writes it Igoi. Wtf. Then we see one of the cashiers who serves poppin' one open and chuggin' it down.. .

then on the way home from fairfax we have toooooo much fun. too much, and on that note...get back to the program.

lately i've been feeling kinda strange...

2006-11-19T03:06:00.000-05:00

...my senses are wrong, tired.

.....something's going on i can't explain

i think it's my

VITAL SIGNS

sat. 11/18: a fun day

2006-11-18T22:09:00.000-05:00

so, today was pretty much nonstop fun.

today, yes today: at around 2am chris and i were on aim watching the ever-so-awesome promo trailer of 300 which was shown this year at san diego's comiccon festival, and i promise you - that this movie will own. based on another one of frank miller's graphic novels, and directed by Zack Snyder, director of the dawn of the dead remake.

300 promo trailer

anyway, we decided late at night that we wanna see this "gravedancers" movie that is one of these "horrorfest" over the weekend movie deals.

we go over to howison field first, at 1pm, or around that timeframe - we see that there are guys playing soccer, took up the whole field. so we just kicked around the ball a lil' bit on the sidelines and observed the game. whenever the half time - we'd use the goals. around 3-ish pm we roll over to the movie theatre, while listening to jack black saying "fuckin' cockeas!" bwahah, that never left my head today, i probably said that word over 50 times. "cockeas!" we buy the tix, and have like an hour and a half to chill before the movie. so since the mall is right there...we just go and walk in the mall. never seen so many people at the mall - usually we just go in the middle of the week so that explains why.

we go to books-a-million cuz that's like our little place we hang out. it's weird isn't it? of all the places in the mall, it's a book place - i love it.

so we just skim thru some of the graphic novel of 300 - lookin for the particular helmet POV shot pic in there, which i have no doubt will be in the final movie. speaking of which, there are so many frame-for-frame shots in the movie of 300 (that we have seen in the trailer) that are straight outta the graphic novel. no surprise, cos i read that snyder was going for that sin city approach rodriguez did.

so it's 3:45pm, and i tell we need to roll to the movie theatre. we roll - and get inside. take our seats - first of all i have to say that this felt like more of an outrageous tales of the crypt or masters of horror episode than a friggin' movie in itself. absolute comedy, we laughed more than we were scared. but these days pretty much nothing scares me in a movie: it's more of a cringe since such an outrageous amount of "torture" or "disgust" horror movies get released. the true horror films were made back in the 70's and 80's...the likes of John Carpenter's the thing or William Friedkin's the exorcist now those movies left a mark, and they're timeless horror classics.

anyway, what i'm saying is, this wasn't worth the 8.50 i paid, but alas i had a great time crackin up w/ chris, oh man i haven't laughed like that in a movie theatre since probably 2004.

after we come out, i suggest we sneak in to see another flick...we walk 'n walk and decide we wanna see borat...and yes, we did see borat.

i didn't laugh as much as i did w/ gravedancers..but it's for a whole another reason. it was more of a fun interesting experience for me, observing the "actual" americans. especially in the first few minutes where he's in the metro, that showed pretty much what i already knew. i love the movie, and it's definitely true what sacha baron cohen said in an interview i read; the joke is on the PEOPLE who think that what they see and hear in that movie is real truth about both the country, and the people borat represents. a lot of scenes made me either shocked, or awed (where my mouth was literally opened while i stared at the screen)

after the film was finished, chris drove me home, i ate a sandwich, listened to some plump dj's, played countrer strike source that i preloaded last night, and now i'm finishing up writing this as i listen to the last song of dj krush's "kemuri" on his mixtape code4109

preloading_

2006-11-17T16:57:00.000-05:00

counter strike source

i am lazy to write anything else.

no movie night tonight / maybe tomorrow.

i've been listening to dj krush for the past hour or so

his music consists of hip hop, but it's unlike any beats you have heard. it's very abstract and ambient influenced. melodic and surreal are the words i'd choose to describe. so far i have two of his releases; zen and a mixtape code4109

dj krush - song 1 [ link ] and here's a song for reference

pick 6 words to describe my personality

2006-11-13T22:37:00.000-05:00

i just came across this very interesting thing called the johari window which it says was

"...invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in the 1950s as a model for mapping personality awareness. By describing yourself from a fixed list of adjectives, then asking your friends and colleagues to describe you from the same list, a grid of overlap and difference can be built up."

whoever from my real friends who know me personally checks the blog, I ask you to go to this link and take a minute, or two of your time and choose 6 words that describe me. This will be interesting, as I wonder what the different results will be like for each person that knows me.

CLICK HERE TO DESCRIBE ME

wallpaper_lp

2006-11-12T03:17:00.000-05:00

this is something i quickly put together just a few minutes ago for my desktop so i thought to share.

click for full size: [1440 by 900]

a familiar feeling...

2006-11-11T13:39:00.000-05:00

today is the kind of day that i have experienced before many times throughout my life. the weather, the wind, the sun and the clear sky...all remind me of all those moments in life that I've had this feeling. It's probably my most missed feeling ever. words cannot explain it. you have to feel that wind blowing through the opened window of your room, that warm weather and that beautiful sunlight outside to fully grasp the feeling i am talking about.

it even makes me forget about all the things that i have going on at the moment and instead fills up my soul with just the good thoughts and optimistic thoughts about the future.

no i'm not getting sappy, i'm talking about just how great i'm feeling here

Akcent - Kylie

2006-11-09T01:23:00.000-05:00

Akcent - Kylie

single greatest song eva lol hahah

from my neighbor romania

rndm

2006-11-07T14:34:00.000-05:00

Socr Maniak 3: holy shit!
Socr Maniak 3: guess what
InVinCibLeX17: did uget that
InVinCibLeX17: what?
InVinCibLeX17: the
InVinCibLeX17: fuck
InVinCibLeX17: happened
InVinCibLeX17: !
InVinCibLeX17: ?
InVinCibLeX17: ;-)
Socr Maniak 3: my brother's at howison
Socr Maniak 3: right now
InVinCibLeX17: OMG
InVinCibLeX17: lets GO
Socr Maniak 3: yeah
InVinCibLeX17: i'll change
Socr Maniak 3: i'm gonna get my shit ready
Socr Maniak 3: hahaha
InVinCibLeX17: me too
InVinCibLeX17: LMAO
InVinCibLeX17: rofl

cut chemist - the garden

2006-11-06T22:49:00.000-05:00

"...with more musical numbers that offer plenty of substance once the "wow" factor has played itself out. Best of the latter is the luscious, Astrud Gilberto-borrowing "Garden," which falls somewhere between Zero 7 and Bill Laswell's worldbeat mashing..."

cut chemist - the garden (6:16)

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=DA4FBD9B6C2F741A

the d.c. trip

2006-11-05T19:44:00.000-05:00

ha! that was uber awesometastically fun today!

i was woken up by a call at around 10:40am by my cousin sasha from Ukraine today! we spoke for about 5 mins, and then I played GTA san andreas for about 20 mins, but felt too tired to continue so I went back to sleep - which did not really last long as I got up and put on my clothes and turned on the computer. Listened to music, burned a cd for the trip..bunch of coldplay b-sides and live stuff/white stripes.

around 12 o'clock hassan comes over and we go over jeff's house, we pick him up, get gas and go on to DC! woohoo, while listening to the 2004 hip hop comilation cd i made of all the old skool rap.

we arrived at around 1pm, and went to the freer art museum, we didn't spend a lot of time there, we looked at a biblical exhibit, and looked at some statues and stuff, unfortunately there were no greek nor roman art that we are currently going over in our art appreciation class. so, we go out of the museum, but we're still not finished. we decide to go to the museum of african art. but before that - we decided to eat some of that great persian rice w/ chicken that hassan's mom had made for us. the fun part was the fact that we ate outside of the museum, right across our car as all people walked by, but we didn't care. great experience there. so as we finish our food, we go over to the museum, and spend some time there, didn't find a lot of things we were looking for and left. after that we go out of the museum and walk over south...through this interesting street that was elevated, it crosses a highway that goes eastbound, there is a fountain at the end of this road and it overlooks Alexandria, and it's a nice sight as you can see all the planes touching down and taking off, you can also hear this enormous roar of the jet engines as planes take off.

if you look down to the potomac river, there's this plethora of seafood restaurants right by the shores of it, we decided to make our way down there. i mentioned how it reminded me of a place somewhere on the north east US, like martha's vineyard, and all those other places.

we spoke for a little while down by the rail that overlooked potomac, such as about how we like to travel on airplanes, and the overall excitement. jeff revealed how he had never been on a commercial airline before. and hassan mentioned how from 2001-2004 he traveled almost 4 times a week all over US. then he mentioned this girl he once met on an airplane and had a nice chat w/ her.

we made our way back to the car and drove closer to the heart of dc, the white house.

took us a while to find a parking spot, but we did. i said how i had never been to

this memorial

so, we make our way towards it!

right: hassan / left: jeff

there i took a few pics and we circled the memorial once, we found out all the tickets had been sold for today so we did not get a chance to go up to the roof of it.

partners in crime
-----------------

hassan

jeff

i suggested we track to lincoln memorial - everyone agreed, so we went. on the way we walked through the newly opened world war II memorial that was at the end of the lake that extends its way from lincoln memorial. took a few nice shots there, and we walked towards the memorial.

right next to the lake, not on the sidewalks.

----------

we spent a few minutes inside the memorial (second time now for me) and walked back, as it was getting dark we felt that was it for today.

da man himself
----------

----------

----------

so, on the way back - we listen to coldplay's b-sides and live stuff as this beautiful sun is setting down and vibrant orange red colors appear in the sky!

it was such a relaxing moment driving back home. i felt like all my worries disintegrated into molecules. jeff was. out. poor fella had a long day tagging along with us, so it is no wonder why sleep took over his mind.

all i can say is that, this is why staying at home is just a waste of time if you have nothing else to do. my belief is that we need to be outside and not inside. if every friend is up for a trip to somewhere? i absolutely don't deny that i will go. we now agreed that we are going to be going places as a getaway from our daily mundane lives - which i think everybody needs to do once in a while IF and WHEN they have FREE time.

so

2006-11-04T20:29:00.000-05:00

it seems that i like to procrastinate. a lot

since chris dropped me off home at around 5:30-ish, the only thing i got done was finished the poetry responses for eng class, and i need to get the journal finished..wow and both of those assignments were due last week. Oh snap.

today was fun at howison again, it's so awesome there. we got there around 2pm, and stayed there til around 5pm, we once again practice the bouncing the ball, some techniques, passing, and btwn games shot at the goal. met this one cool dude once again who was there last week too. i think that, from now on whenever i have nothing to do..howison field is the place to be. it's so much better being out in the nature than home in front of comp.

right now i'm listening to some blonde redhead. very good muzack.

i also called ellie today, she didn't pick up the phone but then she called back a few minutes ago, and we spoke for 7 mins - she was planning the museum trip on tuesday, but i told her she can come with us tomorrow and she said that the museum thing is more important so she might reconsider and come with us. she'll let me know tomorrow when she calls.

3 / 4

2006-11-04T14:52:00.000-05:00

last night was like the coolest thing.

3 movies in a row at chris's house + pizza and floor slides!!! and that gay referee video.

watched The Descent, Hard Candy, and Hostel all in one sitting. jeff came with me. we left at about 12:15am on the 4th.

---
now, chris and i decided we're going to howison field to play practice some football (european)

and we're gonna swing by ellie's work so i can find out whether she wants to go to the museum tomorrow for art class.

-ig

home.

2006-11-03T00:03:00.000-05:00

just returned from chris's house. spent my time there since almost 7pm. great time to hang out...reminded me a lot of the time i used to hang out at alex's, and tom's houses during summer.

i met chris' family, who were very nice people. had dinner over there and an overall nice time - in a while.

now i am home, listening to coldplay - high speed...

and ellie is on right now (well, idle) but at least it makes me feel good seeing her sn on there =)

tomorrow is movie night at chris's house. at 6pm we're there..it's gonna be the descent, hostel and hard candy =) we'll watch 2 movies minimum.

i think being over at chris's house really kind of cleared my head for a moment there, it's definitely a change from my usual mundane, routine every day here. plus it helped clear the thoughts like i already said.

nice escapism what i call this.

currently: coldplay - trouble

trouble...

2006-11-02T11:49:00.000-05:00

Coldplay - Trouble

Oh no, I see
The spider web is tangled up with me
And I lost my head
And thought of all the stupid things I'd said

Oh no, what's this?
A spider web and I'm caught in the middle
So I turn to run
And thought of all the stupid things I'd done

And I never meant to cause you trouble
I never meant to do you wrong
And ah, well if I ever caused you trouble
Oh, no I never meant to do you harm

Oh no, I see
The spider web and it's me in the middle
So I twist and turn
But here am I in my little bubble

Singing out
I never meant to cause you trouble
I never meant to do you wrong
And ah, well if I ever caused you trouble
Oh, no I never meant to do you harm

They spun a web for me
They spun a web for me
They spun a web for me

i think this is my current state of mind.

tired and...

2006-11-02T00:46:00.000-05:00

...new idea.

from now on, i'm doing homework EARLY. that was such a long read, man. I had to read 3 articles for US History in the book, about various things. and the class is tomorrow that's why it's so intense.

i was about to fall asleep right there 'n then...but then I got through it, sometimes i thought of ellie and how i can never make myself feel 'open' when i'm around her..but - ahhh..i don't know how to feel either.

currently: spoon wizard - me and spoonice [blue effet mix]

what else was I going to say?

hmm, well oh yea!

do you ever feel like you can't go a day without seeing your friends? it is like that for me, recently..and more often now. I can never feel good anymore being alone. I feel the need for human interaction and communication. I desperately want to get out of my house every day. I have made a few friends in the dale city area, one of them is jeff lives very close, less than 5 minute drive..and there's also chris lives a little further away. they're not too far, yet I feel like i need to see each of these people everyday, every minute. i feel so - alone, there's this feeling of loneliness that is stemming from me and i can't explain.

i try to preoccupy myself with music and movies, but that does not help much. i need to get out and photograph, and i...

i can't even explain myself right here. it's so bad that it's gone to that point where no words can describe my feelings now.

unfortunately.

wish i had a person close to me i could share all my feelings with.

sunshine trailer

2006-10-31T15:49:00.000-05:00

danny boyle's (trainspotting, 28 days later) newest movie

http://www.sunshinedna.com/content/videos/8/stills/danny_boyle_intro.mov

chip

2006-10-30T20:40:00.000-05:00

otle

went to chipotle here in woodbridge w/ jeff and hassan. there was a huge line, but moved relatively quickly. i got a fajita burrito (fajita burrita!)

the last time i remember going to chipotle was in 2004, either with alex and tanya, or w/ bill, tom, and other people. I know i've been there 3 times though, the one where the movie theatre is.

we ate outside, and talked during AND after - one subject was girls of course. hassan and jeff recalled vivid encounters with some ladies and it was a fun time talking/listening.

i have like, a two page paper to write for eng 112...and i didn't even start..oh man and i so don't want to.

yay

2006-10-29T18:59:00.000-05:00

oh man, i just spent a good few hours working these math problems for tomorrow - and what a relief it is to be DONE (well, a few few few more to go) but it's like this weight off your shoulders.

feels very good! I couldn't have done it without hassan's help though..that was fun working the problems through AIM wasn't it? hehe!

=)

6:54pm

a vow

2006-10-29T13:35:00.000-05:00

1:28pm

a few minutes ago i made a vow to myself as I was browsing through The Cult chuckpalahniuk.net as I was listening to Coldplay's In My Place (that guitar is what inspires me to learn the gitbox! [i stole axl's term] =)

the vow is simple, and exciting. i will read the whole chuck palahniuk's bibliography.

and i've been looping this song forever, that guitar riff just gives this sense of hope..

----------------------------------------------

now there's a guy with a truly great mind.

song of the moment: Coldplay - In My Place

time

2006-10-28T19:32:00.000-04:00

----------------------
Athlete - Street Map
----------------------

I would like to think our paths are straight
Disconnected from choices we make
That there is no reason why it can't be like you said

One day it's gonna happen
I don't know when
I'll be on your street
But i know one day it's gonna happen
You're gonna be swept off your feet

I would like someone to make a map
Mark my home and draw some lines that match
All of the reasons why
It can be like you said

One day it's gonna happen
I don't know when
I'll be on your street
But i know one day it's gonna happen
You're gonna be swept off your feet

I don't know when
I don't know why
I don't know when
I don't know why

One day it's gonna happen
I don't know when
I'll be on your street
But i know one day it's gonna happen
You're gonna be swept off your feet

But all that i know is it's gonna happen
I don't know when
I'll be on your street
But i know one day its gonna happen
You're gonna be swept off your feet

http://download.yousendit.com/C2D4846F2F015B3C

beauty

2006-10-28T18:08:00.000-04:00

wow, you can't possibly comprehend the beauty i am seeing before my eyes right now.

out of my window, the twilight, bluish clouds with highlights of orange yellow are flowing in the sky as I listen to the song "Stree Map" by Athlete... thoughts are running through my mind. I feel this tranquility as I just stare outside the window. I can't describe it in words and it is a shame - sooner or later you will all experience this, and you never know... you could have already experienced such sights.

these images will be engraved in my mind for years to come.

"One day it's gonna happen
I don't know when
I'll be on your street
But i know one day it's gonna happen
You're gonna be swept off your feet"

this is how i feel

2006-10-28T17:41:00.000-04:00

...today, and ever since.

----------------------
Athlete - Trading Air
----------------------

Covered ground
Just to reach your house
I know we need to talk
But I can't touch my thoughts
Insides gripped
Scared of what you'll think
Words I can't repeat
Could change all we've got

Set it off
Someone better hit the alarm
Set it off
Someone better help me

Disarm myself
I don't want no one else
All I want is you
All I want is you

Trading air
Once more from the start
I can't open up 1000 paper cuts
People hear
What they want to hear
But they won't change a thing
But they won't change a thing

Set it off
Someone better hit the alarm
Set it off
Someone better help me

Disarm myself
I don't want no one else
All I want is you
All I want is you

Disarm myself
I don't want no one else
All I want is you
All I want is you

say what you will, but it's hard - it's very hard.

song: http://download.yousendit.com/AFC29AAF728CD66F

saw 3 was so sick

2006-10-28T01:59:00.000-04:00

the first two are like child's play indeed.

i don't remember cringing like that in a theatre in a long time. it had some sick traps/scenes.
i have to say that I can't possibly see anymore saw films being made after the third...and if they do - it'll be just feeding off the 'traps' scenario...but as for the plot - no way jose.

a gay ol' time at the theatre though, with chris and his girl cara. Hostel Part II teaser hahaha! awesome!!

visited

2006-10-27T17:55:00.000-04:00

You have been marked on my profile map! Click to zoom-in.

friday nite

2006-10-27T15:29:00.000-04:00

3.22 as i begin to type.

i am sitting here and listening to the emissary on beatport.com he's got some nice tunes. today I woke up at 1pm, the price you pay for staying up til 4am. I am waiting for tonight because me and 4 people, 3 of which are friends from school are going to see saw3. we're planning on 10:10pm show..i'm worried about one thing though and it's: the tickets. I have a feeling that the show might be sold out. Usually "saw" movies produce great crowds on opening nights.

and i'm sittin' and i'm sittin' and i'm sittin' here behind my desk...

i cleaned up my room as i listened to phil k's breaks mix of balance 004

i was thinking of calling ellie or something, and ask her if she wants to go to see a movie with us, but I think twice about it, because i'm sure she wouldn't want to go either. sadly, i so want to be friends with her, but there's a barrier...an invisible barrier, maybe it's a "personal" barrier..i can't explain what i'm trying to say I'm sorry...

new idea!~

2006-10-26T23:29:00.000-04:00

i had just thought of something new that I'm going to be doing from now on!

i had this great idea - i'm going to be posting lyrics to songs I really like and below I'll post the link to the actual song. This means that the song in some way or another has had an effect on me, emotionally or in some other way. I'll post the lyrics, and say a few words about why I like the song, whether it is lyrically or musically and below you will have the chance to download the song. The songs will be up for a WEEK only, because that's the only time I can have the tune up before it's offline. So remember that, and don't miss out.

And of course, I'm writing this to only the people that CHECK this blog. People like alex, hassan, jeff, etc..

--------------------------
Athlete - Chances
--------------------------

Take all your chances while you can
Never know when they'll pass you by
Like a sum the mathematician cannot solve
Like me trying my hardest to explain

It's all about your cries and kisses
Those first steps that I can't calculate
I need some more of you to take me over

If I had the chance to start again
Then you would be the one I'd come and find
Like the poster of Berlin on my wall
Maybe there's a chance our walls might fall

It's all about your cries and kisses
Those first steps that I can't calculate
I need some more of you to take me over

It's all about your cries and kisses
Those first steps that I can't calculate
I need some more of you to take me over
I've no idea 'cause

I can't calculate

How to start again
How to start again
How to start again
How to start again

It's all about you.

I like this song mostly because of the lyrics, really listening and thinking about a few of the lines that are said are so perfect in a way how I felt for a while. Especially the first verse is so great how he brings up an example of a mathematician

"Like me trying my hardest to explain"

that's how I feel sometimes, trying hardest to explain, but I can't...explain some of the feelings to people and you feel like you're so alone on this earth. Or when you're trying to explain some feelings to another person - doesn't matter who, a friend or a girl you like..but you hold back in fear of the unknown response from the person.

here is the link to the song: http://download.yousendit.com/067336423B3B876C

and by the way, if you like this band...just message me: invinciblex17

don't hold back

2006-10-26T12:20:00.000-04:00

...cuz you woke up in the morning with initiative to move,
so why make it harder

chemical brothers' galvanize lyrics say it best.

DONT HOLD BACK.

so i'm not, from now on - training myself to express what's on my mind without thinking twice
about it...of course i'll control myself. I am in control. Not the other way, not my emotions.

and if I feel the need to say something pronto, i'll say it. If you don't like the truth - i'm sorry.

yesterday I got my sweeeeeeeeeeeeet Prodigy hoodie that i'm going to wear to school today, with my nice camo pants! I'm loving the clothes. So now I have to do some reading before I get to my History class...then i'll be back. I'm probably going to visit Jeff today after class. We'll hang out, cause - what else is there to do?

My best buddy Alex had some nice things to say to me, that made me think and realize about what i'm doing wrong. That's why it's time to change things.

BALANCE004 - Phil K!!!!

kalifornia

2006-10-26T00:05:00.000-04:00

why kalifornia? ahh i donno, because i felt like it? (yeah, i didn't feel like typing it this way:

"because i felt like titleing that?") yeah...

so i think i forgot to mention yesterday's mall travel? after english class, me and a couple o' buddies

o' mine, decided we want to hang out - so we did. we went to starbux and that was fun cos we sat

outside when it was blowing winds at 232342343miles/hr. it was cold is what i'm trying to say.

after that, "tom" decided he wanted to go to the mall, and "chris" and I decided we'll go with him.

Since we had nothing better to do at 1pm after we got off class we thought it would be a good idea

to just walk around in the mall. great times there, most memorable bit was when Chris and I looked

for a "directory" we found one at the other end of the mall, and the directory told us to go back to

the opposite end of the mall (we were lookin for this hat place) that was a fun walk n' talk.

so after that, at around 4pm we had to leave, we left..the mall and got back in our cars we left at

starbux. and went home.

---

i could talk about today, but i don't feel like it much. All i can say is, at 3pm I played football (soccer)

it was fun as usual, since it's a lot of us guys from other countries, except Chris, who's american

and who plays football better than the average. dat boi is skilled. All i can say about that game is

that i scored the first goal and after that it was like...6 to 2 or sommin' like that.

oh yeah, um like today i had a test for art appreciation class and i didn't prepare myself, but

hassan and i went to the quiet study part of the library and studied for 1 hour and a half.

we had a lot of fun taking that test too.

and friday is movie night. so far the deal is

hassan, jeff, chris & his girlfriend, tom, and I... maybe someone else too. we're gonna watch

SAWIII

I read a review by Arrow at skool today and he gave it 3 and a half stars out of 4. He says

that this one is amazingly graphic.

Oh wow, I was gonna post his review but Joblo says they removed it per Lionsgate's request.

http://joblo.com/index.php?id=13304

Oh what's this?

http://joblo.com/index.php?id=13321

interesting #_#

jajajaja

2006-10-24T00:11:00.000-04:00

think you know me?

2006-10-23T23:58:00.000-04:00

this is an easy version...

Create your own friendquiz here

camo pants

2006-10-23T21:17:00.000-04:00

blonde hair
red CCCP sickle & hammer shirt
and new camo pants for 9 bucks.

got them today, when i went to the mall with my buddy hassan after I picked him up from class.

man, it's chilly today.

i like going to the mall, this is my 3rd time in two weeks. I think I might go back on wednesday.

I got 30 inscence stix for 2.99 (3.15 total), they had various type, "sex on a beach" "pussy" "love"

etc, and other stuff. I had a math class, and i got a bad score on my test - but it'll change to better.

tomorrow is my English 112 class, I don't know what's going on in there. Man, i'm slacking off in
college. That's not good.

Oh, i went to jeff's place today, around 4-ish, pm..we watched various scenes from Batman Begins.

it's so mesmerizing right now. I have the inscence stick giving off the smoke in front of my
widescreen LCD, and it's so hypnotizing to look at.

I have a StevefromPanama window flashing right now...gotta go.

hybrid - mix on bbc6 10.13.2006

2006-10-23T02:02:00.000-04:00

a must listen for everyone, but...not like anyone gives a... uknowhat.

Tracklist:

Andy Page - Yellow Tracksuit
03:01:98 - Craig Armstrong - Ruthless Gravity
05:09:83 - Eric Serra - Leeloo
05:56:89 - The Emissary - Transfigured Night (Ambient Mix)
07:55:52 - Hybrid - Higher Than A Skyscraper (Orb Remix)
10:18:95 - Thom Yorke - The Eraser
13:53:36 - Lostep - Burma
18:39:21 - Edge 18 - Storm
23:10:64 - Stefan Anion & Starfire - Infearior
26:15:35 - Orbital - Chime
27:42:44 - Hybrid - Catacombs Fireside
31:21:02 - Future Sound Of London - Papua New Guinea
32:51:87 - Metisse - Sousonde (Freq Nasty vs Blim Remix)
36:39:00 - Morgan King - I'm Free (William Orbit)
40:43:00 - Hybrid - Last Man Standing (Ambient Reprise)
41:39:29 - Aphex Twin - Didgeridoo
47:43:00 - Grooverider - Where's Jack The Ripper

http://rapidshare.de/files/37026316/Hybrid_-_6_Mix__Replugged_.mp3.html

back in red

2006-10-22T18:11:00.000-04:00

the shy boy from ukraine that used to live in mound, but then had to move to virginia in 2004 has had a lot of time off from his blogging. He has visited Odessa twice now, Summer 2005, and Summer 2006 - during which time he stayed there relatively longer than the summer before. He came back with a brand new look. The blonde hair (not fully, of course) and with crimson red shirt with the writing "CCCP" smack dab on the chest in white lettering, and the sickle and hammer symbol right below it. He has made new friends, and he has kept in touch with his old friends, he has fallen in love - and he has doubted himself, he has been used manipulated - and he has kissed ass...not realizing what he has been doing. He has had many epiphanies, yet most of them were short term, and seemed to leave his mind in a matter of a night's sleep. He has discussed his problems with his friends, and he has worried too much about things he should not be worrying about. Friends helped him, and he listened and slowly but surely began to realize what he has been doing wrong. He had an epiphany last night.

and no more
will he ever
be the same
man.

he turned 20, on 10.20.2006
his birthday is on 10.20.1986

his name is Igor.

and this is me.

I F%$*(&$N' MET LIAM!!!! OMG! WOW!!

2006-03-25T02:25:00.000-05:00

Holy....[:0][:0][:0][:0]WOW. WOW WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW. You guys have no IDEA, you absolutely have NO FRICKIN" IDEA!!!!.

I will get to that part after my review of the gig, but wow, just wow..this is the most amazing thing that has happened in my entire life.

THE MOST AMAZING thing EVER.

I just do NOT know where to start. This is just...wow [:0]

I got out of my house at 6:10 or so PM...and just went ahead by myself to Washington DC.

It took me about 30 minutes to get to Washington DC, by the time I was in the area where the club "Nation" was, I was a little lost. I stopped off twice to ask for directions, the second time I stopped, I gave this black guy, (awesome dude) my MapQuest directions, he looked at the address and just crumpled my papers and says, "You're looking for "Nation" ?" and I was like "Yeah man!"

- It's right over there, and he pointed where it was and it was right across the store I was in. I was like "whoa balls lol"

I got in there, and the line was already built up at 7:20 or so..I got into the line and just waited there until it was time to check the tickets or some crap. I got inside the club and what do I see...a frickin' line where they check people for stuff, they told everyone to empty pockets and all ( I can understand why though, protection )

This frickin' guy who checked me sucks..he told me I cant have my camera with me, so I took it back to my car..I was not much disappointed mainly cuz my mind was set into seeing PRODIGY for the first, %$*%$%^!!! TIME EVER.

After the 'checkup' I just went into the club...it was koo'

I stood there in the first room thinking "WTF" is this, where's the stage...and surely, I saw all people going to the left, so I followed, and there it is, the main stage.

I didn't go on to the floor, instead, I went up to second floor.

the moment I got onto the second floor, I just stood there by a rail..I could see everything SO GOOD. There was some DJ spinning breaks (I'll talk about his music later)

I just stood there, and then I see this guy walking out of the main stage with bleached hair..and of course I knew who it was..."Adam Freeland" it was just...sooo surreal seeing that man just walk through an audience..I guess some people on the floor didn't know, or realize who he was so they didn't touch him or grab on to him..etc. All this time he was walking, I just looked and smiled/grinned, cause I was a little "struck", seeing this man in 'real time' (more on "real time" later)

But then some chick apparently knew who he was so she kinda stopped him, and touched his shoulder..

anyway..after that, I went up to third floor. And let me tell ya, third floor was fRICKING COOL view. I can't tell you how nice of a view it was. I mean, I was above all these people and I could see the stage CLEARLY. I could see the DJ decks, and of course the first thing I noticed is Liam's setup and a huge background fabric with "Their Law" (album logo) The stage was small, and I was like "whoa, how is Maxim and Keith going to rock it? [B)]

Anyway, this first DJ was spinning some breaks, I really want to know his name because there were about 2 or 3 tracks that were really up in my alley, very COOL and stylish breakbeat. If anybody caught him then, it was the track that he played right before the "Get a Life" track, where there is a sample of a guy voice talking about "losers" and "MySpace.com" The track before that was the most standout track from the set. It was just awesome.

anyway, the first DJ finished off at 8:30...

Adam Freeland comes in...and it was just cool watching that guy taking out his CD-R cases and his silver case full of vinyls..that guy meant business.

He started off his set with a track I knew right away

"Evil Nine - Crooked"

now, after crooked....for about half of his mix..THAT. STUFF. WAS. GOLD. I can't tell you, I JUST CAN'T TELL YOU how AMAZING his mixing skills and SONG choice was. That stuff was just so up my alley it was not funny. He mixed some of the most badddddest (in a good way) breaks tracks I've heard. I so want to know that setlist. Adam Freeland's mixing was just flawless.

He mixed for exactly 1 HOUR. I timed it on my watch...it was funny, because at one point Prodigy director came up to Freeland and whispered something in his ear, Freeland then walked over to a table and grabbed his cell phone, looked at it..and I'm assuming to look at what time it was..my guess is, that the Prodigy director told him "Get off the frickin' stage" probably cause of timing.

Freeland then took his video camera and started filming the crowd and his turntables..I was like "LOL"

This man's setlist was just so cool. When I find out what it is, I will post the tracklist.

Now...when Freeland finished off his set with "We Want Your Soul" the crew came up and took away his turntable deck...then at around 9:30+ I frickin' see LIAM..and I was just floooooooooooooooooooooored. I was just "WOW, is this a dream, or am I really looking at him"

I'm telling you, when I saw the rest of the band, Maxim, Keith, Kieron on the drums..I just can't tell you how much cooler it is seeing them in person, in real time. You can look at all the videos, THE MOST high definition, clearest form of video..but it will never be as surreal as seeing these guys in movement in front of your own EYES. Maxim looked so thin..and Keith was so awesome.. He had a Confederate flag attached behind him. He wore black gear, in the back of his shirt was a Gun, in white. Maxim wore the same kind of black gear, but he had these funny white sneakers on. He had his trademark white paint on his eyes and nose.

"How da fuck is WASH-ING-TON"

it was just surreal hearing that, I mean, his voice, all was REAL, REAL!! I heard it with my own ears.

Liam was behind keyboards so I couldnt see him much, but I looked is way from time to time, although it was pretty dark over there in his place.

There were two guitarist live. I don't know who they are, I don't know if one of them was Jim Davies, but I'm positive I saw Kieron Pepper.

I'm telling ya, if that FRICKIN guy allowed me to go inside with the digital camera I would snap you the COOLEST pictures, I'm a big photography fan, and I know how to snap some cool stuff. I was on third floor with the most perfect view. I saw everybody's face on stage. Sonofa..and what pissed me off is that other people got thru with their digital cams. That just ticked me off.

Oh man.

Liam kicked off the show with Break & Enter, then came Their Law.

I think pretty much this is the SAME setlist that was in Chicago, Toronto, NYC..I mean, I heard nothing different.

I thought Freeland's stuff was loud..but My GOODNESS this was just SO loud that I felt my inside shake. It was so loud that I felt my nose, and my chest vibrating. It felt like the soundwaves just FLEW right THROUGH my body, and not around it.

I just can't tell you about each track, everything was so amazing. Pretty much every original track in that show was in some way remixed. I other than of course "Breathe"

Hotride was so sweet live. I just loved it.

same goes for Warning. Warning is SO LOUD. By the way, was it just me or was it hard to hear Keith singing his Warning lyrics...the bass was just so loud that it overpowered Keith's voice, like it was hard to hear what he was saying.

Firestarter was the remix that we all heard numerous times in various shows. Only like neko mentioned, it was a mix of both, it had original version in there, and then like half of it was remixed...or maybe I'm talking crazy.

Oh man, my mind escapes me right now in terms of tracklist.

anyway, they all left the stage..and then of course "encore" chant, few people were chanting that, but I knew Liam was coming back..and I think the first or second track that was played, was Dead Ken Beats...

DEAD KEN BEATS......AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWESOME TRACK. SO LOUD. And I just can't get enough of that Spanish guitar sample, it's just the most amazing sound. It was loud as frickin explosion. Then I believe came "SMBU"

and before SMBU started, Maxim says "This one goes out to MOBY" and I just laughed cause I know the whole story behind that. I think it was also very appropriate to mention that having it be in the USA, since most know MOBY.

It got a crowd reaction. Not like it didn't get it.

The people loves eveything by Prodigy. When the first DJ spinned they were quiet, not a lot of people, then Freeland came on and he started the crowd, he really warmed us up.

but dammmit. When Liam came on, and Maxim, and Keith..they got the crowd going, right off the bat Keith jumped down to the rail and started touching people, basically started to get them going. Towards the end of the gig I saw a ton of people "swimming" on top of the crowd..I don't know the proper term for it, but they just glided over people's hands, the guards were so rough on those poor people once they got over the rail (of course, the gotta protect the band) but they would just grab their shirts, push them off. It was a funny sight.

observing everything from the top was just amazing. I saw everything, I can't possibly think of any other place that was this nice. Yes, it is nice to be up front towards the rail on the floor..you get to see the band up close and everything, but those people were just sweating and choking out there, I saw how bad it was..they were squished but this is nothing new anyway.

I saw people create a frickin' moshpit... I was like "WTF, moshpit during Prodigy?" people pushed around, etc. It was funny.

Anyway, I just can't express it any better than that. This is quite possibly the most amazing night of my ENTIRE life to date. I've said the same things about other events, but this TOPS everything. Seeing your favorite band which you love, follow for so many years, LIVE..just tops everything in your life. It was so surreal looking at Keith, Maxim, Liam, all in movement with my own eyes...

by the way, what was great is..I didn't act crazy at all during the gig...this is what's cool..I know the band so well, that even live I don't have to jump around, I just saw all those other people down there jumping and wearing themselves down but I mean..I expected that I knew what the Prodigy was all about, and I was just the biggest fan out there (of course, there were others, Neko, Prodigal_One (whom I spoke on the phone after the gig) and others whom I'm forgetting. I just stood there and chilled, I know I'm a big fan but I just didn't act like one, I kept it cool. I just nodded my upper body mostly over those beats.

After the show, I walked out of the club...man, it was like 11pm or something.. i was walking towards my car, but then I saw some people chilling by some big charter buses...so I quickly realized, and came up to those guys, asking "You waiting for the band?" and it was two guys and one girl..and we spoke a bit.. then those guys left somewhere. I then met a Russian couple, and of course I'm from Ukraine so I can speak Russian too..we spoke, and the Russian girl, Maria who was with her friend really wanted to meet the band, as me. We waited for so long, she asked the Prodigy tour director (the Freeland whisper guy) if she could meet the band, but that guy was pretty much a stubborn sumbich..she cried a little too. She wanted to see them so bad.

Well, after waiting and waiting in the cold..we then walked over to the doors that were open, the crew were pretty much taking the equipment out from the stage..well, I didn't hesitate and asked one of the crew members, who was English...such an AWESOME dude. I asked him "whats the next stop..." (but of course I knew it was "MIAMI" ) well he said what it was, and then he said, back to Europe..home, England, sleep and relax..we had a laugh at that.

NOW, READ THIS...cause this is describing how I got the chance to meet LIAM!!!! [:)], something not many of you on this tour had accomplished, I would guess ;-)

I then asked him..."Hey do you know where the band is going to come out"

and I expected an answer that would be "I don't know" or " I can't say" but to my surprise... this guy is like "Now, this is only between me and you, but if they're going to come out, then it's going to be from the corner of (and he shows me where it is)" I was like "WHOOOOOOA" ( in my mind) he then says "I didn't tell you that!" and of course, I shook his hand and said "RESPECT!"

well, we went over to the back corner of the club, and pretty much it was the other side of the charter buses. There were some cars and people waiting out there... Once again, I saw those three people that I met before

[?]

The two guys and one girl, the guy's names were Tim, and Aaron, Aaron was hella drunk but he was a Fan, and when I say "Fan" I mean, A FAN like any one of us on Brainkiller, or Nekozine. I mean, this dude knew his stuff about the band so well that even I was surprised..I mean, this Yankee, and he knows his stuff.

We struck up a conversation with Tim, and this dude is so cool..I got his number and he lives not too far from me.

Then, Aaron, Tim, and I started talking some stuff, America and some politics...

Now...we talk and talk, and I just look where the buses are, and I see these people walking, and the first person I see is Maxim...and then I see Liam, but I didn't see Keith...

and RIGHT AWAY, I run over to the barricaded rail..and just scream for them to come over, I just start begging, and all of us start doing the same. Maxim disappointed me, he just gave the peace sign and got into his car. But then, I see Liam..and Liam looks at us, and walks towards us, and I'm just thinking to myself..."PLEASE OH PLEASE DONT YOU GET INTO THE CAR, PLEASE COME THIS WAY" and..he just gets closer and closer and INDEED HE's WALKING TOWARDS US!!!!! He's walking, and I'm freaking tha FREAK OIUT!!! I'm going insane, my body starts shaking.. I'm freaking out, litterally, my eyes widened.

Liam first signs Tim's construction side helmet, and then I extend my hand over the rail...and Liam looks at me, and he extends his hand towards my hand, and this is the moment where I shake the mans hand..firmly. His hand was so warm..and I just held it for a few seconds...and I look him STRAIGHT in the eye, and he looks at me..kind of smiling, and when he was smiling I could see his teeth, and it looked like he had some gold teeth to the side..

I look at him and he looks at me, and I'm still holding his hand, and I just say..."Uhh..Brainkiller, Nekozine message boards" and Liam goes

"Is that YOU?"

and I'm like "uhh...(I kind of don't know what to say the moment is just so surreal for me)...I just post on there"

and then I say "When's the new album coming out???" and Liam says to me

smiling in this British accent "I don't know man, I don't know" LOL

I'm then once again shaking his hand..and it's sooooo warm..and then I just look at Liam, and he looks at me grinning..and I say to him

"Oh man, I'm so starstruck right now" lookin straight in his face, I'm really just frickin' starstruck..I mean wow, I have like absolutely no words. I jsut didn't know what to say..and after I said that

Liam says: "Oh don't be, don't be" and he then he turns Maria, the girl who wanted to see him so bad, and she says she's from Russia, and Liam's like "You're from Russia?" or something like that.. he was just amazed I think.

He then signs Aaron's shirt (the big fan, like me) and then I think to myself..oh shit I need him to sign something, I extend my hand...and then I say to him to sign it but I think he just didn't hear me, he turned to some other people that were on the other side..

so then I just look thru my pockets looking for something to sign, and then I come across the ticket stub..and I'm like "OH SHIT, GREAT IDEA I'm going to ask him to sign it"

He signed my ticket!!!!

After that, I believe my life has changed. I mean...WOW. When DA F$(*%K does that EVER happen to anybody? It's like I became the most special person on the planet.

When Liam got into his car, and they all drove off..we were all excited. Aaron and I, two biggest fans of the group were just freaking out. He came up to me and hugged me..it was like LOVE..man, like "ONE LOVE" [?] we spent about 15 minutes out there just talking about what just happened to us. We were all just floored. I just said to everyone "OH man, I can now die a happy man" This experience is just amazing. I'm running out of words I really am so hyper right now.

You gotta understand, when a thing like this happens to you, your mind just goes blank, all you can think about is "the moment" when they left, the band...my LEGS were SHAKING...and not because of the cold weather, but because from the fact that I had just made the best decision of my life staying out there, outside for about 2 hours waiting, hoping to see "THE" band, the man behind the music. I stood there, and then I reached across that fence, and I shook Liam's hand, and I looked him straight into his eyes, and he looked straight into my eyes. [:p]

and the biggest thing I will remember from this experience is Liam asking me the question "Is that you?" I felt like the most special person on the FRICKING PLANET.

I swear this is just an amazing moment, I am one of the few who have met this beautiful person IN REAL LIFE, and shook his hand.

I will remember this FOREVER.

[img]http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/7825/liam4fr.jpg[/img]

2006

2006-01-01T14:06:00.000-05:00

Well fellas, or whoever reads this thing anyway.

2006 is here and there's only ONE thing I'm excited for now. It's a week away.

HOSTEL

This is by far the coolest lookin', most disgusting, twisted horror flick to come out since Takashi Miike's torture stuff..and even he said that it was too sick for his tastes!! wow!

HOSTEL

1/6/2006

"Be careful"

"Why's that?"

"You can spend...all your money in there"

McFat

2005-12-01T00:16:00.000-05:00

Mmm, mmm..mmmm! how I'm enjoying this nice double quarter pounder.

I haven't written anything in a while.

This is one random post though.

I'm eating some 'Donlad's and some Dorito's gonna get myself McFat

Can I drive your car now?

2005-10-20T09:39:00.000-04:00

I passed the driver's test. Man was this a long day for me.

First, I didn't sleep the whole night, I didn't. Alex can prove this.

I friggin got to the place at around 7am, and had to wait 1 hour for them to open, first in line. We got our documents signed and all dat, and waited another hour, sooo impatient, finally she came in - with that vest and some folder, and we walked to the car. Asked me to turn on all the crap, testing me. Then we go out..and drove, she just told me where to turn and all dat..EASY CAKE, in 5 minutes we got back, not even a parallel parking. That was uber easy.

Now can I drive your car, please?

19

2005-10-20T00:26:00.000-04:00

Today is October 20th and I have officially turned nineteen years old. Another year passed, another level of maturity and outlook on life gained. I remember exactly a year ago when I patiently looked at the digital watch in Bill's car when we were coming back from a long night playing pool at Moe's house with Tom, Billy and Me. Back then I was so excited. Now, it's ironic, because as I turned 19 I hadn't even realized it because I was too busy looking for the manager of the Food Lion store to clock me out and sign the documents for the service I had done for the night. It's shocking, in a way.

A couple of things I'd like to say, or wish for myself.

I'd really like to wish that I am doing well in college for present time and for the future. Education is the most important aspect of our lives and hopefully everything I will learn in college, I would also like to understand.

I'd really wish that I finally decide what's good for my life and not have to think about it everyday, or throughout college. I'd like to know what it is. And lastly, hopefully everything runs smooth in my life, and hopefully one day I will make my family (that includes all of my relatives) proud, and make their lives a complete paradise.

Anyway, I'm nineteen, and I feel like I'm aging, dammit. You wouldn't believe it, but I really do feel like I just got a ton older.

Sometimes...

2005-10-19T00:58:00.000-04:00

Sometimes...I wish I just didn't have to hear certain things. You ever feel like your day may sometimes be ruined just because of a certain event or a word that you hear? It puts my soul in a different thinking mode. I can't describe it. It's a feeling that one must feel themselves to understand.

Birthday Oct. 20 - Man, I remember when I hyped til the countdown of my 18th birthday, look here. That was last year, I can't believe how fast time flies. We're getting old.

My Lucky Day or: How I Saved a Buck

2005-10-13T15:38:00.000-04:00

It's Thursday. The weather is sloppy today. The sky is grey, it's slightly raining, the wind is breezy. I wore a white long sleeved short today alongside with my worn out light blue jeans. I didn't think much about what to wear today to school. I just opened my closet and picked out a white shirt by instinct. In the end it looked good with my 2 month old black died hair. It matched. It had a contrast. I looked outside while I was sitting at my computer early morning, all dressed up, ready to go, just waiting for the right time to go to the bus stop. I looked outside and it rained. I briefly thought to myself “how am I going to avoid the rain while I walk to the bus stop which is so far away?” Thankfully, the rain stopped. I was relieved. I had less than 15 minutes to get to the bus stop. I had to fastwalk. I got there on time and I still had 5 minutes left to wait. In the end I waited for 10. The bus driver was late. 11:35am is the regular time. I got on the bus and paid a fee of one dollar. As the bus was approaching the bus station, I realized that I had forgotten to buy the all day bus pass that I regularly get on Thursdays when I get on the first bus. I knew it was too late now. It's a fee of $2.15 for the all day bus pass and I had to make 4 trips. To and Back: which without the bus pass would cost me a total of $4. See, at the bus station I make a transfer to get on another bus which stops at the community college that I attend, NOVA, and each time you ride the bus you are obliged to pay a fee of one dollar. It was too late. At the bus station I got on the second bus and paid $1.00.

My class was over at 2:02pm and the next bus that was going from the college area to the main bus station was at 2:44. I went back to the building and assorted my new listings queue on NetFlix.

2:44pm - I wait.

2:56pm - I board.

I pay my third dollar, at which time if I had not forgotten to buy the all day bus pass - I would not have to.

Inside the bus, I go all the way to the back and sit on the left side of the bus on the second seat from the window.

The ride takes 12 minutes.

Everybody gets off the bus except me and the guy who was sitting by the window, I do not know why. I had my reason, I stood up and adjusted my handbag. I looked down the floor by the seat I was sitting on during the whole ride. I look at a piece of a small folded paper, it's light green. I realize it's a bus pass. I focus more on the date and the date reads in red: "Thursday 13 OCT. 2005"

I do not think nor hesistate. I grab the bus pass and get out of the bus. Right in front of the bus I got out of, was the bus for my final route. Dale City.

I get on the bus and unfold the piece of paper so it clearly shows the date. I show it to the bus driver and walk to the middle of the bus and take a seat by the left side of the bus, right by the window, and I smile. I saved one dollar.

What Is Poverty?

2005-09-30T19:10:00.000-04:00

essay for ESL Composition III.

What Is Poverty?

The only possible way to make an individual understand what poverty is, let us begin with a definition of the word itself.

pov·er·ty pronounced (p v r-t ) n.

The state of being poor;
lack of the means of providing material needs or comforts.

That, is only one of the dozens if not thousands of ways one can define this frightening word.
Now take a minute to digest this word and process it in your mind and ask yourself this question. "Have I ever experienced poverty?" After thinking about it, take the time to think about the millions of people around the world who, at this exact moment, are starving, sleeping under a bridge during a cold night, beg for money on a side of the street. That is the reality, should you choose to accept it or not.

As a young boy growing up in the country of Ukraine I witnessed a lot of poverty. Be it by an old worn building where old people begged for food and money, or in a small village, in a family who's got nothing to eat in the morning, afternoon, or evening. I've seen it. I know what poverty looks like, feels like, and smells like. It is a horrifying thought, and it is worse when it's happening to you. I've experience a small amount of what poverty feels like. It happened during the time period after my mother divorced my father in early nineties. My father did not leave us the house. So for the time being my mother left me to live with my grandmother while she looked for a place to live. My mother decided to look for a small apartment in a newly built region of Odessa, my home city. As far back as I can remember I know that in hopes of finding anything, for the money that my mother got from the divorce with my dad, she looked everywhere. Finally, the day has come and she found a two-room living complex. My grandmother helped us a great deal in the beginning; she helped as often as she could, both with money and food. She owned some property back at the village where she grew potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers. But life wasn't easy for us even with my grandmother's help. My mom had to support our lives on her own for the most part. She was the only person who worked at the time. My mother was a Russian literature teacher, a position that's highly respected, but unfortunately did not bring high house income. I should remind that the poverty I had experienced was far less serious than that of somebody who has no place to live in at all. I had food on the table, and I had a place to stay for the night. I even had my own room. Yet, I did not have the luxuries and comforts that both I and my mother would have liked to have. Life was definitely "like a box of chocolates" for us, as Forrest Gump states. Every day, we didn't know what we were going to get. We did not know if we would have enough money to pay for electricity, or hot water. We did not know if we would have enough money to pay for the monthly cost of the apartment. Life for us was like a time bomb waiting to explode. At any given minute we had everything to lose. In my country, just as I would say in any country, money is the biggest issue. As in USA, people in Ukraine have absolutely no choice concerning if they would like to work or not. In Ukraine, people would do anything to have a stable job. They did not choose to end up on the street with their 5 month old babies just because they didn't want to work. Unlike in America, poverty in every country is a lot different. Nobody chooses, or even has a single shed of thought to sleep outside on the streets under an old, rusty, raw bridge. People end up like that, because they have no choice. Lazy is not something these people are. They are outside because the government does not create work; the job market is ridiculously bad.

I’d like to remind everybody that poverty does not always happen by choice. It is out of people’s hands to choose that way of life. Only in America I know exactly the reason why so many people wander outside, they simply do not want to work. It is so much easier to get a job in America than any other country. I cannot grasp this fact that such a large amount of poor and homeless people here take it for granted. Look at the millions of poverty stricken people around the world. It is just unfair for them to starve to death, or live as if they are animals in a dirty shelter. It angers me so much that these people have no choice, they have absolutely no way to support themselves, while homeless, or poor people in America have a choice yet they do not utilize it. It’s a shame of a century and it is even a bigger shame to the people who do nothing about their poverty “chosen” lives.

My Fear

2005-09-26T00:52:00.000-04:00

Do you know what I fear the most now, as I'm in college?

taking a subject one wants to major in, and that fear of going to the classes required..and just not understanding, or getting it through your head...the fear of just wasting time, the fear of wasting money, the fear of not understanding, the fear of just NOT knowing what to do. And I completely understand that its my first year, and I understand that all you need to concentrate on is the "generals" first...but I hear almost everyone of my friends or associates saying what they KNOW they'll major in, and I feel so left out and frightened about it that it stresses me beyond my control. I feel this, utter...fear. I feel stressed out almost every day, it circles around in my head like a gravity testing capsule. I feel, this...utter...fear that's not going away.

Blah blah update.

2005-09-10T21:32:00.000-04:00

Ok looks like I've lost a little bit of interest with this - but I'm not going to be writing anymore here unless I have something logical to say. Because I don't want to fall into this "Dear diary" crowd - because that's pathetic American shit. I'm against that.

So I was in Ukraine, and a great time was had by all, including me..I was the only one going there..cool. I have tons of pictures that I brought back home with me. I brought back 5 CDs worth of stuff. 4 CDs of pix, and 5th one of videos that I shot with my digital cam. I have 50% or less uploaded to www.igorek.myphotoalbum.com there you'll find some pics.

So Bill and Alex go check it out, you seem to be my only audience.

late..

--IGOR.

Happy ID4

2005-07-04T17:03:00.000-04:00

July 4th is here, folks, have a good one. I am seeing Land of the Dead at 5:40pm tonight, finally.

tomorrow, I'm taking the math placement test, just wanna get it over with. and at 2pm is the beginning of my long vacation.

"It's not who I am underneath, but what I do, that defines me"

WAR OF THE WORLDS

2005-07-02T22:49:00.000-04:00

Saw it. 7:50pm show. my thoughts are...the movie's GREAT it really was amazing in terms of how REALISTIC it felt. The whole "centered around one family" scenario REALLY worked. suspense was up the ass, good stuff

and that whole one take of spinning cam around the car was just speechless. The thing I noticed is how moody everything was. You didnt look at the sky and see the sun and puffy clouds. The realism was definitely present. The use of handheld/steadi cams were very well on the spot in this concept.

did not have a problem with the ending at all, it all makes sense. See for yourself.

Spielberg should just make a summer flick yearly, that would please everyone.

July 1, 2005

2005-07-01T00:41:00.000-04:00

Dang!@.

Well today is when I got back from Florida babey. From a niiiiiiiiiiiiiice long weekend of VACATION. Oh how beautiful it is to just get away from your house and enjoy some ocean and the air outside. That was the nicest time I've had this summer so far.

Folks.

Got back home today at 7am. Man, felt tired - though yours truly didn't go to sleepy, no. no. I stuck around the net THE WHOLE day, until about 2 or 3pm is when I finally just hit the nap sack. Woke up at 7:30-ish PM by a call from Walter. We planned to go see Land of the Dead. Here's the thing though, planned at 8:10pm showing, I wait and wait, and he's not showing up. I call him up, see whats up. He now wants to go to 10:40pm show, I wait til around 10 and call and call and call..and no one is answering the phone.

So yeah, it's not the first time when a plan to catch a flick went doo-doo. *Alex likes that word* ;-) DOOO DOOOOOOO, Dooofus. DOOFY, DOO DOOoo. ;-]

Now I'm here, and it's JULY 1st. New are, the REAL Domino Harvey died on Monday, unspecified causes. Sadly. Batman Begins Domestic Total as of Jun. 29, 2005: $132,823,668 and Worldwide it's $217,423,668 which is MORE than enough to guarantee a sequel greenlight from WB.

I just want to say though, that I can't believe It's been a year and a month since I started this thing. Hopefully I dont lose interest in posting on here. It would be nice to someday created a website, where I can just start some crazed fanbase for something..I'd like Batman, but Jett from BOF already has that title. ! One day though, something, I'll create..

I love Ferris Bueller's Day Off, he's my Heeeeero (^-^)

"Big City now now! woooh hoo hoooo, big, big, big cityeeeeeeee"

I would like to soon see Christopher Nolan's second feature film "Memento"

P.S. I saw BB once again for the 3rd time when I was @ Universal Studios. It is one astounding film, that contains the best ending to a comic book film, and film in general, EVER.

Gordon: "I never said thank you"

Batman: "...and you'll never have to"

(jumps off rooftop, and glides into the night)

Universal

2005-06-24T14:57:00.000-04:00

So I'm lying on my bed around 2:50pm..relaxing, waiting to see Land of the Dead..etc..

my stepdad says we're leaving, "I'm leaving at 5:30 with a friend" "we're leaving for Florida!"

Wooho.

Universal Studios here I come!

Lindsey the Whiner

2005-06-22T20:46:00.000-04:00

I had to post it here, this just shows what a frikkin' crybaby she is.

Lohan takes a diva detour
By William Keck, USA TODAY
HOLLYWOOD — It was the Lohan 500 Sunday at the world premiere of Disney's Herbie: Fully Loaded as 18-year-old Lindsay Lohan raced down a black-carpeted stretch of Hollywood Boulevard with the speed of Mario Andretti, passing 17 VW Herbie Beetles and leaving reporters in the dust.

All better: Lohan wanted to hear her song in Herbie: Fully Loaded.
By Ric Francis, AP

After a screening of the film, which opens Wednesday, Lohan stomped out into the lobby of the El Capitan Theatre huffing, "I'm so (angry)!" Her team of handlers hurried her into a bathroom for a 12-minute cooling down period.

At a block-party carnival after the screening, Lohan was hugged by her mother, Dina, and received compliments from co-star Matt Dillon, before explaining her outburst.

"I was upset when I didn't hear my song (First) during the race scene, where I originally thought it would be," Lohan said while signing autographs. "I was like, 'Whoaaa,' because nobody stays to hear the song in the closing credits.

"So I ran out."

First is especially important to her because "I recorded it right before I got sick (from exhaustion) and went to the hospital. And then I shot the video for it and re-sprained my ankle. I pushed myself to get it done for the movie when I probably should have waited."

Dillon had helped return a smile to her freckled face by telling the teen: "You're beautiful. You are." Lohan wore a watermelon-colored Valentino country dress with white polka dots that brought to mind the 1960s, when the very first Herbie movie (The Love Bug) made its debut.

Despite her public falling out with her father, Michael, who has had a series of run-ins with the law, Lohan offered him a warm Father's Day message: "I hope he's well. God bless him, and I love him."

Michael Keaton plays Lohan's dad in the film and said he often had to step in as her father figure on set.

"The boys in the movie gave her a hard time," Keaton said.

Lohan confirmed with a laugh: "They totally tortured me. They turned the electricity off in my trailer, and they'd bang on the walls."

Lohan's svelte figure has been scrutinized in the tabloids of late. But when a waiter brought a fully loaded baked potato, she said, "That is my lunch" and added that on Saturday, "I was at the pool with my brother having sundaes."

She's 18.............

I'd expect 12 year olds and 15 year olds whining like that, and her age? while I've met my fair share of whiners like her of same age..she takes the cake for the whine-award. She should be happy she even got to be in that crap movie, and for that matter having a 'celeb status' and she's whining about her stupid song?

What. EVAaaaaaa.

---

now, another story that was TOOO Good to not make it on the Fanta§tic Voyage

IMDb.com/WENN:

Nicholson Spices Up Scorsese Movie
Jack Nicholson helped re-write the script for his new movie with legendary director Martin Scorsese, because he felt the sex scenes needed spicing up. Nicholson stars alongside Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio in thriller The Departed, a remake of Hong Kong movie Infernal Affairs, due for release next year. According to reports, the actor wanted to make his character - an Irish-American gangster - a little more like himself, and more of an animal in the bedroom. A source tells the New York Daily News, "Jack didn't feel there was enough Jack in his character. Jack actually did some of the writing himself." The insider adds of the sex scenes, "Jack suggested using a (prosthetic appendage). He also wanted to dust the a** of one of the actresses with cocaine. Marty said, 'Go for it!'" A Warner Bros spokesman adds, "It's not at all uncommon for dialogue to be fine-tuned during production. Everyone is extremely pleased with the way this shoot is proceeding."

LAWL!!! this iS HYSTERICAL!!

Good o'l Jack, I also found someone's reply hilarious on the thread this story was posted on.. it reads..

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
by echo_bravo

Jack is still the coolest motherfucker in Hollywood. Even though he is a dirty old man, he is still a baller in my book.

LOL!

Wow, it's dark outside 8:51pm, It's gonna RRRRAAAAAAIIIN TONIGHT! Woooohw!

Just what I needed.

2005-06-20T23:00:00.000-04:00

I have had a headache the whole day today, when I woke up I took two advils, and then one in the afternoon. It's coming back, I'm going to keep this short though.

For the past few days, starting Friday, when I visited my college for info..I've been thinking a lot about what I want to be. It's been on my mind a lot, and I know I want to be in the filmmaking business...but I just got finished with watching AFI's Lifetime Achievement award for George Lucas, and in the end Lucas said, that movies is his passion, he loves all movies, every kind, from every country..and that without them he wouldn't know what to do.

and that is exactly how I feel. Movies are MY passion. I love them, and I want to make them..and that is exactly what I needed.

I felt a sense of relief. Here's to College baby, and film school later on in life.

BATMAN BEGINS REVIEW

2005-06-16T19:09:00.000-04:00

BATMAN BEGINS

I saw Batman Begins @ midnight 6/15 – 12:01 a.m. show. I came to the theater at 11 p.m. and there were about 6 people there. A family of 5 in the center aisle more towards the bottom, and 1 kid sitting all the way up on top where my favorite seating spot is! He was holding seats for someone as well, so my friend and I just sat below them but right in the middle of the row, just how I love it. Surprised that such a small amount of people showed up, I said to myself, “that's it, no one is coming”. Little did I know that by 11:30pm the room was filling up faster than Tom filled his cup after Team America: World Police was over (At which time I was not present because at the time being I was @ Mt. Rushmore) by 12 a.m. about 99% of the 322 seats (yes I counted) were filled!

The “Pre-Show Countdown” started to roll, and they showed us some ads. Once it was over, they probably showed us about 15 minutes worth of trailers – which included “Stealth” and “War of the Worlds”.

Finally, I found myself staring at the silver screen, witnessing grey colored logo of “WB” and a newly created “DC Comics” logo over a musical cue that sounded more like a flap of bats’ wings!

Batman Begins, and my review starts.

This is GOLD, This is IT. This is WHY, I love going to the movies! MOVIES like Batman Begins, which do not take storytelling for granted, but instead worship it like gold on a golden platter! Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer - have created something all the previous 4 Batman films combined could not even get close to accomplishing!

I will tell you straight up that I had not read every comic book of Batman; in fact I had not read any Batman comic books. I had not read every single graphic novel of Batman, and I, did not love Batman as much as all the fans worldwide have. But let me tell you, that it does not take all those things to really appreciate and understand who Batman really is. I have only seen/read so much of Batman before this film that it made me realize how much more this character stands out from all the other comic book superheroes that were created.

This film is EXACTLY what a Batman movie should be. It's been done justice to the character the way Burton, Schumacher or any other person who had ever laid their hands upon this character prior to Goyer and Nolan, could have never dreamt of.

This is the ULTIMATE, MOST FAITHFUL adaptation that has ever graced this world of Batman, EVER.

There is a scene @ the shipyard docks in which Batman makes his move on the thugs that are putting shipments of drugs into containers. He seriously makes these guys fear of the ‘unknown’ they don’t know what’s going on and they get taken out one by one. The scene is just so compelling! When we first see Batman playing “cat & mouse” with these thugs, my eyes and mouth were wide open. Batman has his way with Falcone and in the end straps him to a large light signal which when looking at the sky casts a shadow of a bat!

This takes me to yet another scene. Falcone is now in the Arkham Asylum for the criminally insane. This is one scene that truly shocked me!!!

Dr. Crane: “Would you like to see my mask?” “I use it to experiment on my patients”

*he sprays hallucinogenic toxin on Carmine Falcone*
Carmine Falcone screams like a mad man, it cuts to the shots of Scarecrow in a terrifying deformed mask – this is how victims see him under the influence of the hallucinogen. This is a scene after which I just sat still, thinking to myself “What. The. #$&^$*&! JUST. HAPPENED!?” I was SHOCKED beyond belief.

The movie rocked harder than a METALLICA concert. I loved the grounded realism. If you compare and contrast Burton/Schumacher’s “gothic” themed Gotham City against Batman Begins’ “present day corrupted, filth-ridden city” you will see it for yourself that Batman Begins is a much more believable film than all the previous four. It makes you feel that something like this in the world can truly exist and EXISTS! And that there is a person out there without any superhero powers that takes matters into his own hands, dedicating his life to fight injustice, is trying to save and get rid of scum in the city to prevent more murders like that of his parents’ Christopher Nolan, once showed a screening of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner to his film crew before they started filming the movie. After the film he said to the whole crew, "This is how we're going to make Batman." He not only stayed true to his words, he achieved them. The Narrows of Gotham just look downright filthy. It’s so realistically portrayed. I loved every second of it.

As a recently converted Batman fan, having read the graphic novels upon this movie is inspired. (“The Long Halloween” & “Dark Victory” by Jeph Loeb) I was amazed, I thought the film was incredible.

10/10

I was in disbelief of what I saw.

One time back in the summer of 2003, I had finally seen a movie I have been dying to see. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. I am a big fan of Terminator. When I saw it. I literally gave it a 10/10 and I raved and raved about how good it is and how much better it is than T2. I jumped to conclusions, and as time went by and I read more and more opinions and thoughts of others on T3 I looked back and thought "I can’t believe I thought this was greater than everything" And then a movie like Batman Begins comes out and you think it truly is, the greatest – and I think I’m right this time. This is a movie not only Batman fans have been waiting for, but a movie people like me, whose favorite movie of all time was T2 since I was a little boy, have been waiting for. Batman Begins can truly stand on its’ own as a “film” not just a character adaptation of a superhero, even though it is the foundation. You ignore all the comic books, novels, merchandise, capes, TV shows, cartoons – and you see this movie as a stand alone. You will appreciate it just as much as you appreciate your favorite movie of all time.

Gordon: “I never said ‘thank you’
Batman: “And you’ll never have to” [Batman jumps off the building and glides off into the darkness]

A shot of Gordon smiling.

Fade to black

When the screen faded to black, and the credit "A Christopher Nolan Film" appeared, I erupted in applause, I was the first one to applause and I’m glad I did it because I didn’t think twice; I just loved every second of it. Several people joined in for about 10 seconds! People loved it. My audience was mostly composed of teenagers ages 17+, some adults, and people in their mid 20's to 30's

People laughed at every joke that was intended to be humorous.

I had not watched a single movie with so much time having my mouth and eyes, wide open. Every scene in which the Batman was present on screen, my expression was of someone who had seen a ghost.

Scarecrow definitely needs to come back, and it seems like he is bound to. And Cillian Murphy is the man.

Incredible movie. INCREDIBLE

Depressions hits...

2005-06-15T19:13:00.000-04:00

I can never understand my mind, how it works. For some ODD reason, everytime something great is over, depression hits me. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY. It happenes everytime!

I saw Batman Begins at 12:01am midnight this morning, and It was the most greatest feeling I had felt.

I was so excited, when I got home at 2:45, I stayed up until 5am, and went to sleep when the sky was getting lit up, the sun was coming up soon. I got woken up by some stupid construction on our neighbors roof @ 9am. So in total I got 4 hours of sleep. Though it's all good.

I stayed up the whole of morning and afternoon just surfing in between Batman-on-Film.com and JoBlo.com

It has hit me hardcore that I've seen the most incredible adaptation of a superhero film by FAR.

I had read "The Long Halloween" the novel upon which this movie is inspired, and watching BB was like seeing The Long Halloween come to life.

- The thing I don't understand is, why I get so depressed right now. I think the saying is true "all great things must come to an end" so this thing came to an end, I've finally seen it - and for me..right now, every new movie just seems horrible, like I don't want to watch anything but BB over and over and over again.

I guess it's that huge excitement that i've had anticipating Batman Begins for two years. And now that it's come to an end, I feel there's nothing to look forward to, I have absolutely no interest right now. I don't know what it is, I dont know if it's the day, the weather, the clouds. I don't know. It feels so weird. Am I going insane? or am I just a huge fanboy wanting MORE?

I've said something once before back in 2003, when I saw T3, another film I had been anticipating since 2001. It went like this: "I wish I could go back and experience everything all over again" that is exactly the feeling I'm having now. That very first time when you see something you've been waiting for a long time...that is the most exciting feeling a person can have.

I personally am now feeling a tiny bit better thanks to this blog, because I express my feelings here..and I believe that, hey what the heck, it's only the beginning! the movie just came out..and so what if I have not seen it again today..I am STILL going to see it a few more times! with different friends, and with more people, also with my family. So there's nothing to be depressed about.

Though, I hope you understand that - I guess that's just the person I am, my feelings are easy to hurt.

I SAW IT!!!!! I SAW IT!!! I SAW IT!!!!

2005-06-15T02:48:00.000-04:00

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!@@@@@434!@!!! OMG@@@@!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT IS IT! I have seen it ALL! I can die a happy fuckin' MAN! WOW!

WOW! WOW !!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!!! This is BEAUTIFUL! !

OH WOW, I can't BELIEVE IT, I CANNOT! I LOVED IT Soooooooooooooooooooooo MUCH!

I can't stop that fanboy mode, I just can't.

Gosh, !!! I cannot even get to typing up any reviews of this, I am AMAZED BEYOND BELIEF! My mind is replaying the whole film in my head! This is GOLD, This is IT. This is WHY, I love going to the movies! MOVIES like Batman Begins, who do not take storytelling for granted, but instead worship it like gold on a golden platter! Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer - have created something all the previous 4 Batman movies combined could not even get close to accomplishing!

I will tell you straight up. That I have not read every comic book of Batman. I have not read every single graphic novel of Batman, and I, did not love Batman as much as you guys have. But let me tell you, that it does not take all those things to really appreciate and understand what Batman really is. I have only seen so little of Batman before this film before I realized how much MORE this character stands out from all the others comic book heroes that were ever created.

And this film, my friends is what EXACTLY Batman should be. It's been done justice to the character the way Burton, Schumacher or any person who had ever touched their hands on this character prior to Goyer and Nolan, could never dream of.

This is the ULTIMATE, MOST FAITHFUL adaptation that has ever graced this world of Batman, EVER.

10 outta f'n 10!

Just wow, wait til you friggin see that scene with Batman @ the docks for the first time, and wait til you see the FIRST time Scarecrow releases his hallucinogen (the scene is brief) but it had me fuckin SHOCKED.

I came an hour in advance, at 11pm, and there were about 7 people there and I thought no one would come.. but holy cow, the thing was sold out like this was Star Wars Ep. 3 mostly composed of teenagers years 17+, some adults, and people in their 20's - 30's

People laughed at every JOKE that was intended to be humorous.

I have not watched a single film with this much time having my mouth opened with wide open eyes. EVERY scene the Batman was present on screen my expression was LITERALLY this. ( http://www.socomjunky.com/forum/images/smilies/whoa.gif ) (well, except my jaw didnt go all the way down to the floor, but I think you get the visual, and when I say literally like that - please take me SERIOUS! because only that will make you EVEN MORE EXCITED to see this!!!

When the screen went to black, and the credit "A Christopher Nolan Film" came on, I ERRUPTED in applause, I was the FIRST one to applaude, and SEVERAL people joined in for about 10 seconds! People loved it. Also when we all came outside, my friend's friend was there, and he showed him what was in his cup, and it was RUM.. LOL, I then just shook his hand and asked him what did you think of the film? and he said "IT WAS AWESOME MAN!" but he was DRUNKED out of his SKULL lol.

This is how many people saw Batman Begins, this is after the film.

This is my friend Walter with whom I've seen this film, and I am thankful for him coming with me, he has to wake up at 6am tonight, but he did not complain, he wanted to see the film - because he knew just how MUCH I had wanted to see it

after hours

2005-06-14T02:27:00.000-04:00

so this is a late entry here for all you late nite cats.

I'm staying up late tonight for one reason, and one reason ONLY! so when TONIGHT!!! yes TONIGHT! Tuesday June 14th, I go to my AMC movie theater at 11pm, and start watching BATMAN BEGINS at 12;01am, I am perfectly sober! hehe.

And of course who's better than the Prodigy rockin' Pinkpop 2005 in Netherlands, to do that job for me! I'm watching the live video of the gig, and it's aweome! "Spitfire" [Edit] is playing right now as I'm typing this. It's amazing. You really GOT. To LOVE. THE SUMMER BABY!

BATMAN BEGINS TONIGHT!

Puzzle

2005-06-13T19:02:00.000-04:00

Let's see if this works!

The Day After

2005-06-12T22:20:00.000-04:00

Today was the day after graduation. I don't know if it still has hit me just YET that I'm out of high school - but I know that it was an exciting day yesterday.

I was staying up later last night (this morning) I started watching Collateral on HBO, and I watched til the part where Vincent is on his last victim. My eyes were automatically shutting down baby. I went to sleep around 1:30am or somewhere around there.

I woke up EARLY though, at 9am - I don't know why, I guess I am not used to the early awakenings. It's alright though, saves a day for me. Makes the thing last longer.

I watched a little bit of Men In Black as I woke up, until the end of it. Great movie. Always fun. Sequel blew. I played some Counter-Strike: Source, then helped vaccuum the downstairs. Then I just spent a lot of time upstairs on my computer. I don't know - I think I'm addicted to being on a computer too much, I now barely watch TV! I feel like a loser now. Complain complain complain!!

Buuut, the good thing is, school's over I have now time to do some pre-production work on my short 8 minute film "Valediction" I will start storyboarding the scenes and scouting for locations, I need actors too ! I have a few friends who would probably be my leads, what can ya do if you cant find anybody elese!? you hire your friends =D

-- [ I was looking through the pictures my mom took during graduation and SURPRISINGLY!!! my mom actually took a picture of the girl I like, the one in my government class. That's awesome.

Here it is.

She's the one before the african guy. She's 50% Filipino mixed with 50% White. She's cuuute yo!

I AM THE GRADUATE

2005-06-11T21:28:00.000-04:00

June 11th, 2005.

Igor Vladimirovich Nedvalyuk has completed all the requirements to graduate C.D. Hylton High School

and guys, that will go down in history as the most memorable event of my entire life. If I had known how amazing this night would be before I moved to VA, while I was still in MOUND. I would not hesitate to move to VA. I think this was so well done, Mound couldn't have beaten this. I'm sorry to say, but it's true. They made you feel like you was worth something. Amazing speeches, truly thoughtprovoking, and beautiful. Emotional. Happy!

I can't stress the word "GREAT" enough, to explain how amazing this night truly was. Even though I attended Hylton for 6 months, I think I've attached to it well enough to care.

Truly an amazing night, I will forever remember this. FOREVER.

CLASS OF 2005, CLASS of 9/11

graduation rehearsal

2005-06-09T15:15:00.000-04:00

So today I woke up ONCE again early on..even though the rehearsal wasn't til 9am. The reason I had to go early again is because I didn't have a ride there, and my Mom was offerring it.

So when I got to school I went to the library and read magazines. Read a good article on Tom Cruise in 'People' mag. Pretty coo' I feel glad for the guy, he's a fool in love. So he's excited. Saw him on Leno the night before. He seems like he loves the fans, he interacts with them when they go on a commercial break.

Anyways. People started gathering in the lunchroom and then I'll skip the whole deal. Once we were all in our rows organized in alphabetical order they started going through the information to prepare us for the thing.

It took about a total of 3 hours that we were inside. Kinda long, but you know it's still fun. They were practicing us on standing up and sitting down on cue and some people would fuck it up. So the main speaker: "No no no no no" hehe. They would do it til they get it right. People just laughed about it.

Then we practiced entering and exiting the auditorium. Oh man, once we're all standing in lines..they're pretty dang long. We had to do that twice throughout the whole time we were there.

After it was all over, I found my friend Amin and we hung out a little, talking with another friend. Me taking pictures. Then at like 1pm my mom showed up - apparently at work the conditioner was broken so they let her go home, so she ended up picking up me 'n driving my friend home. It was pretty fun day I'd say. Sometimes I don't know why I complain when I get woken up to go to school. Heheheheh.

Some pics I took when we got out of the auditorium.

This is the lunchroom, it's right outside as you get out of the Auditorium

Ass shot.

Ass shot #2 =)

By the way, that chic is hot. her face is hot. Ungh, green eyes are hot. Hopefully I get a pic of her at the graduation party, no clue who she is though, I'd like to get to know her tho.

Dude from my A.P. class, weight training - pimpin a hooooochie mama. LOL hey PAPI! lol lol

Dats mah man Andres, he was born in L.A. lived in East L.A. and guess who likes LA! though never been there! I sat down and talked to him like for 1 minute tellin him how much I like the city and the mystery/and such behind it. LOL, shook his hand twice, he's a cool guy Btw.

Spreadin' dat shit wiiiiide, aiiir dry dat shit, waax it wax it. Gosh, thats so perverted, HOT THO, you cant deny. A chic like that spreadin..she want some. So do I.

Looking out the window of a guidance office.

BATMAN BEGINS MIDNIGHT SHOW!!!

2005-06-08T22:29:00.000-04:00

I got my ticket!!!! wow!! I went to see a movie with a friend tonight, we saw "The Longest Yard" which was pretty dang kool!!! man! and I was RELIEVED to see that they had advance tickets for the midnight show of Batman Begins.

Here is my proof! CLICK HERE

Wow, words cant describe the excitement I'm feeling. All the people I've made contact with, ALL know I'm obsessing over this film, I've been waiting two years..I DIDNT even do this for T3, buying a ticket for a midnight show. This is totally the right movie. There is just too much to say about it to make people understand.

Finished!!!

2005-06-08T11:13:00.000-04:00

the Last final Exam was today, for Algebra II. My stepdad woke me up at 6am today, and I actually thought I was already late - I thought it was 7am, hehe.

So I got to school at 6:15am, this is the ALL TIME earliest I've ever gotten to school. There wasn't a soul in the school that I saw. A few minutes later faculty and some folks started coming in. Not until about 7am when school was getting loud.

I was looking for my Algebra teacher to help me with some shi..on the final review sheet, but instead another lady teacher has helped me.

The thing that pissed me off. When I finally got my final, like 90% of the test was different from the review. It really ticked me off. I did as MANY problems as I could, and in the last 10 minutes I just started guessing. Gosh, I hope I dont fail for the year. This is such a stressful week for me.

When I came up to give the test to the teacher, I asked him what my grade was..he didnt have a comp around so he couldnt check, but he told me I'll pass, confidently. I felt a sense of relief, cuz I know I had a B second semester. Plus we had a presentation and I did a part so hopefully that raised the grade.

Man, it was so stupid today ONCE AGAIN. As I returned my Government book to Mr. Deal I went out the back door of the school and started frickin' RUNNING around the school cuz I know my friend was waiting for me. THen guess what, this security guy friggin in the car, stops me and takes me back, and give me this BS talk, "you know your note supposed to run out of this door" I told im Im new and shit, and noone told me that, then he started BS'in even more. Then he took me to som stupid shit office. There these two friggin women gave me BS, so in the end when I finally left the building through their front door. I couldnt find my friend anywhere.

So I walked home in 93F degree weather. What a memorable last day in High School huh???

What an awful day.

2005-06-07T18:58:00.000-04:00

Today was a completely horrible day for me.

So I'm finished with my Government final, time to go to 6th period. I go up to my Algebra II teacher, and say "so we're taking a final right?" and he tells me thats tomorrow.

Apparently, I MIXED UP THE CLASSES TODAY!!!!

Instead of math, I actually had English final, and let me tell you. When I was taking the test, I had the biggest fear of my entire life, hit me. I was never this nervous in my entire life about a test. Every question I read, nothing rang a bell. I came to a point where I just came up to my teacher and said "Can I talk to you outside, please?"

when we went outside, I paused for like 5 seconds, I didnt know how to tell her, because I was afraid of her response, though I explained I mixed up the two classes, and that I was going to dedicate my whole day today to reviewing for the final for English, (because I thought it's tomorrow) she seemed understanding, she was even willing to let me take it tomorrow, she wasnt alll like "Oh thats not my problem" she listened. Though I still asked her what my grade was, and when we went back she looked it up and gave me a note, it had B for first semester and C for second. and wrote "just do your best" but then I just started guessing. the finals is 20% of my grade, and I'm scared to death that I'm going to fail for the year. This is going to be devastating.

I've NEVER liked their idiotic block scheduling! they're so confusing!!!!!.

Man, im angry, tomorrow is going to be my final for Algebra II, and I hope hope HOPE I dont fail that, im going to review today the whole day, because, No way I want to fail that. No way.

So tomorrow is THE last day of my high school career
EVER. It's kind of ironic ? that tomorrow I won't be
really enjoying my last day of school..but rather be
thinking of how to answer each question on the test
RIGHT.

Adios! wish me luck, sure would need some.

I am Happy!!!

2005-06-04T22:41:00.000-04:00

Wow, wow wow WOW. I don't know I feel so great tonight.

I feel like this is the greatest time of my life.

1. graduation is a week away from now.
2. I've listened to some of the coolest music today. Mostly it was Massive Attack's "Mezzanine" album, and tonight I found 3 live tracks from Future Funk Squad, and two of them truly ROCK.
3. the surprise neusch revealed to me about COLDPLAY's new album...which I just downloaded and I am listening to it!!!!
4. BATMAN BEGINS in just 10 days! OMG

THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!! I dont even need to go any further. I just feel so great. It's night outside, and it's warm!

I am currently listening to track 6 it's "X&Y"

beauty!

The Final Day.

2005-06-03T23:22:00.000-04:00

Today, I got up nice and early at 6:15am and took a shower. I got my clothes ready the night before. It was my Calvin Klein shirt, jeans, and a nice black sweater. I got to school around 7:25 right when the bell rang.

I took my ART 2 final in Mrs. Magneson's class, which is my Photography class. I didn't get to see the kids in my ART 2 class today, don't know when I'll see them. Ever again.

When it was time to go to Astronomy class, to take the final - I arrived. First thing I did was went to the rest room after the bell rang. When I came back. Mr. Walden, the great Astronomy teacher gave us a little speech. It was emotional, he talked about how the feeling of leaving high school will be a mixed. We will have a great memory of it, and we will also feel relieved that we're finally done with it. He was getting teary-eyed a little bit, and it was noticeable.

- You know, I agree. In the beginning, I didn't think I would really care for this school. No matter what I've said about this school, I really can't deny the fact that I've become emotionally attached to it. I will not lie. C.D. Hylton is actually a great school. It's got great funding, they have many clubs, sports, great stadium, great teachers. GREAT Gym, Much better than what we have in Mound.

I got to know a few people here and they're really fun people. I don't have many friends in the school, and there are a couple people I wish I would get to know a lot better. But part of it is because I'm not a really outgoing person. It's sad to me, because of my shyness, I didn't experience high school as I would like to. I really do wish I had more friends, both in MOUND and in HYLTON. It's like in The Girls Next Door, in the opening scenes - it feels like that. I feel like I've missed out a lot.

*Sigh*

You know, saying goodbye is truly the hardest thing to do. Even though school is not OFFICIALLY over, all ive been thinkin about today is how much ima miss school. Usually every Friday I'm like, "Oh yeah, school's done, NO SKOOL for two days woohoo" now Im kind of thinkin, shit...3 more days and it's out of my life forever. You just get emotionally attached to places, people...and it's hard to let go. That's us. That's human.

--

Today was the big graduation for MY '05 MOUND class, Tommy boy and Billy are officially GRADUATES! I didn't know how it went, I don't know what went on - but I'm sure...it's one of the best events of their lives. Being finished with something, getting a recognition for it. I wish the best of luck for my friends and I will be seeing them this year...more specifically, October.

CONGRATUALTIONS CLASS of '05

WE ARE SENIORS!!!

June has Arrrrriiived.

2005-06-01T19:15:00.000-04:00

Wooooo Hoooooooo!

and this is my favorite month, as you all by now should KNOW.

Two reasons why!

1. We all know school is over by time it's the first week of June
2. SUMMER BEGINS. That's right I dont go by that stupid scientifical way of theirs. I've been taught in Ukraine that seasons always start on the first day of every 3 months. So, June 1 is OFFICIALLY SUMMER, and I like to think of it that way, not JUNE 21st or 22nd whatever they like to call it "official" bah.

Today was an alright day in school. Basically no pressure on homework, just going over the finals reviews. I got my review sheet for ART II, and it's EASY AS Piece of Poontang Pie for ALEX...I can ace it - and. I. WILL.

next hour was Astronomy, and here's a funny thing. There is one black kid right behind me. He's the same size as Guy, just..you know. he's black. At least Guy is 101010120394849 x times smarter than his ass. So. He never does ANYTHING in the class and has a MAJOR issue with the teacher, so instead he just listens to his rap music on the MP3 player. The guy's a joke, everybody in the class knows this, they just dont say anything. So he turned up his music real loud (NOT the first time) while the teacher was talking. And this was in the beginning of the class. So our teacher was talking about Deep Throat, and the Nixon Watergate scandal.

So the teacher finally has it and says, "You know I've had it, I told you before to turn it off and you dont listen" <--not exactly what he said, but u know. It's what I remember. So the guy behind me snaps, and yells at the teacher "I dont undehstaaaaand why it iiiis yoouuu thaaank thaat the muusic keeeps geetttin' louda!" lol, the Teacher just presses a button..they got some intercom kind of thing installed in each room. And he called for Security to escort Richard..lol that was his name.

HAHA. Man, then the guy is all actin lame and in the end walks out TRYING to slam the door behind but the Astronomy teacher caught the tip of it and tried to open it back but the foo' held it back and laughed..then after a few seconds just left, What a piece of jackshit. Maan.

And this was the last class that we were going to have with the teacher, so I guess that was his way of "having enough" of that dude's BS so he just felt like gettin him out of class somehow!

Oh well.. It's all good, idiots save the worlds from becoming boring. So I was entertained to some extent.

Well what do we have here? [ Beauty & The Geek ]

I just had a quick looksee at the page, and it appears that there are "two" geeks from Minnesota. Oh C'mon!!! Now all MN is going to be known for is not only the 10,000+ lakes, but, the "two geeks from beauty & the beast" sheesh. =)

It doesn't matter though, cuz I'm watching it tonight at 8pm.

---

first set of Finals start this Friday, it's going to be

ART II from 7:30 to 9:25 or something

and ASTRONOMY 9:30-11:00 somethin'

Wish me luck ya'll

Memorial Day 2005

2005-05-30T19:55:00.000-04:00

Happy Memorial Day,

and thanks to all the veterans for fighting for their countries to protect their feedom.

http://www.monabugdal.com/images/memorial_day.jpg

LOL

2005-05-29T23:28:00.000-04:00

Oooh Boyz - Wigga Please

May 28 II

2005-05-29T20:56:00.000-04:00

Hahah!! yesterday was May 28th, which was my favorite day with my friends last year. I saw Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith, the second time on this day yesterday though. Great film.

Well well well!

I just looked over the tape of 5/28/04 that I filmed in school. and There are SOOO many great moments with Alex that I can put into a little video!! and I'm going to do it this summer, in June as soon as school is done. And I had this idea of making a little montage with the school + Alex footage, and have Pixies - Caribou playing in the background..!!

by the way! Alex, if you want any specific music playing in the video in the background please let me know in the commnets! and I'll use them. Because I am totally for editing a little video!

Just looking back at that video, I really am proud of myself because I had the guts to carry a cam whole day and record all the events. Great stuff!!!

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

2005-05-27T21:52:00.000-04:00

Wow!

Oh man, I don't know where to start - but definitely DARK movie, towards the end, holy crap..it was hell in the end. Wow.

I was planning my little movie marathon today with a friend, but looks like he "had" to go to Atlanta with his little cuz.. first thing is, we got home on a sunny day after school today..and I quickly ate, and went outside waiting for him to get here..it blew big chunks of all kinds of balls, because he wasn't showing up for almost 30 frickin minutes, I had to go back to the house (lost my cell) and call him.

Looks like it was traffic. Oh. Well.

We didn't make the 3:15 show. but I was like, screw that..so we went to the 4:00pm..it was nice because not many people at all were there. We got our tix and got in nicely. I sat all the way up on top where I always love to sit. Though, Walter's and his lil' cuz butts weren't showin up for all this time until the movie finally started rollin' so they sat somewhere on the bottom.. meh.

Well, what can I say about the movie?

a few things.

It started with the traditional scrolling text into the dark matter of the galaxy and buncha stars..yeah you get my drift.. over the famous Star Wars music.

As the music fades out, the cam pans down and reveals a fuckin spaceship WAR! dang. I don't know I think I wasn't impressed or something, but it took me a while to get into the 'awe' of things. Though it was impressive space battle. Anakin and Obi-Wan are cruising around the war looking for the main spaceship where the Chancellor Palpatine is being held, cuz they comin to save him.

Once they get inside the spaceship, It gets fun cuz they pull them lightsaybaz out! pheeew.

Maan.

I dont want to say anymore, but all I can say is. the PG-13 really shows in this last installment of the second trilogy. Really. This is a very dark movie if you think about it.

Especially the last 25 to minutes are VERY, VERY dark. This is the sequence where the already new-named Anakin aka Darth Vader fights against Obi-Wan.

The setting itself is so unreal. It's HELL, literally..Lucas himself said that the battle literally is taking place in hell...(although it doesn't literally..it's just a volcano planet) though it feels like they're in the underworld.

I'm not spoiling anything though. When he turns into the Vader we've come to know. ... It's sad, but the saddest thing is before the transformation into that suit.

when Obi-Wan says. "You were the CHOSEN one"

"You were like a brother to me!"

and Anakin simply screams "I HATE YOU!" man.

The movie tied the whole series together, and that's a good thing, but what a dark movie this was. I will see it again tomorrow. Wow. You'll be finding yourself getting chocked up a bit in the end.

Sad, truly sad. Dark ending to a great series huh?

--Iggzy out...

Alex you know what day is tomorrow? MAY 28!!! The Day when we had the most fun, it was the most exciting day, we saw THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW then, with a huge group of friends, never forget that date..

Can you believe it? It's been A YEAR!

I LOVE LIFE.

Graduation Countdown.

2005-05-26T17:45:00.000-04:00

I overacted in that previous entry, I have to be honest. Though I was very angry at what that person did to me, I haven't seen him almost a week since the incident.

But let's not talk about that.

16 DAYS TOTAL left until JUNE 11, which is my GRADUATION
and 11 SCHOOL DAYS.

not much is going on here, it's been raining the past few days, and I was/is ill the past week, with something I can't even reveal ;-) lol..no way I'm tellin what that was. Painful though, very painful. =) It's healing though.

It's warm and sunny today though. I got my interim report and I'm failing ART 2? w th eff. and I had an A in it, I didnt turn in like two assignments and it's F? thats bS, thats one of the things I dont like in this school. Their grading system is weird. They put up like hundreds of points for one assignment, and you dont turn it in, your grade goes down, but I'm going to fix that during finals.

Anyway, tomorrow is going to be a very fun day for me..that is of course, if my friend decides to do this. He's up for seeing "two" movies, but I'm up for "four"

school gets out at 2pm.

3:15pm - Episode III > 5:40pm - Unleashed > 7:45pm - The Longest Yard > 9:50pm - Madagascar

and I'm only paying for one of those.

Well this sucks........ -_-

2005-05-13T18:21:00.000-04:00

What seemed like it was going to be a great day/night, turned to shit for me today. As I woke up I got a message from my 'friend' Alex, calling me with like the most fuckin surprising message of the year, seriousely this should get a fuckin' award. He tells me "I can't go to the club today" well FUCK me. Who told you to keep the motherfuckin' date open on May 13, 2005, almost a MONTH ago? ME. I did. I told you that. But no, he gives some half assed reason about his "boss" I didn't even UNDERSTAND what he was saying in that message cuz of his thick hispanic accent, but I assume he has to work today. First of all, speak CLEARER when you talk on the phone to me please, cuz all your mumbling and 50000000000000 thousand useless call per day don't help it either. (he calls me like every single day) he even called me every single day for the past two weeks saying "So we going to the club Firday" and I told him..."yeah, didnt I like make it clear to you" yet he still calls every day, seriousely WHAT THE FUCK? cut it out.

My rant isn't over though. I may be wrong for being so mad, but I really don't think so. I dont need anybody backing him up (whoever reads this) because he knew how BAD I wanted to make the show and, he knew WHEN the show will be. and I TOLD him to keep. the date. OPEN.
He was all for it, he even said to me that he already told them all at work blah blah blah.

And also guess what, when he picks me up today this morning to go to school. Usually he's all happy and shit, but he brought some of his fuckin friend this time and he didn't even say whats up to me this morning and shit, all the time going to school he was just talkin some shit with his little 'buddy' some stupid shit, believe me it was really "stupid shit" it's like a bad dialogue from a screenplay. Yeah, what they talked about was THAT bad. I just rolled my eyes.

And you know? I'm not a stupid fuckin' guy, I know when a man tries to cover things up, so clearly he didn't want to talk to me about WHY he couldnt go to the club, that's why he didn't even say a word to me this morning. Trust me folks, Iggzy is the man at sniffing out this sort of BULLSHIT. I know people.

So then of course in school. I just texted him with these exact words, pretending (yeah I was being smart not mentioning anything in the car about the club cuz I wanted to see if he would say anything about it) I just heard his "voicemail" "What?! Oh fuk no! Ur fukin goin im not gona let u fuk me up today! U are goin"

so he replies "I am not going to give you a ride to ur house" <---ok, what does this have to do with that? fine, dont (I got a ride from a friend anyway)

then he also says "What is ur problem" <--my problem is you bailing out on the final day.

I texted him "I dont care .. Next time if there ever b 1.. Plan ur shit better plz . So u dont get others angry" so he says "Sorry man" then there's a big break til the end of school and then I see two text messages from him as I get home "Thx for being an asshole" <--ok now you see, this is what ticked me off even more. I'm an asshole? no man, I'm anything but one. So is telling the truth about planning stuff better, thats being an 'asshole' ? (this guy plans like badly, everything even the movies)

"Well man looks like u no longer friends" <---this is pissing me off too, because he starts assuming (even tho I felt like not being his friend I was only pissed off at him)

so I replied with "Wtf are u ta5kin about and cut the shit w ur gay assumptions if u dont want to b friends then tats ur choice" then he just said "Nevermind man" <--yeah thats right.

"So u arent goin" I said, he "No" so I said "Ait then have fun!" so he writes "Just because ur gay doesnt mean I am" <--this comment fueled my fire SOO MUCH that I wanted to kick his ass. because not only the comment was thoughtless, it was stupid, uncalled for, random, and simply IDIOTIC. That is how I saw it. I wanted to bitch at him but all I said was "Grow up, alex" he tells me to "Relax man" so my last reply to him was 'Dont tel me that after wat u just called me" and he never replied. Good clincher. huh

Well, right now, I really don't care even if I handled the situation in an immature way (texting back and forth, rather than talking on the phone (but i was just too pissed off at him to talk to him) ) I blame myself a tiny bit, but most of the blame is on his shoulders because in reality all it is, is "screwing" the person out of something. It fueled my fire, and I had to let this off my shoulders.

I gotta stay away from Alex a bit to calm down, but thankfully AND hopefully my friend Walter will go today, he's trying to get money to go, but if not I will cover him, I have $50 and I think thats enough, since we're also on the guestlist, which will take $5 off of whatever the price was.

I feel really ticked off, and I DO NOT appreciate the people who screw me out of something. Not just something ANYTHING. If I was in his place, I WOULD'VE NEVER in the entire world did that to my friend. I plan things ahead all the time. And my friends know that. I was always the one responsible for getting a group of people to go see movies when I was still in my old High School in Mound, and we always had a lot of fun. And I would've handled this day the same way as I would with the movie groups. When somebody asks me to do something especially if they really NEED me for something I would've completed the task, but this is really a lousey way of appreciating your friends. By telling them on the FINAL day that they cant go. I'm sorry bud, but a simple sorry doesnt cut it for me. You had a month to get your stuff planned and tell them you can't work or whatever it is you do, on May 13.

If this was like a dangerous or important thing I would've had no problem, but if your boss wants you to work on the day you told him you can't..then FUCK that. I would've just quit the job right there..because that BOSS knew he can't work. So dont fuckin make him work.

To all those who are confused why I'm so mad, this is the first time EVER I would've went to a club ('rave') featuring almost the coolest DJ's in breakbeat, 'almost' (The Crystal Method, Evil 9, and Grayarea) and all those who know and are fans of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) know those 3 acts CANNOT be missed live.

END RANT.

Gimme saaalty

2005-05-09T22:10:00.000-04:00

hey, yo, ignore that TITLE, thats just some tune. "Baby you know what I want..gimme salty" sound like she wants big salty chocolate balls from the boss man, the chef :D ROFLMFAO.

I been awaaaay from this place called the Fantastic Voyage, and what a great place it is, it's 10:12pm man..and I'm typing as fast as I can right now..(i see an AIM message flashing in my traybar...thingie from ra3eleven..)

Oh I wanna know what kind of movies you've snuck into Alex? I know both you and I and and our good friend Bill Brasky snuck into Dodgeballs, erm Ball. past June which I must say WAS SOO MUCH FUN, remember when I was bitching about the seats/ ROFL as I look back it's now become hilarious because truly this sort of things just become funny after a while. That was pimp ass night. I remember when you or was it our good man Bill Brasky who put the pop bottle on your car as we left the theater! it fell down as you turned on the intersection. That. was. funny. We rolled down to McDonalds then too and you got yourself a fkn 400 calories greasy BURGER, u fat bic..!!

:D wish I could get smilies up in dis shit.

- This friday I'm going to a cluuub baby, TCM, Evil 9, Grayarea..best nite ever. This is my way of celebrating!! and having fun.

Sneaking in was fun and all..I might have to skip on a movie this week. But you never know dawwgg... you know whats cool tho, last year, May 2004, was the best month in school for me. THE BEST. I loved it. Tons of great memories during that month, and the BEST day ever was May 28, I gotta say that day is on my NUMBER 1 SPOT as the coolest most funnnnnest day I've ever had in Mound. I brought my cam to the school you guys did your Seniors chant cuz it was your last day at school...and as I got home I was anxious and excited to get ready for the movie night which was The Day After Tomorrow..KOOL MOVIE! Me and Guy were playing Vice City waiting fro you guys to pick us up, it was Tom and his cuz who picked us upp...UUHHH GREAT NIGHT!

But I've got to stop, cuz it's all in the archives I've talked about that day waay to much!

Sometime I'm coming to Mound, and I'm going to sleep over your place I bet when I come..and we'll have a ton o' fun.

Kingdom of Heaven & House of Wax!!!

2005-05-06T20:53:00.000-04:00

Duuuude, thiiis is what I'm talking about! Today right after school my friend Alex and I went to the matinee showing of Kingdom of Heaven at 3:30pm, we got out of school at 2pm. So we had like an hour and a half. The movie was goood. Ridley Scott's best is still Gladiator, but this movie has had some nice imagery, very nice, and towards the end it had great battle sequence. There were a few scenes that were graphic, and felt so ruthless. The movie runs at 2 hours 30 minutes and it doesn't feel long or boring, it was very entertaining.

After the movie was over, right away I quickly got up and left the theater, went to the bathroom and right away went to Room #9 the 6:15 showing of House of Wax ("I wanna take it truuuu da karrrr wash baby, and gerrit to wax! I wanna waaax it waax it, baby you know?" LOL that was from Van Vilder, the best friggin scene in the whole movie and in a long time that made me laugh hysterically. Kal Penn is a great man)

House of Wax was a 2 hour long movie, and here's how it goes.... no spoilers here. 1 hour thru the movie is soo long that it feels like 2 hours. What I loved about this movie is the atmosphere, this was filmed in the Gold Coast of Australia and wow, what a sight. A lot of trees, the town they're in is made like, in the middle of a forest and its so good. I loved that about it. It featured Prodigy's "SPITFIRE" tune in it too! in like first 20 mins or so.

The kills in this movie are ruthless too. When they happen, they dont cut to another scene but rather show it, in a graphic way. It's a shame that it takes so long for 'things to actually start happening', but the last half, like the 3rd or 4th act were energetic and filled with action. The french director Jaume Serra, is a cool director he's had some neat ass shots in this and I dug it!

I didn't pay for House of Wax, that was like my first time ever sneaking in since the childhood, it kind of feels weird too...donno man. It just guilt for not supporting a movie that's everybody worked hard for. But hopefully the 8.50 i didnt pay don't hurt it at all.

so I've spent like a total of approx. 4 and a half hours in the theater..that's the first time ever. Amazing.

I saw the trailer for Batman Begins with each films. It was great seeing it on big screen, with surround sound twice in one day.

--May 13 though, is the NIGHT..that night will be a night to remember, I'm going to paaartaaay

"Baby dont you know? that I will make you see...."

2005-05-04T17:04:00.000-04:00

"All those things I can make you see, baaybeh bayybeh" no it's not some pop tune. But a great tune from Shiloh - Baby (Brutal Mix)

I was like, a little late today for school..by 5 minutes, it was all good though. I had Government first hour and it was for 2 hours...then guess what? next hour was Advanced P.E. and THAT was also 2 hours...then I had lunch, but which I skipped as usual and went to the library to surf online. Then I had Photography class, and guess what...yeah, that was 2 hours long too..but that was good because that meant I didn't have my last hour which was Algebra 2.

Photog was actually pretty fun today, all I did was just socialize with girls. It was fun. Tomorrow is Thursday, which means two things. (2 seems to be the number today ;-) )

1. Project Greenlight on BRAVO at 10pm, hooah
2. I get a ride from Alex to school in the mornin'

yay. But what blows is that I have to take my stupid ass test for Astronomy, and I'm going to stdy hard for it today cuz I can't fail ANY test this month. I need to get my grades UP, not down.

Friday we're seeing Kingdom of Heaven, which JoBlo rates 6/10 and the review is here

after KoH, we're sneaking into House of Wax. I haven't done that in a looong ass time, since my childhood.

Lates

2 / 3

2005-05-03T17:46:00.000-04:00

Missed my post yesterday, but making it up for today.

2 Yesterday I was touching up, tweaking my short, pointless movie that me and Veldan made in July of 2002., yeah been a long time. But it turned out pretty good! here is the link to it. it was all shot in one take basically.

3 Today i got a ride from Alex, this morning, I mean. We spoke about the upcoming weekend and the rave that we're going to. Should be a lot of fun, since we're gonna eat at Hooters before we go to the club, yeah and if we do, it will be my 2nd time @ H()()ters. This time eating 2nd time. I ate the first time when Tom and Alex took me with em in June of last year ('04) second time they brought Bill, but I didn't want to eat so I just sat. Umm.. now I'm sitting here tryin to finish this stupid ass paper that I have to do for English, it's a book review paper. Needs to be 2 pages, but guess what I've got a lot more pages. It sucks.

Well, whats good though, is that when I'm all done with it, I can go back to this entry and read about how I hated writing it. Today is a sunny day outside as I look out my window, Blue sky. In my room I'm recording "Runaway Jury" and will watch it when I have time. I've been also re-watching my short movie I've made over and over and over and over again, I just love it ;-)

Check it out if it's still going to be up (prolly not if you're reading this)

Oh man it's nice outside, but I'm kind of stuck here because I wan't to finish the paper although I'm not doing anything right now with it, haha. I'm e-mailing back and forth with Mrs. G though about it. So I'm waiting for some sort of help. Also I'ma ask my stepdad to help, he's usually not bad with explaining things.

I'm soon gonna be done with HS. Can't wait, this whole month I gotta concentrate hard on homework and gettin all the good grades, cuz I can't afford to fail, and hey guess what I AM NOT GOING TO FAIL, (some motivation right there, and self esteem ;-) always good)

Alrighty, later on, check tomorrow.

P.S. Can't wait for the next Project Greenlight on Thrusday, they wrapped shooting, now the editing part ( should be greeeet )

been a long time.

2005-05-01T15:05:00.000-04:00

I've completely stopped writing. Nothing much to say anymore I guess, or I've simply lost interest.

Graduation is coming close. It's the May Day, and I think I skipped a whole month on the blog. Just a month left til I'm done with my High School Career. When I'm done, I'm finally in the league with Alex. Starting college, etc..but that's later.

First, I've got neeeeews baby. They had Prom on friday, but It's a waste of time for me..no, no. It's not a girl issue for me. I could've asked a certain someone if I wanted to - but Prom is not a big deal for me at all . I just sit back and look at people getting worked up about it, but hey, it's over with. I went and saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy instead, on that day - and lemme tell ya..it kind of sucked. I've read the book just to get ready for the movie and it's so lame, the book is much more fun to read.

Easter was celebrate at Midnight tonight, I went with my parents to church, boy. A Lot of people there. We left at 12:30 after the the ceremony around church.

Prior to that, last night on Saturday I went with my friend, at 7:30pm, to see The Interpreter, Sydney Pollack's return to cinema after 6 year hiatus, and I'm happy to say it's a worthy return beacause I enjoyed it. best political thriller box office, stands in 3rd place after Air Force One and The Sum of All Fears.

intense movie, it takes time to build character development of Nicole and Penn's characters and that's smart, the story is interesting, you keep guessing who's trying to pop the guy, I've had a guess on one guy from the beginning and was right. A very memorable scene was the Bus scene, it was intense, kept me at the "edge-of-my-seat" kind of scene. Very nice ending as well. Great music from James Newton Howard. Kind of a warm up for me/us Batman fans on what to expect from Batman Begins in a little more than a month away.

- Other things? I donno, just go crazy, Oh yeah! one thing is, May 13 I am finally going to a rave/club for the first time. This time, though, I'm ready! I've got my noise reducing earmuffs and I'm gettin a few friends to come.

The lineup is:

The Crystal Method
Evil 9
Grayarea (Chicago natives)

TCM are promoting their Community Service II compilation. I've got it, and it's going to be great live! can't wait

Next weekend my friend and I have decided to do this. Buy Tix for Kingdom of Heaven and then sneak in to House of Wax, it was my plan, and I wanted to see KoH first, for this nice dramatic film, and then just see something entertaining! I love teen slasher flix!!

Hooah! Senior's baby! 2005.

BTW, I got my Cap and Gown, and it's got that little thing with "2005" that you attach to your cap. It's awesome, Its all navy Blue <---my fav color!

2005 is the year for many great things! my graduation, tons of great movies that I've been waiting for!!! a special one of them that I don't even nEEd to mention, everybody knows it.

2 0 0 5

Spring Break. Days #2 & #3

2005-03-24T17:11:00.000-05:00

Tuesday #2.

Tuesday was my second time going to the track practice with Alex and Pascal.....we were like by like 15 mins. Ran 2 laps, and then we had like a 40 minute "distance" run. I chose to go with Alex, but he went with a group that ran faster..but he didn't tell us about that. So about 10 minutes in I had to stop..and walk..it was really bad. It was a tad warm outside. I walked the rest of the way all the way back to the track. It blew. I can do better than that, but you know not runnin' for 6 months does that do ya.

practice was over, but Pascal nowhere near in sight. So we went looking for him in the car. Spent a good 20 mins or so! then guess what, we come back there he is, and he told us he went runnin with some guy for 1 hour...tsk tsk.

So yeah, we went home..and that was it. I dont remember much of what I was doing home.

Wednesday #3.

Wed. Alex called me early and told there was no practice, cuz it rained..so that was obvious. So what we did, instead at 7pm we went to the gym. me & alex, and another of his friends..we lifted there, and went to the pool, there we swam for a couple mins and went to the jacuzzi. Relaxing, but I hate public pools, yeah..its chlorine..and you smell after that. I hate it.

So we went back at 10pm and Alex wanted to hang at my house a bit. It was aight. all We did was watch fkn tV, 100 Scariest movie moments.

He left like 12ish.

Spring Break. Day # 1.

2005-03-21T14:52:00.000-05:00

What a nice way to start a spring break.

I woke up early today once again. About 10:30am, this is good. Ate my breakfast which consisted of some eggs & melted cheese, and chicken. Yeah, lol..kinda heavy for a breakfast eh?

At 11:30'ish Alex + P. picked me up, so we drove down to the HS. It was nice an breezy outside..perfect day for a run. Yeah, I didn't mention what it was right. I went to a track practice. about 20+ people showed up, we warmed up, two laps around the track..I still had it. ;-) Then we did stretching..and that took longer than the ones we did when I was in >>-C-C-> It was good stuff, we then ran for one mile, I was really surprised. I thought, since I haven't ran in so long, about 6 months now, I wouldnt be able to. I did get MILD cramps but I was doing good. It's amazing how CC had kept me in shape even after 6 months of not doing any running.

I'm really glad, so tomorrow I'm going again, track is great.

Listening to a nice Proggy breaks mix right about now by Slingthought!

The Weekend

2005-03-21T00:42:00.000-05:00

- Saturday:

woke up nice and early on Saturday, at 9am..I don't remember if I ate anything but I know that I went downstairs into the basement and played Counter Strike source for about an hour and a half or so. Maybe even more. Don't remember what happened after that.

Alex and Pascal came over at 12pm. Caught me by surprise, so I was pleased. We went outside..it was really nice. We walked over to the middle school, it wasnt too far off. Played soccer til like 3. It was a fun day, really sunny.

- Sunday:

Oh man, I think today was the best day I've had since moving to VA. It was pretty exciting. It was nice and cool outside, not cold. I woke up at 10am and played CS Source for about 30 mins, went upstairs, surfed net. Watched TV. I got a girl in the morning from the girl, she told me she couldnt make the movie, so I called Alex and told him if he wanted to go lift. He came around 2-ish..and we went to P's place..picked him up.

I told Alex to just cruise a little, to show me more of Woodbridge that I hadn't seen. I was impressed. Not a bad area further west.

It started raining. We went to Hylton, and I cruised in Alex's car around a parking lot. LOL. It was fun, it was actually my first time 'driving' in Virginia, wow..hard to believe that long I hadn't driven. Actually, no...it's my second time driving in VA..oh snap. Anyway, we lifted for a long ass time. like 2 hours, we were down there til about 5. It was cool. I got a good workout.

Alex took us to Taco Bell, we had a nice dinner there. It was really neat. I hadn't gone out like that since my days in Mound..with Axl. ;-)

It was great time.

I'm so glad there's no school tomorrow. Wow. Spring Breaks, what a nice time to relax.