The choice tonight was a tough one: see 28 Weeks Later or see Pirates of the Caribbean. I don't like horror films nor do I like contrived pirate films, so I did not relish in the chance to spend a bunch of money on either of them. But in the end, I chose Pirates since I could probably sit through the movie without wetting my pants, and I might as well.

Trilogies must be the most bankable thing in Hollywood these days. Give them one solid opener, and your film studio will shower millions of dollars to make the movie more confusing and terrible with each subsequent part of the story. Enter The Matrix, X-Men, Pirates of the Caribbean. Or maybe the reason why Pirates failed was because of Jerry Bruckheimer. Who knows, but the movie just failed at the very thing that made it interesting in the first place, spawning thousands of pirate parties on college campuses (I know. I have seen the facebook albums).

Of course not all trilogies are bad. I don't know how those wound up to be good. Somehow those franchises didn't get so enraptured in themselves that they forgot that the audience has to deal with their self-adulation during the movie.

Another 7.75 wasted. Arrgh.

On the topic of movies, I have recently become interested in screen writing. I am not a very good creative writer. I may have some potential, but my skills level is stuck in the Stone Age. My writing tools are as blunt as a club. The reason why I have started, however, is to provide some way for my cousin to shoot scenes with a purpose. He is interested in film making, so I am writing a script for him to read. It's lame, but hopefully, with practice, I may write a good, compelling script.

Labels: movies

In an effort to be more manly - I guess that is the way you can describe it - I tried to start a fantasy baseball team at the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, because of the large pile up of work from my classes, I was unable to devote my attention to the team, and now, I am probably in last place. I am a little disappointed since I promised myself that I would renew a long lost childhood interest in the sport. Of course, now I can't harbor any delusions of fame and success as a shortstop, confined to devote myself through the purchase of Budweiser beer and a comfortable couch (I already have the baseball hat).

A similar thing happened to me with fantasy basketball, but in that case, I just didn't give a flying rat's ass about basketball. Basketball seems to me much less community-oriented, commercialized to the point where individual players can just attract attention through their hot shot alpha male antics. Of course, baseball is definitely plagued with trillion dollar contracts. But unlike basketball, I feel like a baseball stadium can attract all types of Americans that can break down the annoying individualism of our culture. You have a sense of community.

I don't even know what is going on in baseball, never really did. But, I guess I can start again.

EDIT: Who rules? Well on Yahoo Public 278639, a certain genius fantasy baseball team manager is 3 out of 12. I haven't done anything with the team. They have natural talent.

Labels: musings, sports

I bet that bug wouldn't have been so lonely if he just had Arrested Development and an internet connection. Oh how the most basic boredoms of our lives are so easily erased by clever writing and ridiculous acting. That's the power of the story, my friends. That's the power.

Labels: literary, musings

The pain has shifted. No longer do I feel that cluster of hurt in the back of my mouth; rather, I feel this strange burning sensation in my mandible. It reminds me of when you eat really spicy Indian food - like chicken vindaloo - and you feel this hot burning of spices which somehow never ends. The nerve synapses continue to fire into infinity, but in this case, they are firing in the bone and not on the tongue. It would be alarming if it wasn't so interesting. Don't get me wrong: there is pain in my jaw, but its level of interest is far below the vindaloo jaw pain.

I am currently debating whether or not I should by myself a cheap digital camera. Not a cheap one, but not an expensive one either. The camera I have is much too bulky, and while I appreciate its quality, I do not want to lug it around when I am abroad.

Labels: musings

Any wisdom left in me has been removed, wrenched from the tender confines of my jaws. I am left in a stupor, partially drug-induced and partially pain-induced. Of course, it does not help that my pain tolerance level matches one of a 4 year old girl.

Pain is a funny thing. Sometimes I relish in the sensation of it, but most of the time, I hate it because it leaves me in a deadened stupor. First of all, without Advil, my mouth swells up, making me look like a chipmunk foraging for food in the fall. But that is just cosmetic. The pain itself isn't quite a throb but a massive ache. The wounds feel as if someone has hooked up the four corners of my jaws and is forcing me to walk backwards. It is insistent and incapacitating.

Needless to say, with my mouth swelling up like a balloon, I find eating a difficult thing to do. For the first few days, the only thing I could eat was soup and porridge, which quelled my hunger but left me empty, aching. This is another reason why I am so cranky. I could kill for a burrito.

Labels: musings

I hate wisdom teeth, and I fear surgery. Tomorrow, I am going to get them removed. Of course, I would rather be knocked out than hear the drilling in my mouth.

I wonder what it feels like. Will report later.

Labels: fears

Streaming video is addicting. Streaming tv show video is even more so, and when you really have nothing to do with your life, streaming tv show video can spell the end of any sort of productive goal you may have foolishly set for yourself to avoid feeling utter worthlessness. Is this the human condition? To be glued to the tv screen watching a contrived comedy about hospitals and doctors and relishing it? The despair, I tell you, certainly kicks the balls hard.

There is something about tv shows that make them so addicting, but for me, probably the most appealing aspect of the show (which is Scrubs by the way) is when the characters are at their most vulnerable. Usually it happens when they are humbling themselves before another in order to save a relationship. I guess that is when I find the writing to be (most sentimental and contrived, true) most human.

Call me arrogant, and I will agree with you. I refuse to allow myself such human weakness, or at least I try to avoid that sort of thing. Too many things in life that I gotta do to allow a relationship to bog me down. Still, drama is interesting, very much so.

Labels: musings

The Shrek franchise has always made its mark on its parody of popular fairy tale tropes. Perhaps it is a postmodern (oh geez) thing where the constant reiteration of the same boring happily ever after story just doesn't cut it any more. The natural development then comes as a self-reflexive parody.

Yet the problem with Shrek 3 - and probably the problem of all parodies - is that you can't keep on doing the same thing over and over again. Whereas the original trope can stand the test of time, the Shrek parodies have fallen stale, and it seems as though the movie itself is aware of it. Painfully cheesy dialogue, contrived plot twists, and the like ruin any potential for hilarity Shrek 3 had to begin with. Although there are some funny parts, the movie ironically plays right into the fairy tale, happily ever after mode that it tried to avoid through the last two movies. In the end, people demand happy, trite endings, and Shrek 3 seems all to happy to play right into them.

The thing that disappointed me the most is that my sister managed to get me to spend 7.50 bucks on the stupid thing. jaysus. Watch a movie worth your time like the Matrix 3.

Labels: movies