I’m not an overly-sensitive guy

[I have been making progress on my movie list, but I've been lazy when it comes to typing my thoughts on them. I'll update that soon.]

Some who know me might even say I’m not sensitive at all. I must insert here that I’m checking my manhood at the door (and my ego will probably require me to pull this post within 48 hours). I’m not the sort to get emotional over things that might get others teary-eyed over. I will admit that on a very rare occasion, I’ll have to fight back a tear during a movie (see: Shane), I don’t remember every outright crying during a movie. Until last night when I saw Life is Beautiful. Damn that movie! It was excellent.

I’d never had any interest in seeing it, so I knew nothing at all about it when I picked it up. Before popping it into the DVD player, I read the first half of the back of the package and thought it was just a feel-good love story. And for more than half the movie I was right. Then it just got sad. By the end of the movie, I was actually crying despite my best efforts to suppress it. Ever since, then I’ve become super-emotional. All day, even the slightest thing gets me choked up. I hope this goes away soon.

Despite how good the movie was (and it really is a superb film), I hate it for what it’s done to me.

If you’ve never seen this one, you need to

Local lawyer (and UT Law Alum) hits it big

. . . on Above the Law.

And if you don't feel like reading the sensationalized, tabloid version, you can read about his "masturbatory gesture" at the Statesman.

Adam Reposa might be "bulletproof" but he's not "contemptproof".

$2502.50

I paid for Bar/Bri.

Oh Shit... the bar exam is a reality.

Dear Mozilla Firefox:

I don't like you very much right now.

First, after many attempts, you have finally managed to install the Yahoo toolbar. After all the times I declined it, you must have got it in somehow. But that's not what really misses me off, it's the fact that you deleted all my bookmarks.

Yes, Mozilla, I hate you right now. If iTunes tries to get me to install Safari before I get around to adding all my bookmarks, I think I might just do it.

Sincerely,
Ex.Coll

Movie Update VI

As expected, Spring Break was a good time for movie watching. I saw quite a few movies off my list as well as a few that weren’t. Here’s my quasi-review of the ones from my list (which is down to 33 movies, in case you were keeping score). WARNING: this will be a long post. I was going to cut it in half like my last update, but figured this would be more like the movies themselves, long, could probably stand some more editing, but hopefully worthwhile in the end. Also, I feel it worth mentioning that I usually write these thought on the movies, a few days after watching the movies and usually right before bed. I hope this explains why there are more typing/grammar/other errors in these posts than the already numerous ones in my usual posts.

No Country for Old Men (#34) – Another somewhat dark movie. However, I did think this was an outstanding movie. The story was simple and relatively short. The Coens didn’t waste time with needless setup and let the characters develop through the context of the story and not with a lot of needless background. The performances by Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin were all excellent. The movie is probably not for the squeamish, but I highly recommend it. I think the film is rightfully in the top 100, but 34 might be pushing it.

The Seventh Seal (#79) – Hmmmm… When you think artsy films (and I do mean ‘film’ as opposed to ‘movie’ here) you should think of this one. I don’t think this one is for the masses, and it’s probably not for me either. I told a friend I’d seen it and he asked how it was. I thought for a while before saying “the central plot of the movie is a knight playing chess with death, if you can take a movie in which a knight plays chess with death, check it out.” I can’t think of any better way to say it. I will certainly revisit this movie, er… I mean film.

City Lights (#88) – A Chaplin film, and my first one at that. I really wish I could experience a film like this in a theater. I’d always heard old-time-movie buffs talk about the genius of Chaplin, but I never understood it. Now I do. This is a great film that is probably underrated. Because IMDB bases its rankings on user votes, it appears that a bias has developed for more recent movies. I’m not faulting the rankings, they are what they are, a bunch of internet movie junkies rating and talking about movies. However, I don’t think it will be long before this one falls off the top 100, and that would be a damn shame. Anyhow, as for the movie, it’s good and funny. It mixes slapstick with social commentary and even throws in some romance. It really is easy to see Chaplin’s talent in this one. Highly recommended for anyone really interested in great films.

Touch of Evil (#87) – Orsen Wells and Charlton Heston, what more can I say? I enjoyed this one, and it seemed (to an amateur like me, at least) to be ahead of its time. I don’t know how intentional this was, or if I only see it now with the benefit of a half-century of history between it’s filming and my watching, but this dealt with some pretty heavy issues, namely racism. I tend to lean toward the unintentional side since Moses played a Mexican prosecutor. I do have to say that it was Well’s performance that dominated the movie. A good movie, recommended.

Spirited Away (#56) – I believe this is the only animated movie on my list, but I know this is the first anime movie I’ve ever seen. It’s a fantasy story complete with spirits, monsters, transformations, and alternative universes. In order to avoid the odd feeling a old guy like me would feel watching a Disney (distributed) movie alone, I recruited a six-year-old to watch it with me. I’m glad I did, I needed her to explain more than a couple parts of the movie to me. I thought this was an extremely complex movie to be a children’s movie. Hell, I’m certain I missed out on more than a few details. However it was fun pausing it and talking with the six-year-old about things we might have missed. If you like animated movies, you’ll probably dig this one.

Psycho (#21) – When I was a kid, my parents took me to Disney World. I remember seeing Space Mountain and dragging my Dad to stand in line with me to ride it. We must have waited a couple of hours to get to the front of the line. Then it happened – I chickened out. I was too afraid and I wussed out. Dad was furious and said he didn’t wait in that line for nothing, so he rode it alone. When he got off, he said I should have rode, it wasn’t that bad. He told me it was a ride like riding Spaceship Earth, with the cars moving at constant speed and fans and wind tunnels giving the illusion of it being scary. I never lived that down. Fast-forward to about 12 years later, I go back to Disney World, this time minus my parents. I had to beat Space Mountain. I got in line thinking I had nothing to fear from what my Dad had told me (plus I’d gotten over my fear of roller coasters). If you’ve ever ridden Space Mountain, you know how this ends. Anyhow, I kept thinking of this incident after seeing Psycho. For so many years, I thought this was really a horror film. Anyhow, this is a classic and probably deserves to be seen my almost everyone. That said, this is not my favorite Hitchcock film. As I’ve said earlier, I really enjoyed Rebecca and I think I’d even put Vertigo over this one, although all are very different movies.

The Sting (#93) – A decent movie about a couple of con men. The story had me going and the twists were good enough to keep me wondering. However, I think the problem with this one, and it’s the problem with most movies like it, is that everything just fell into place too well. Personally, I wouldn’t have this film in my top 100 or even my top 250. I was very surprised to see this win Best Picture, then again so did Titanic.

Paths of Glory (#44) – Yet another Kubrick film. Almost all commentary I’ve seen on this one bills it as an “anti-war” movie. I disagree. I think this movie is much more a film about human nature and personal ambition more than it is an indictment on war. It was certainly a movie I didn’t expect. While the movie it short (89 min), it flew by and was over before I knew it. Anyhow the movie is about a criminal lawyer-turned colonel in the French Army during WWI. He is given an impossible task for his troops to compete and when they fail, is troops are tried for cowardice. He requests to defend them at their court marshal. I thought this was another great movie. And I recommend it.

The Prestige (#89) – A movie about two competing magicians but more about obsession. A very good movie, but very complex. I think I need to see this one at least one more time in order to get my head around it all. The story itself isn’t that complicated, it’s basically a story about jealousy and obsession, but catching the details of the story can be difficult. It doesn’t help that the story doesn’t always flow chronologically. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the story was non-linear (when I think non-linear, I think Pulp Fiction) but more like linear with some hiccups. Anyhow, this is a great drama. I do recommend this one.

Full Metal Jacket (#92) – Yet another Kubrick, this one about Vietnam. A good movie with a lot of powerful images. Really enjoyed how He started out with new Marines going through basic training and followed a few through their journey through their tour. Although this was about an era that was before my time and I have no first hand experience, the film seemed very authentic to me. This movie has quite a bit of gore, but if you are a fan of all the war movies on this list, I’m sure you’ll like this one.

Spring Broke

Here it is, my last spring break. Ever. Not with a bank, but with a whimper.

I haven't done anything that could even be remotely considered exciting, or fun. I thought I would at least catch up on work for school, or work from work, but even that's not working out the way I thought.

I've also noticed my movie watching goal has been becoming an obsession.

The good news is that I've successfully hidden the fact that it's spring break from my boss, so I at least have the time off from work. That probably wasn't a good idea because: (1) it takes away my excuse for not doing school work, and (2) If I'm not going to be doing school work, I might as well get paid for it.

Movie Update V

M (#45) – This was a great movie. Another Fritz Lang film and it was truly a great movie. Everything from the acting, to the story, to the music, to the cinematography was fantastic. The fact that this is a movie from 1931 makes it all the more impressive. Here’s a quick synopsis, there’s a murderer on the loose who preys on kids. The killer’s been able to evade the cops for so long, they get stare getting desperate and are doing all sorts of random raids and checks. While not finding the killer, they are seriously intruding on the business of the city’s underworld. The gangsters get tired of the lost revenue and decide to look for the killer themselves. The final scene, IMO was fantastic. Anyone considering a career in criminal defense would enjoy it. The only thing I didn’t like about this film is that I could only find this on VHS (and old VHS at that, luckily this is the first time I’ve encountered this) and as a result the audio was fair, and the video was fair with some parts being nearly unwatchable. I guess I’m just spoiled since I’m complaining that I couldn’t find a 77 year old movie on DVD. This one is highly recommended.

Bridge on the River Kwai (#61) – I saw bits are parts of this movie when I was a kid, unfortunately the only part I remember was the ending. Despite that, when the film was reaching the climax, I was still on the edge of my seat wondering how it would end. The performances were all top-notch and I thoroughly enjoyed watching Sir Obi-Wan Kenobi play a Colonel. (By the way, it was, yet another, war movie.)

On the Waterfront (#84) – Ah… early Brando. Oddly enough, I think this is the first early Brando movie I’ve seen. I think a lot of people consider this his best work – I hope it’s not. While there were some fantastic moments in the movie, there were a few parts I found him annoying, and I don’t think it was the character. Regardless, it was a good movie. If you like classics I’d recommend it. It’s probably something I won’t return to, but I’m glad to have seen it.

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A few notes
So far, in my endeavor I’ve seen 18 movies of the 61 movies on my list. I’ll tell you it’s 30% just to satisfy the math geek in me. That leaves me with 43 left to see and 10 weeks (incl. this one) in which to do it. That means I need to average 4.3 movies (man I love easy math) a week. That is definitely doable. Let’s see what Spring Break does to my list.

Next up: Det Sjunde Inseglet (#79), and I’m really looking forward to that one.

I also have quite a few in queue including The Sting, City Lights, The Prestige, Paths of Glory, A Clockwork Orange, and (just for your Jennebelle) Jaws. I have no idea in what order I’ll get them or in what order I’ll watch them. But if you care, stay tuned.

Movie Update IV

This has been a good week for movie watching. Posting all my reviews would make for a huge post, so I’ll break this up into (at least) 2 posts.

[NOTE: I saw this one the week before last but forgot to include it in my last post] Requiem for a Dream (#65) - Wow. I don’t know what else to say. This was an excellent movie, but one I don’t know if I ever want to see again. The cinematography was fantastic as were all the performances. It was a very “stylistic” movie, but not to the point it detracted from the movie. The movie deals with drugs, dreams, and relationships and it holds nothing back. For a while I was wondering if this movie was actually darker than Trainspotting. It is. I recommend this movie, just don’t do it with a full bottle of booze or anything sharp near by.

Downfall (#66) – Another war movie. This one is about the last days of WWII from the point of view of Hitler’s inner circle. I thought this was a great movie from a standpoint I’d never thought of before. It was a bit long, but the shots were very good and it kept my attention. If you’ve seen this before, and even if you haven’t, you’ll get a kick out of this. History buffs should like this one.

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (#94) – the first love story for me to watch off the list. At least it’s billed as a love story, but while the love story played a significant part of the film, I think this movie much more about the main character and his relationships than about his love interest. In all honesty, I think the relationship between the main character and the father figure was more interesting than the love interest. This was also a long movie, nearly 3 hours. It did drag at parts, and while much of it, especially during the first act, could have been cut out, it made for some of the best character development I’ve ever seen.

The Great Escape (#83) – Another of those movies I know I should have seen before now. A good, movie, but I don’t know if I’d call it ‘great’. Another ~3 hour movie, but this one didn’t drag at all, it kept me going the whole time. Perhaps the most important thing I got from this one is that now I get Mr. Brown’s line in Reservoir Dogs during the Madonna speech.

Depression, Despair, Doubt . . . Damn.

I don’t know how many people go through this, I assume it’s not an insignificant number, but it hit me pretty hard this week.

I don’t know what the hell I want to do nor whether what I’m doing now is helping or hurting me.

Law School has not been easy for me. Some of the worst things that have ever happened in my life happened over these last 3 years, one of them directly attributable to me being in Law School. Maybe these were signs that I should have gotten the hell out. Oh well, it’s too late now. The fact are: (1) I’m going to graduate in May and take the bar in July; (2) I have serious doubts whether I can pass it (I guess with this much time, I really don’t have an excuse); (3) I don’t have a job lined up, (4) I don’t have much in the way of legal contacts to find a job (or at least the ones I do have haven’t expressed much of a desire to help me); (5) my networking skills suck ass; (6) my resume is decent but my grades suck; (7) I’ve limited myself to what city I want to work in and the legal market there is difficult to break into; (8) and I don’t know what to do about any of this. I used to think the solution to my problems is to suck it up and hang out a shingle – eat what I kill, but I’m not so sure anymore.

I’ve seen several people do just that, and while I knew it would be hard, seeing someone go through that is rough. Plus, they have more support than I think I would have. What’s more is that I don’t know if I have the motivation to go out on my own. The way I’ve been these last few weeks, I’d make a pretty shitty solo.

Whatever I need to do, I need to do it now.

Oh… and on a more light-hearted topic, I’m pissed that the University found a way to screw an hour out of my spring break.

Movie Update III

I’m still not watching the number of moves I need to be watching to meet my goal, but this was a pretty good week. I also even took the time to see a movie not on my list. And some good news: No Country for Old Men is schedule to come out in a couple of weeks, and I’m really looking forward to that one. So without further adieu, here’s what I’ve seen and my hack reviews:

Hotel Rwanda (#75) – overall a good movie, but I think it’s overrated. I liked the movie, but I think most of its acclaim has more to do with the subject rather than the storytelling or style. I’m sure a lot of people will disagree with me on this one. But other than Don Cheadle’s performance, I wouldn’t say there was anything outstanding about the movie.

Das Boots (#64) – Okay, I have to admit, I might be cheating by marking this one off my list. I only saw about 1.5 hours of the 3+ hours of this one. Why? Because I was bored to tears and fell asleep at least three times watching it. I nearly cried when I saw on IMDB that there’s a 5 hour version of this one. The movie is about a crew of Nazi submariners. It’s a WWII movie about Nazis, it should be pretty exciting, no? No. At least not for me. There does seem to be a very large following for this one, but I have no reason why. Maybe I’ll give this one another shot, but not for a long time.

2001: A space Odyssey (#80) – My second Kubrick movie. I have to say, I’m still divided on this one. I liked the story telling in this one, and the special effects were fantastic, especially considering this is a film from the 60s. But I think when you weigh the plot against the special effects, there’s more effects than substance. I’m not the sort of movie watcher who is enamored with special effects. I need a good story to hold my attention, which is why I usually run from all the CGI crap that’s been coming out recently. I think there were a couple of places where the story could have really taken off but didn’t. I understand that Kubrick wanted to leave the film open to interpretation, but I think he still could have done that without leaving so much undeveloped plot. As for the ending, well, I’m still trying to sort that out.

Rebecca (#78) – A(.) Hitchcock film, and a great one at that. This really is a great example of storytelling and plot twists. I don’t know how to explain myself without going into detail. I’ll say it this way, I haven’t seen a lot of Hitchcock, so I’m still learning his style. I’ve also seen enough variety to know that he doesn’t just tell one kind of story. I fear saying any more would reveal too much. From the batch of movies I’ve seen this week, I think this one was the best.

Darjeeling Limited – Not on my list, but I saw it anyway. I was going to watch American Gangster, but Hollywood Video was out. Oh well… this one was a nice, quirky film. If you like off the wall characters, you’ll probably like this one.

I'm Ex.Coll. and I approved this post.

Interesting add from Clinton. I do find it odd that the Dems are attacking over this issue. Typically, people favor Republicans on issues like this.