Congratulations Wizards!

I would just like to congratulate the Washington Wizards, Caron Butler & Antawn Jamison for being selected as Eastern Conference All Star Reserves. Being selected as an All Star Reserve is like being Daughtry. Even though, you didn't win American Idol (getting selected by the fans), everyone respected what you brought and took you on the All Star ride as well. (except they're way cooler then Daughtry.)

Sickness without Insurance

Hello Friends,

So I've recently been sick and I wanted to take the time to really chat about sickness.

I'm what like 27 now, and for the last 5 years I have only had insurance for 3 months of that. Which really frightens a lot of people. Not really me, which I've heard makes me kind of stupid, (thank you Grandma and others for all the positive sentiments) Honestly, I think the only time I was ever actually scared was when I was in a small hovel in South America huddled in my sleeping bag in the freezing cold. And there, well no insurance is going to help you in the Bolivian Outback. But this year I fully intend on getting health insurance, just like last year. Now if I get a new car, you can throw that out the window. But hold on real quick and lets take a look at what I'd rather buy instead of health insurance... uh... wait, let's not.

Anyway, since I've decided to avoid the purchase or acquisition of health insurance, I'm here to discuss alternative ways to heal oneself during sickness and to ask if any of you had heard of some alternative healing methods.

1. Over the Counter Medication - Is it really medicine? Or does it just block the neural pathways that cause you to feel ill? I really think that most of it makes you feel better, but doesn't make you better. So that's why I've decided to go more herbal.Echinacea - I have mixed feelings about echinacea. I hardly ever realize I'm getting sick until it's too late for this fantastic herb to it's best work. But I can tell you that when I'm taking it or drinking it in tea, that I feel great! In fact, I feel so good I don't drink coffee. I mean really can you imagine it. Now if it helps the cold out, well that's sweet too. I'd like to think it does but it could just be the placebo effect.

2. Chicken Soup - Does this actually help? I don't have the slightest clue, but I do feel that I get over things better with the soup.

3. Echinacea - I have mixed feelings about echinacea. I hardly ever realize I'm getting sick until it's too late for this fantastic herb to it's best work. But I can tell you that when I'm taking it or drinking it in tea, that I feel great! In fact, I feel so good I don't drink coffee. I mean really can you imagine it. Now if it helps the cold out, well that's sweet too. I'd like to think it does but it could just be the placebo effect...

4. The Mighty Onion - So yesterday, still not feeling better, I talked to Jessica Stuart about things  I could take other then Afrin that might make me better better.  And she gave me the recipe for an Onion/Herb Soup. Which I fully intend to make on Saturday. But this being a work day, I asked her what I could do instead. And she said eat an onion. So I went downstairs to the first floor and talked to the lovely ladies at the California Subs and asked for a lot of onions. Which they obliged. Friends. I then swallowed onions.  And I felt kind of sick. And then Jessica told me it was like dumping toxic waste onto the virus. Well, today I feel a whole lot better and I'm not sure if it was the Onion or the time to run it's course.

5. Sleep - A lot. And let the fever do it's thing. It's helping you. Remember that. But also remember that if it's gets really bad, and you own a thermometer check it and don't die.

So now that I've shared some of the ways I get better without health insurance and pills and shit. What kind of non-prescription ideas do you all have or know of?

Oh and 1 more thing: 2 Things to avoid while being sick -- Not sleeping and Blu-Ray projects.

Thursday, Jan 31, 2008

Jessica Stuart turned 25 today!

I quit Eharmony! Yay!

And I'm back to blogging, after taking afew sick days off.

U2 in 3D

Hey Friends,
So as long as I've known myself, I've been a U2 fan, and you know, I feel pretty good about that. Younger folk, the kids, they may not be into U2 and it kind of saddens me, because that may be the generation gap, and you know, I can throw down to a little Hannah Montana or whatever rump shaking new anthem that may have just dropped on your all new all the time hip-hop R/B station. But no matter what if the kids don't listen to U2 then I'm old. Then I'm like their parents.
Anyway, I'm actually not the only one who feels sad about this. U2 themselves, feel this way. They hate the fact some of the younger folk just aren't into their powerful anthemic music. So they've attempted something that only U2 might attempt.
A 3D concert film. Probably not their idea, but they jumped at it anyway. Because they want to do something cool and they hope that the young folks are going to think it's cool, and trust that the old folks will just follow them as they usually do.
It opened at IMAX screens on Wednesday. And I took some of my friends to go see it. We were of course joined by a massive group of mid-twenties to early forties viewers.
It's awesome... like I mean really awesome. Like so awesome, I think everyone should go see it. And it's not just how the 3D makes them and the crowd stand out, its the show, it's the angles. It's like watching a football game on your TV and you say, "Man it's so much better being here then it is at the game where they look like flies."
Now, seeing U2 at 3D concert isn't necessarily better then seeing them in real life, because it isn't. There is a communal power to being at U2 concert that the film captures, but you don't really feel a part of it. (damn screen) but it's CLOSE. It's U2 at their best, in the way that captures their music the right way, the powerful way, and illustrates how integral all 4 guys are to the music.
So anyway, young people, old people, friend people, neighbor people, check out U2 3D at your local IMAX if you have one, or in a few months or so it will be coming to your regular Digital Theaters. Great way to spend some money and save some money.

Bessie the Beast

There's been a lot of talk about how my car is getting old. Too many jokes, I've been hearing about how so many people were surprised my car made it back through driving in Tahoe and the Mountains. It can't make it. I'm surprised it's still running. You still have that thing. So I got to thinking about many car, and I realized I would finally give it a name. Bessie. But the thing, seriously is that Bessie is a Beast!
Bessie has been kicking ass in America for 10 years. 10 Years. I've only had her for 8 years, but she's been the BOMB.
I mean, the things I've put my car through. The all night trips up and down the east coast. The Cross Country trip, my jaunts around California. The 95,000 miles we have travelled together.
Has she broken down a few times, well, yes... but she's been a hell of a lot better then the old Dodge Neon, and it's never been particularly painful or troublesome and much of that had to do with me and the way I drive. No, she pretty much always came through. And she may not be the prettiest, but she looks nice to me.
So, if this is Bessie's last year with me, I just wanted to give a shout out to her, because few cars I could've afforded could have taken the amount of abuse (I hate using that word) that I've inflicted and still be trucking. We'll see what the future brings, but for now I throw my lot in with Bessie, Bessie the Beast. So leave her alone.

Grandma

I would like to thank everyone who has checked my blog out this past week. And everyone who has sent me a message thank you. I'd also really like to thank my Grandma for checking it out as well... Enclosed is her letter.

Hi B,

The blog is good and all of the reviews were rich with information. I found myself interested in seeing them. I don't want Sweeney Todd because I saw Brianne (cousin) in the play and I don't know how they possibly made a musical out of it -- it was a strange play and it took genius to create it but it is awful and awesome at the same time. I would like to suggest though that in writing your blogs that you do something different by leaving out the F and D words...

Thanks for sharing it with us.

love, Grandmother

Grandma, I will try to refrain from using the F word...

Thanks!

The Films of 2007

Hello friends! 

I'm back with this years installment of "The Films of 2007"

Not an easy thing to do by any means. 

Listed: Not Ranked.

Atonement  -  Okay, so I'm kind into that skinny girl, Keira. Okay, really into. Yes, she's probably anorexic and no I do not care. There is I think a fire to her performance that her twin Natalie doesn't have. Natalie always kind of looks like a nice girl inside that is pretending to be bad or full of attitude, Keira can pull of the 'tude and the fire and it's awesome. Joe Wright, the director of this film and Pride and Prejudice knows how to wring that out of her, which isn't that hard because she still had some fire in Pirates 3 and that movie well, it has a good ending. Anyway this movie is fantastic all the way down it's credit line. No weak spots. Only great spots. It's a shorty and it's not really self important and people don't really know James McAvoy yet, but they will. I like Love stories and this one had the goods, and it hurts but with atonement.

Sweeney Todd - Great Musical. Great Songs. Great Performances. Solid everything, unlike Enchanted that had a few spotty things in it. Too bad it's no fun, but it was still great and bloody! And who doesn't like Alan Rickman, pining over a young girl he raised. Gross! And yet ultimately heart breaking.

Knocked Up  - To begin this section you must know some back story. I work in DVDs and in the past had to watch every behind the scene video tape of certain films or shows, and I have been familiar with the cast and crew behind this movie for years. Especially, Seth Rogen, the star. And when I first started watching his stuff in Undeclared, I thought he was funny and one of the best parts. Then I had to watch almost 200 hundred hours of Seth and others make The 40 Year Old Virgin. I was Sethed out. I was Judd Apatow out. I was everything related to anybody that had anything to do with it - out. It was sad and I was mad, and you didn't even have to see what I saw. Let's just say all the Not Funny Stuff cut from the movie I watched, all of it and that wasn't.... anyway.

Knocked Up is a great movie. It's not terribly realistic in story or plot, but it gets the characters right and it gets the emotions. And more then anything Apatow gets that and Seth was his ultimate weapon. Again, a male fantasy film. But it was damn funny. And Katherine Heigl is damn hot, even pregnant. Funny how girls sometimes get hotter when pregnant. Whatever. This movie was the funniest movie I'd seen since Wedding Crashers. Awesome. I'm back to trusting Rogen & Apatow again.

Juno - Part of me wanted to take this movie off because every damn character had to be witty or filled with sass or say something unbelievable every time they opened their mouth, and that got occasionally annoying, especially since this film felt like it took place in the real world. Oh, and yes, many of the characters are unbelievably negative. But you know what, I still like it a lot. It's inventive. It's really well performed. It's funny as it should be, and it's sad when it needs to be. And way to go Bateman, twisting up your image a little bit. Oh and did I mention the songs in the movie are phenomenally perfect for the film. It was like a Wes Anderson movie set in the real world.

The Bourne Ultimatum  - Is there really any guy in our generation that would not want to be Jason Bourne, er Matt Damon playing Jason Bourne. Yes, it has the same plot as the first 2 movies, the thing is, it's better then the first 2 movies, especially the first, which after watching the last 2 seems down right quaint and kind of cute. But Ultimatum is brutal and emotional and the Bourne Journey is over for now and I feel satisfied. Way to nail the actin movie trilogy of this decade. Damn U Matrix! Oh and this movie finally explains why the hell Julia Stiles has been slumming it in there for all these years.

Live Free or Die Hard - John McClane. John McClane. He was like a childhood idol for me, and I do not feel bad about that. This was a guy who could get things done. Yeah, he bitched about it, but fuck it. He did the job and at the end of the day felt pretty fucking satisfied. So I went back and rewatched all the Die Hards before this came out. And guess what. I only really liked the first one. The Second One now feels mailed in and the Third One has an ending so atrocious, well whatever. I know like 2 Die Hards. No I know this movie was completely ridiculous, but John McClane was not ridiculous. He was exactly who I remembered, just older, still terrible with the life stuff but awesome with the cop stuff. The Tunnel Scene rivals the Tangier's Bourne scene for awesomeness. Seriously. Justin Long isn't amazing, but he ain't bad either. And I don't care if it was edited. It still felt right. Rock on Dude who made those Underworld films and is married to Kate Beckinsdale.

Ratatouille - Based on sole rewatchability  this movie would make the list. Not the Best Pixar Movie or at least my favorite (Incredibles) but damn this movie goes down like a Caramel Ice Blended on a hot sunny day. It's smooth. It's fun and it has some great messages (okay yeah I said it). The animation is SICK! And. it's. just. so. sweet.

The Host - Speaking of messages, this one was a doozy. It came out really early last year. And it was subtitled. But it was the Asian Little Miss Sunshine. (When I say that, ultimately I mean that it's really fucked up. Now I don't know about you, but can any of you remember seeing an Asian movie that wasn't either really fucked up (75% of them) or really boring (25%). I can't say that I've seen them all, but this is my movie watching experience after all.) So it was about this really messed up family on a quest to help a Little Girl and hopefully they will fix themselves along the way. Now throw in the MONSTER. Brilliant. It was funny, scary and touching. Ridiculously well made movie.

Hot Fuzz - This film singlehandedly resurrected Point Break. Point Break! It also threw in a ton of Action Film references and an Ode to Male Love. (What's with that? It's really all over the place. Are men writers so disconnected from women that all the romance they can muster are Male Romances and these films are called Comedy, but when a woman writes a romance where some Unrealistic Male falls for a Woman it's called a Chick Flick. I don't know, something stinks in our universe. Oh and I just wanted to say to all my guys on in VA and LA. I LOVE YA!) Anyway, this movie is awesome. Great rewatchability factor, always something new. Yeah, it might be a little long, but it's so much fun hanging out with these 2 guys that I'll take it.

Beowulf -  How do I even begin to describe the experience? It may be a better action movie then Die Hard4, maybe... Seeing things like that in 3d is so awe inspiring. And seeing it with Dragons is even better. And the animation, well lets just say sometimes I felt like I was watching humans and sometimes I didn't, but I never really cared because the 3d always made it feel real. It was one of the best movie going experiences last year. And the performances were great, especially Anthony Hopkins haunted King and Ray Winstone as the essentially stupid Beowulf.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Disturbia - The Rental Champ (Who knew? that this movie would be so good. I didn't. I knew it made a ton of money, but I just wasn't sold. But I watched it and it rocked. Shia brings all the goods to acting. WAY BETTER THAN TRANSFORMERS...)

Enchanted - The Musical Champ (or should I say the Magical Champ. No film was as delightful as this movie (and I don't even like Patrick Dempsey, I mean this was the Pizza Boy, the Loser who couldn't buy love and now I'm just supposed to accept him as the Stud? Fuck that. Girls the delightful loser doesn't grow up to be a handsome hero in real life... wait... uh... maybe... fuck it.) No but seriously, this was the best Disney Cartoon that Disney could make and it was ridiculously fun and overtop)

Stardust - The Fantasy Champ (It was the film that recaptured the magic of the 1st Pirates movie, but no one went to see it because it had Claire Danes in it. Cursed I tell you)

Zodiac - Best David Fincher film of the year (The Dude made a movie. That means something to me.)

No Country For Old Men - Best Made Film (It was I think, but it's ending left me cold, out in the cold old, feeling old, like Tommy Lee Jones' Forehead old and I just couldn't put it on the list. And maybe that was the point, but I didn't like it anyway.

* A Few Stragglers like There Will be Blood, Eastern Promises, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, have not been seen yet, but they may show up depending on viewing experience.

Wow if you made it this far congratulations. Maybe all the movies will suck this year and I'll write a whole lot less next year. Until then...

Hasta!

Will & Rachel Conversation #001

Will: So, I think this year, I want to get Jacked.

Rachel: Yeah. I'm going to train for a Triathlon.

Will: A Triathalon?

Rachel: Yeah, you know, swim, bike, run... 

Will: No, no, I know.

Rachel: Oh.... it's not that I'm trying to one up you or anything.

Will: Right...

Will Attacks Hollywood: The Plan

Hey Friends,

So seeing that I have been out here for over 3 years and carved out a little niche for myself, I have decided to now really fight to break into screenwriting, and hopefully do it without becoming massively broke and even more in debt. So here are some of my ideas.

1. Keep Writing

2. Network

3. Work For Free

4. Classes (Network & Learn Something)

5. Seminars (Hear rich people talk)

6. Get Business Cards (to give to Rich People to hear you talk)

If you can think of something I didn't please let me know. 

Other than that have a great MLK DAY!

The First Posting

Well friends this has been a long time coming.

And hopefully this will be kind of funny.

Kind of like a bowl full of honey.

Maybe some kind of unholy bunny.

But never forget to bring your money,

Or you'll look like a dummy,

Kind of like Arnold Vosloo in "The Mummy".

Dammit I'm trapped in some kind of run on rummy,

Like Tangled Up In Blue that Dylan Sung Me,

When I was driving across the deserts Dung Heap,

As I made my way to way across America Beep Beep!