track of the day – my father’s house, bruce springsteen
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Movie of the Day – The Bling Ring
AMC Century City – Digital Projection
Let me start off by saying, I dig Sofia CoppoIa. I’m always excited to see what she’s going to do next. The Bling Ring on the other hand didn’t really do it for me. I think for me the story just felt really flat. It was incredibly boring. It was scene after scene of these kids robbing celebrity homes. Which at first, was fun and exciting to watch but after the fourth scene of “Where does Rachel Bilson live?” and then the kid would just google it and cut to them robbing the house, it got old. Near the end, we got to see some really impressive acting from Emma Watson. I really dig the choices she is making and I look forward to seeing what she does next.
The silver lining would have to be the photography. It is just an unfortunate reminder that we lost an such a talented artist in Harris Savides.
Save your money and just watch the trailer.
5/10 Popcorns with Butter
track of the day: question mark & the mysterians – 96 tears
Movie of the Day – Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay
Arena Cinema - Digital Projection
Ricky Jay is someone who I’d heard first before seeing. It was that ominous voice in the opening of Magnolia that I’ll never forget. Then a few years later, a friend of mine showed me Ricky and his 52 Assistants. It was just a couple of clips pulled from a DVR. Later on, I’d finally see the whole production on YouTube. I was blown away. I’ve always been a fan of magic, but it was never a serious interest of mine. I’m too impatient and it bugs me to not know how the trick is performed.
There was something about Ricky Jay though. The way he handled the cards. Slight of hand is one of the most incredible things to watch. Surprisingly, I never seen it performed in person. But now that I think of it, I’ve never even been to a magic show.
Anyhow, I got wind of this documentary and immediately wanted to see it. I was interested to learn about Ricky’s mentors, namely Die Vernon and Charlie Miller, but I was bummed that most of the footage was sourced from that HBO (?) special that I’d already seen a hundred times on YouTube and they didn’t really dig into Ricky’s life story much. It felt like more of a quick overview of this fascinating man and the people he loved and respected. But maybe that adds to the enigma of Ricky Jay, maybe that’s all a part of the trick. Either way, spending eighty-eighty minutes with Ricky and watching him perform his craft that he’s spent his whole life perfecting is not only humbling but horribly entertaining.
8/10 Popcorns with Butter
As always don’t be shy and share your comments in the section below!
Movie of the Day – ‘Frances Ha’
So I often forget that I have a place to share my dumb thoughts. Since I watch quite a lot of films in the theater, I thought I’d start posting here under the title “Movie of the Day”. Lets be honest, I probably won’t keep up on this. Is anyone even reading this? Am I pretty? Hold me?
Okay, as always, lots of love!
Laemmle NoHo 7 – Digital Projection
I went into ‘Frances Ha’ thinking it was going to be a pretentious bore. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I’m actually quite a fan of Noah Baumbach’s films. ‘The Squid and the Whale’ was the first film of his that I had seen. I was working at a video store at the time of its release and I instantly connected with it. I remember seeing ‘Roger Dodger’ around the same time on dvd and was amazed at both performances Jesse Eisenberg gave. So, after being blown away by Squid I tried to get my hands on everything Baumbach had done since. This lead me to 1995′s Kicking and Screaming which I still think to this day is a gem. I was attempting to make it through my second year of college, so I related to much of what the film was dealing with. But, I digress. In short, every time, I would see that Baumbach was working on something, I would get excited. Margot didn’t really do much for me (except an awkward viewing with my mom) and Greenberg continued in this tradition of Baumbach making films that just didn’t really speak to me anymore. He was clearly working through problems that come with an older age and what once spoke to me about post-college days and being a kid watching your folks dissolve their marriage became more about “grown up” stuff. So when I saw the trailer for Frances I was less than excited but knew I would give the film a chance.
Within the first frames of ‘Frances’ I was immediately engaged. It was so authentic and true to what it’s like to be a twenty-something drifting through life trying to figure it all out. I thought Gerwig was so unbelievably charming and honest in her performance, that at times it didn’t feel like she was acting. She was Frances. The stuff about dealing with being the one who is floundering while your friends seem to have it all figured out, nearly gave me a panic attack it rang so true. There were only a few things that didn’t jive with me. First, the choice to use black & white. It didn’t work. I wanted color so bad, that sometimes it became distracting. And then, the score was a little obnoxious at times. Don’t get me wrong, I really dig Georges Delerue, but something about it didn’t sit well with me. All in all, I cannot wait to see what Greta Gerwig does next and this without a doubt revitalized my love for Noah Baumbach.
9/10 Popcorns with Butter
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Lover, You Should’ve Come Over
Absolutely crushing on this right now.
Three Years in Los Angeles.
Today marks the third year I’ve been living in los angeles. It’s been a pretty crazy ride so far. I’ve had my fair share of highs and lows, both personally and professionally. I had a 3+ year relationship end (we still remain best friends) with a woman I thought I’d marry one day. Aside from all that craziness, I’ve never been happier in my life than where I’m at right now. My mind and body are working in unison and I’ve sorted shit out with the help of family and friends (thanks Sissy for taking care of me in August). Speaking of friendships, I’ve been lucky enough to cultivate some amazing relationships since I’ve been here and to you guys (you know who you are) thanks for always being there.
OK enough yammering. I’ll be spending tonight eating tasty Thai food and appreciating how lucky I am that I live in a city where it’s constantly sunny and I can see a great film 365/days a year.
Also, I guess I should use this forum to tell everyone that I am officially employed once again. I’ll be starting my position as Online Video Content Producer at HitFix.com on 4/8 — so be on the look out for lots of posts and stuff.
I love you all.
