Where the Wild Things Are

Wow.

I don't even know what to say about this BEUATIFUL film....

So let me start by saying this....

You have a book....with 4 complete sentences in it.....with only about 335 words.....HOW DO YOU MAKE THAT INTO A MOVIE?

Well, Spike Jonze knows how! He took a classic picture book and turned it into a wonderful piece of art.

Without giving too much away (I want everyone to experience this film the way I did....with an open mind....), the story reminded me of my good friend, Robert Sambursky, who died during my senior year of college. It reminded me of the people who come and go in our lives, just like Max came and left in the world of the Wild Things. Furthermore, it reminded me about what we learn from those people, just like what Max learned from the Wild Things and vice versa.

I must also give mad props to Max Records for his AMAZING rendition of Max, the "King" of the Wild Things. This boy was the perfect find! He was so naturally talented, I only hope he can at least be nominated for an Oscar for his role. He deserves it....

The visualization of the movie was also stunning! It was MORE than what I was expecting, and it made me want to LIVE in the world of the Wild Things. And the music was also well done! Congrats to all! :)

I give this movie NO RED BULLS!!!
(meaning I would need NO Red Bulls in order to watch this movie again.)

So I THANK YOU, Spike Jonze, for NOT ruining a beloved children's classic, but turning it into something even more beautiful than the original... :)

The Invention of Lying

Cute movie. I thought the original concept/idea for the film was very unique, but it went in a completely different direction than I was expecting. This movie became FAR TOO RELIGIOUS than what it should have been. I wasn't expecting it, and it just became a little too awkward in the end...

That being said.....

Ricky Gervais is always worth a laugh, and the rest of the cast was very true and natural as well. I DID enjoy what Ricky's character LEARNS from the whole experience, I just wish he had discovered it with less religious undertones.

I give this movie 2 RED BULLS!
(meaning I would need 2 Red Bulls to watch this movie again...)

National Equality March - October 11th, 2009

Wow.

It's only been a couple of days, but I am still quite emotional over the experience I had at the National March for Equality in Washington, D.C. that took place on October 11th, 2009...

First of all, I just want to THANK EVERYONE WHO ATTENDED!!! The last I heard there was over 150,000 people there, which truly makes it the largest march for gay/equal rights in the past decade! GO US! :)

Next, I am 26, and to some, I am still young, but I was TRULY INSPIRED by the amount of teenagers I saw at the rally. My brother is also gay, and he came out at a much earlier age than I did, and I always admired him for that. So to all the teens who attended, way to represent. :)

Also, I received MUCHO SUPPORT from friends and family members before I went down to D.C., and I just want to thank everyone else who (for whatever reason...) could NOT make it down to the march for sending someone in their place to represent them. I, personally, felt like I was representing AT LEAST 10 friends who weren't there physically, but it made me feel like a stronger person. :)

I also MUST THANK Broadway Impact. They, alone (with Equity Cares) sponsored 25 buses from NYC to D.C. and back, bring 1400 people to the march, and that is truly amazing! This organization makes me want to do more for gay rights....so THANK YOU BROADWAY IMPACT for being a true leader! :)

Now, as for the march itself....

Again.

Wow. :)

To start the day off with a RAINBOW IN THE SKY WITH NO RAIN FOR MILES....that is TRULY a sign from a higher power! The weather couldn't have been better, I was only bummed because I prepared for the cold by wearing my rainbow sweatshirt, but it was so hot, I had to take it off....thank God I had my "peace shirt" underneath....

But it truly felt inspirational and emotional to march down the streets of Washington with THOUSANDS of people with the same beliefs! I took many great pics at the White House, as well as the Capitol where we ended up, but no words can really recapture the moment as I was living it. Marching for something you TRULY BELIEVE IN is something EVERYONE has to do AT LEAST ONCE in their lifetime....

I was also very proud to find that my hometown friend, Tanner Efinger, made a BEAUTIFUL speech at the rally! Just another reason to be proud... :)

I was also glad that many people were standing up to President Obama. Yes, we know we voted him in, but one of the speakers said it best when she said, "We voted for you because we BELIEVE you are the one who can help us. BUT...we can no longer wait. The time is NOW! CHANGE IS NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!" I only HOPE the President heard....

On the other hand.....President Obama made some MAJOR promises at the HRC dinner the night before. I would love to see him hold up to these promises in the next 3 years, just in case he can't get re-elected, but we shall see what the future brings....

Finally, I realized something today....

Someone told me that it is "sad that we have to march for our own rights." But I actually have to disagree....

I am actually GLAD that I have to march for my own equal rights! Our forefathers have always talked about "those who died to defend this country," well....maybe it's MY TURN (or OUR TURN) to defend it! I am actually PROUD that WHEN I have equal rights, I will have EARNED THEM MYSELF! And after this march, I won't have to say that I did NOTHING just to be treated equal....

....I can say that I MARCHED for my rights....and DAMN did it feel good.... :)

KEEP EQUALITY GOING!!!

TELL YOUR STORY....

PASS MINE ALONG!

PASS MY VIDEO ALONG: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS-VKJn5lPw

KEEP LOVE STRONG!!! :)

National Equality March Video

Whip It

CONGRATULATIONS DREW BARRYMORE!!!

As her beautiful directorial debut, Whip It is a wonderful girl-power movie about discovering oneself through rollerblading.

Ellen Page makes a great main character for us. Her awkwardness is always adorable. And although her natural talents remind me of the same character we saw in Juno, this time around, Ellen was a bit more shy rather than sarcastic. That being said, she was still perfectly cast. :)

Marcia Gay Harden also gives a splendid performance as Ellen Page's mother. That woman can take the simplest of roles and turn it into a character that's deep and beautiful. She's my muse. :)

And you know who I hadn't seen since Home Alone??? Daniel Stern! And wow, can this guy act! What a touching, supportive performance as Ellen's father! I was thoroughly impressed. As was I with Ellen's best friend, Alia Shawkat as Pash. Both did a job well done. :)

Who I really loved, however, was Kristen Wiig. I've always admired this woman. She's always 110% committed to every one of her roles, whether it be on SNL or another film. But what I loved about Kristen's work as Maggie Mayhem in this film was that she showed us she can be a little serious and sensitive, too. She played the most sincere single mom who was just out there doing what she loved, FOR who she loved. I was truly touched, Kristen....thank you.... :)

The only thing I would have changed about this movie was maybe having a little less Drew Barrymore in it. I mean, don't get me wrong, I LOVE Drew, and I am so proud of her new directing accomplishment! And I also LOVE seeing directors in their own movies...but to an extent. I always look for M. Night in his films, but they are usually small roles. He's usually in a scene or two, and that's it. But Drew was still a major character in this film. I mean, props to her for handling it all, but I would have rather seen her as a beauty contest judge for a scene or two, rather than her ditsy self as a roller derby chick. Love her....but just saying....

I give this movie 0.5 RED BULLS!
(As much as I liked it, I would only need half a Red Bull to watch it again.)

Heroes - WHAT WENT WRONG???

Dear Heroes,

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?!?!?!?

Your show sucks now! :( But let me tell you why....

1. TOO MANY CHARACTERS: When you only have an hour show, and you can't fit all of your characters into one episode, you know you have a problem....

Honestly, I think you guys got cocky in the very first season. You knew you had a hit right away (which you did...), but you started introducing new heroes and killing them off in the same episode. What the hell!? And now, there's so many "heroes" in the show that I don't even know who's a main character anymore. And I'm sick of just following Claire....

Lost has a lot of characters to keep up with. But there's a BIG difference between their main characters and other minor roles, and yet, we love both. Heroes, on the other hand, makes everyone out to be so important and evil and scheming that they ALL look like main characters. But because there's so many, I don't care for any of them as much as I should.

Look at Desperate Housewives....the show usually only introduces ONE new housewife each season, and there's always someone dying off, so a show that started off with 4 housewives now has 6, but it works because WE SEE THEM ALL IN THE SAME EPISODE!!! As for Heroes, we don't see everyone each week, and that's not a good thing...

Furthermore, going back to my example of Lost...yes, it has a lot of characters, but they are also located ON THE SAME ISLAND!!! Which brings me to my next point...

2. ALL OVER THE PLACE: Heroes is in too many locations. If you asked me right now, I couldn't tell you who's in New York City, who's still in California, what's going on in DC, or where these new carnival characters come from. Hell, I still think Hiro is in 16th century Japan! What the hell was that all about? I mean, don't get me wrong...I like time travel. I get it. They do it on Lost. But it also makes sense...

In one episode, Heroes can go back and forth between so many different characters in AT LEAST 5 different cities and locations, it's too much to keep up with. Season 1 was AWESOME because we only had about 10 main characters and they were all fighting for the same thing...to save New York City. Yes, they were in different locations, but not as many as they are now...

3. SOAP OPERA ACTING: And what's up with the new story lines? Last week, I think we had to deal with Matt suffering from keeping Sylar locked inside his mind. Ooooooooooo......so scary! (NOT!) I felt like I was on a soap opera! Where's the fighting!? I liked it when they were being hunted. Things were intense. But now, I can't even tell who's good and who's bad anymore! And Peter....what a pussy!? No one likes a pussy. I hate that he's "ashamed" of his powers, just like Matt. What kind of "hero" is ashamed of who they are!?

4. WEAK MOTIVATION: The best comic books work because of their deep character motivation. I like to think of some comic books as Greek tragedies....people don't just gouge out their eyes for no reason. It's always a sacrifice for someone else, or for love, but the point is, the motivation is usually strong.

In the Spiderman movies, Peter Parker doesn't just one day wake up and he's suddenly Spiderman. He LEARNS how to use his talents and abilities to avenge his uncle. And even his Uncle Ben was more like a father figure to him, which makes the motivation even deeper.

But there's NO motivation anymore on Heroes. Everything is now always based on some secret plan between Angela and HRG. But where's their reasons? I know you try to keep everything a secret until the very end, but keeping secrets doesn't make a good show. On Desperate Housewives and Lost, they reveal their secrets slowly, but at least give a clue here and there in each episode. Heroes doesn't do that at all anymore, and I sort of think it's because they have nothing left to reveal....

So here's what we need...

1. VILLAINS: No comic book super hero ever had just ONE villain. There was always the ULTIMATE bad guy, but even they had henchmen. In this case, we need a villain BESIDES Sylar. Sylar is the perfect mastermind, but that's all. After the volume "Villains," we sort of saw a bit of good AND bad in ALL of our "heroes." So now I can't tell who's good and who's bad any more. I thought that whole volume was going to set up an all out WAR for our "heroes," but when that didn't happen, I was bummed (being hunted doesn't count as a war...). Yet, it was still a decent volume of episodes....

We NEED a strict set of good guys who are constantly fighting a certain set of bad guys. It's not that hard. Now go find us someone other than Sylar for everyone else to fight his or her "evil doings"...

2. STRUCTURE: Honestly, the show doesn't need "to be continued" every episode. If we just had a bunch of heroes who weren't so afraid of their abilities, and who WANTED to work together to save the day, they could fight a different villain in each episode. It'd be like a live action cartoon series...I'd be cool with that.

Otherwise, a restructuring of the show can also involve a much better story line, again, with deep motivation, not so many heroes, and more bad guys... :)

And finally....

3. HEROES!!!! Right now, we HAVE NO HEROES!!! Heroes has no heroes! What's wrong with that!? Claire just wants to be a normal college kid. Peter wants to live the life of a boring paramedic. Matt wants a normal family life. What the hell!? I get it if you're trying to say that "there's a hero in all of us," but I don't think that's what you're trying to say, lol.

These characters have had time to accept their powers. I thought they already did! So why give up again? Where's their motivation???? We NEED stronger heroes on this show. And Hiro's "cat saving" abilities are a little lame.

YET...

He and Ando are the only ones fighting for justice in the series. We need more Hiros....literally...


Thanks for listening. :)

JD

Apology to Megan Fox

I want to personally apologize to Megan Fox....

Although I did not see Jennifer's Body (and with only $6 million made on opening weekend, it looks like no one else did either...), but I think I misjudged Megan Fox.

After watching Megan on The Jay Leno Show, I realized that Megan is a very funny and natural person. I just think she's been caught up in all the Hollywood hype (especially surrounding her very tastefully done bikini pics...). And now after seeing her on the season premiere of SNL, Megan was completely committed to every one of her roles, and I was utterly impressed!

So Megan Fox, I apologize for judging your decision to make Jennifer's Body. You are a good actress trying to make it like the rest of us. :)

But I hope opening weekend showed you that boobs don't make a movie....you do.... ;)

JD

Flash Forward

Ok, so HOW AWESOME IS THIS SHOW!? We're only two episodes in, and I'm already completely hooked! I know ABC is trying to capture it's die-hard Lost fans (which is totally me...), and this is the perfect show for them to do that with, but I am expecting it to be a little easier to follow than Lost.

Of course, I'm already wondering how the season will end...and will it end on April 29th, 2010? Is that why they chose that date? Most shows don't end until mid-May, so will there be a few episodes AFTER we catch up to the future, or are we watching on a Lost "time schedule" in which there's been 5 seasons, yet besides the flashbacks, only about 3 months went by with our survivors on the island? (And that doesn't include time travel either...)

But the real questions are: WHO are the two mysterious figures who were AWAKE during the black out??? And WHAT caused the black out to occur in the first place??? Oh, and WHERE IS DOMINIC MONAGHAN??? I loved seeing Seth MacFarlane on the first episode, and the show on a whole reminds me of 24, but rather than living one hour at a time, these characters live one DAY at a time... :)

THEORIES: I know the producers are saying that Flash Forward has NOTHING TO DO WITH LOST....but what if it does....of course, I NEVER want Lost to end, but we all know it has to, especially if we want it to remain concise. But what if ABC is not just trying to give Lost fans a new show, but rather CONTINUE the same concept/ideas with a different series such as Flash Forward? For those Lost fans out there, we all know what happened at the end of season 5....but what if "The Incident" is what caused the blackout in Flash Forward??? HOW AWESOME WOULD THAT BE!?!? We all know a magnetic pulse made Oceanic flight 815 crash on the island, so I can totally believe that a hydrogen bomb going off made the entire WORLD blackout for 2 minutes and 17 sconds...

...see how cool this show can be.... ;)