Thursday, December 31, 2009

met' th baru 2010

Hampir magrib dan hampir malam pula, dengan cuaca yang agak mendung dan seperti tahun-tahun yang lalu bahwa cuaca mendung itu pasti akan berubah haluan menjadi cerah penuh bintang ketika detik-detik pergantian tahun, kenapa bisa gitu yach... entahlah'

Tahun baru adalah tahun di mana kita bisa melihat apa saja yang sudah kita perbuat di hari-hari bahkan bulan-bulan yang lalu , untuk memperbaiki apa saja yang akan terjadi di tahun yang sebentar lagi akan datang , beberapa lukisan di dinding yang mulai berdebu mungkin alangkah lebih baiknya di bersihkan atau di ganti dengan yang baru dan aku sama sekali tidak memiliki lukisan (maksud loh..??..) karena yang aku miliki hanya keyakinan terhadap rasa percaya diri tinggi yang akan kembali menggairahkan sebentar lagi (alhamdulillah..amin)

Waktu akan terus berlanjut tapi umur manusia terbatas pada kekuatan hatinya untuk menggapai harapan-harapan dan hari ini dengan berjuta perasaan yang senang maka kita sambut tahun baru 2010 dengan harapan- harapan baru dan untuk sekian kalinya' dengan hati penuh keriangan mari kita sambut Tahun 2010 ini dengan keceriaan 

''SELAMAT TAHUN BARU 2010''

It's my birthday ♥

Hi Everyone,

It’s my birthday today. Thanks to everyone for the birthday greetings, from Facebook to everywhere else. Really appreciate it. Well, Since I’m 25 today, Yeah, I know I kno,  but we all get older by the day. So let’s make the best of it.

Goin to meet my band mates and friend up tonite, at the 1 utama see beyond perform. Till then.. Happy weekend and Rawk On!!



On this day, God wants you to know...(31st Dec 09)...
... that every moment is an opportunity for you to be happy. You know how sometimes it seems that life is just throwing you one curved ball after another? Well, guess what, - you have a great way to respond! - you can use every opportunity, every single one, to be happy.... Don't just take a shower - feel into and receive pleasure from the water on your skin. Don't just walk on the street - enjoy the fragrances of the trees and the flowers on your way. Don't just drive your car - sing karaoke to your favorite radio station.

Vacation Vixen: Mia Kirshner

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Fine, I admit it. Sometimes I miss Jenny.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

射雕英雄傳



Nowdays i was watching a chinese drama lengendary fairytale story of 射雕英雄傳 (the condor heroes 1) that acting by taiwan artis/actress and hong kong artis/actress...i love this show very much cuz of the main actress wong yung is my favorite dream girls type, very smart, sweet and idealistic...


Happy Birthday All On 31st Dec 09

Happy Birthday - Angelin Yaw
- Keep Smilling
- Gambateh in everything

Happy Birthday - Ashley Ryuujin Lai
- Keep Smilling
- Gambateh in everything

Happy Birthday - Fong Shi
- Sweet 18
- Keep Smilling
- Gambateh in everything

Happy Birthday - Jasmine Sian
- Sweet 21
- Keep Smilling
- Gambateh in everything



Happy Birthday - Chiam Lee Mun
- Sweet 23
- Keep Smilling
- Gambateh in everything

Happy Birthday - Tan Chew Fang
- Keep Smilling
- Gambeteh in everything

Happy Birthday - Yvonne Wong
- Keep Smilling
- Gambateh in everything

OMG U Guyz!

Kevin Greutert is the man who edited the first five Saw movies; directed Saw VI (and did a much better job than the box office, unfortunately, reflected).

He looked at my blog today!

Ok, it was just because he was tracking back a link I'd placed to his blog back in August, and he spent less than a minute here, but nevertheless!

I feel like a 14-year-old girl who's just been smiled at by the captain of the football team.

Come on, January 26!

Photobucket

Our problem was, we forgot they were Democrats

Silly, really, how so many of us thought if the Democrats won in 2008, that it would be a victory for progressives. We forgot--when the Republicans stamp their feet, Democrats run for the middle of the road.

The middle of the road is notable for the yellow line running down....

A little something to keep handy

...for the next time you're feeling defiantly hateful of your parents or conversely, feeling guilty about the mistakes you made with your kid or kids.

Or, you think your family was weird?

The Worst Celebrity Parents of the decade.

Personally, I'd have put Charlie and Denise a little bit higher (like at least in the top half). But that's just me. And I can't argue with their number one.

Vacation Vixen: Zooey Deschanel

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I always wanted a big purple crayon like Harold. Some girls have all the luck.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

beautiful day

hi, how are you all been? i'm been fine, is just a feel boring in my life now. Do you know yesterday a day can be happy and sad to me, cuz i get my dream girl hp number but she have boyfriends :( but nevermind like people say she not yet pilih who the one be her life with...not yet married :)

Is happy get her hp number, but not yet sms her and know her. Be friend is knowing her more hehe ^^...i will do in soon..

Okie is already come the end of the year. Tomorrow is a day that can say special to me is my birthday also lee mun birthday that i always remember she is a gal 1st time i meet same birthday with me. Yeah 31st December is my birthday the last day of the year also a winter season. To me i wanna feel in winter wonderland in my birthday but this wishes not come true this year...too bad :(

Yesterday my sister says she shopping in Japan, buy a new year clothes spent around 5000 ++ yen, quite good cuz japan fashion is the latest 1. HAHAHA ^^ only buy her things dunno i have a not...hehe ^^ nevermind i not hope also..i only wish i can sleep with a gal during christmas and new year eve..means my birthday ^^
HAHAHA =)


The Interview: You are Number Six



Jen took up the gauntlet of being "interviewed" by, and then "interviewing" me.


1. What do you like most about libraries?


Seems kind of obvious, but: All the books.

A writer used to say, "Beware he who writes more than he reads." Which means, put metaphorically, if you want to hear the music, you've got to listen.

I also have relatively little formal education but am heavily self-educated in this way. Actually, the same man who said that* about writers used to say he was "A self-made man--which demonstrates the horrors of unskilled labor."

*It was Harlan Ellison, if you want to know.

And I just like that if I have some enthusiasm I want to pursue--which happens, like, once a day--there's almost always at least one book I can get at the library with information about it.

2. If you could meet any fictional character (not created by you), who would it be, and why?


Someone from The West Wing. As for who, I'd have to flip a coin between Sam or Toby.

Sam, because he says things like this:

"...education is the silver bullet. Education is everything. We don't need little changes, we need gigantic changes. Schools should be palaces; the competition for the best teachers should be fierce, they should be making six figure salaries. Schools should be incredibly expensive for government and absolutely free of charge to its citizens, just like national defense. That's my position. I just haven't figured out how to do it yet."
--Sam, "Six Meetings Before Lunch."

And Toby, because he says things like this:

"If our jobs teach us anything it's that we don't know what the next President's gonna face. If we choose someone with vision, someone with guts, someone with gravitas who's connected to other people's lives and cares about making them better, if we choose someone to inspire us, then we'll be able to face what comes our way and achieve things we can't imagine yet." --Toby, "20 Hours in America."


And because they say things like that, we know they feel things like that, and because they feel things like that, we know they think things like that...and we know they write things like that.



Alternately a Pixar character, like Wall-E, Eve-A, or Remy, because they give me hope, love and inspiration.

3. What was your favourite board game when you were a kid?




I want to play a game...

...oh right, sorry, board game, when I was a kid...I don’t know.

When I was a real little kid, Candyland and Chutes & Ladders. Photobucket
A little later I have fond memories of the Rescuers movie game.

I liked Monopoly like everyone else (for the record, my piece of choice was the car). Also a game called-

-that had cool shark fin pieces.

By the time I was like 11 I was hanging out in arcades (ah, Tron) more than I was playing board games at home.

4. Your favourite nickname for you?


To coin a phrase: Photobucket

I can't tell you, but I know it's mine.

(In other words: It's something an ex-girlfriend used to call me; I also had something I called her. I've never said what it was to anyone, I don't know if she has)

5. Which is better: to have loved and lost, or never to have loved at all?


Well, let me put it like this:

You and I won't lose our heads the way some lovers do

Saying "This will last forever" when it's just a year or two

You and I won't be the fools that other lovers are

Thinking every silver bottle top potentially a star

still...


All the world loves lovers.

All the world loves people in love

Don't forget it. - LOVE

Don't forget it. - LOVE

Love whatever the price.

photo rock the world 9 ^^

All here is photo doing the event in ROCK THE WORLD 9, such amazing day and night listening concert like big day out, going be soon this event to internasional, i guess ?? hahaha :)


Great.

Terror suspect’s online posts detail ‘loneliness’


The 23-year-old Nigerian man accused of the attempted Christmas Day bombing of an American airliner apparently turned to the Internet for counseling and companionship


Maybe I should just have myself put into prison now...

Vacation Vixen: Maggie Gyllenhaal

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I can’t decide if this photo is cute or hot. I’m going with cot. Don’t judge, it’s better than hute.

Monday, December 28, 2009

From where I sit, they left one or two out

The Huffington Post is conducting one of their polls, this time to determine The Biggest Political Disappointments of 2009.

When I voted, two of the top three were The Senate Health Care Bill and the poor quality of the debate which preceded it.

I'm a little put out that "Republican filibusters" is the third. Because to me, the desperation of the Democratic senate and President Obama to pass any bill at any price is a lot more disgusting than Republicans acting like Republicans.

(They stand for nothing. They stand in the way of everything).

Rounding out the top five are the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the destruction of tapes by the CIA recording torture sessions.

Again I question the later of the two. Because surely "disappointment" implies a failure to live up to expectations--and did anybody really expect the CIA under the Bush administration not to obstruct justice?

Anyway, go and vote if you like.

Vacation Vixen: Zoe Saldana

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Awww, you’re back at work already? And Zoe was just going to invite you for a swim. Guess I’ll be forced to go in your stead. I mean, it’s the polite thing to do.

[Follow my continued vacation loafing @dorothysnarker]

Sunday, December 27, 2009

What will happen when my New Romantic synth pop fandom runs into my love of Saw

Help me.

I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really trying not to go for an easy "time of the month" joke here. But, well, look at these two pieces of information.

Do you remember when former Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said there hadn't been any terrorist attacks on the US while he was president? No one could believe she'd said anything that blatantly revisionist, right?

Well, today...almost exactly 31 days later...another Bush woman (and believe me, I'd much rather be using those words in another context) decided to put her own little "spin" upon the truth:


Mary Matalin claims President Bush ‘inherited’ the September 11th terror attacks
Now, I've heard how when gals spend a lot of time together, their periods tend to synch up.

So you can see my problem, I'm sure.

Oh no you don't, lady

Look: Probably much like you, I hoped that the only "Palin" I would be mentioning here for the forseeable future would be that nice chap who used to work with John Cleese and Terry Jones. But...

You've probably heard that (sigh) Sarah Palin's "death panels" thing was named "lie of the year" by the non-partisan FactCheck group. I haven't said anything about it because frankly, I'm trying not to promote her. (Yeah, like my little blog makes the difference)

However, this week, I learned that, backpedalling furiously, Mrs. Palin now says she was using a "metaphor" for reduced access to and quality of health care when she spoke of "death panels."

That does it. Mrs Palin, I don't expect you to be substantive. I don't even expect you to stop dropping hints that you're going to run for president. Though I'm reassuringly convinced this is just something you're saying to sell your book to teabaggers.

However, I will thank you, kindly, to stay away from things which writers use.

Thank you so much. Have a good day.

Tips mendapatkan cewek Gemini

Nah.. ini dia.. tralala trilili.. eng ing eng.. cewek gemini.. !! cewek yang sangat menyenangkan hati pria ckckckckc...!! Cewek gemini suka dengan cowok yang penampilanya casual,sporty dan santai, dia hobi sekali dengan ngobrol atau istilah slangnya Ngrumpi, jadi anda harus pandai bicara biar komunikasi lancar seperti jalan tol, cewek gemini adalah tipe cewek aktif dan intelek, jadi bila anda merasa memiliki pengetahuan yang sempit sebaiknya jangan dekati cewek gemini sebab dia tidak suka dengan pria yang pengetahuanya pas-pasan, Cewek gemini menilai pria pertama kali dari seberapa hebat pola pikir si pria.. intinya cewek gemini benci dengan pria yang bodoh dan pemalas

Jika anda memiliki pengetahuan yang luas dan smart.. wah.. siap-siap saja anda akan menjadi idolanya.. dan dia akan berusaha keras untuk bisa selalu berdekatan dengan anda, hal seperti ini bisa sangat menguntungkan untuk anda sebab anda tidak perlu repot-repot merayunya agar dia mau bersama anda untuk menjadi pasanganya sebab ia yang akan selalu berusaha hadir di tengah-tengah anda, membuat anda terpikat 5 kali lebih gila terhadapnya



Saturday, December 26, 2009

Pictures from Christmas


This is me with my nephew and his grandmother.



I say "his grandmother" because she is not my mother.

Long story.

What looks like the beginnings of a bald spot on my head doesn't bother me at all.

(cut to Ben sobbing in a corner, "My hair! My beautiful hair!")

The blanket on her lap was her present from him which he picked out himself, and yes it is a baby blanket, but a very soft and cuddly one and she adored it.

Silly faggots--the GOP is for people

I just think it's so cute when homosexuals act as though Republicans will ever, ever, ever treat them as though they were human beings.

I mean, if you're gay and a Democrat, you have every right to be pissed off because it sure looks like, down deep, the President you voted for and/or contributed money to thinks you're really kind of icky. Hell, I'm straight and a Democrat, and that pisses me off.

But you went with the GOP, and you're suprised that they took your money and then treated you like you were a fleck of snot on their shirt?

Cry me a river.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Tips mendapatkan cewek Virgo

Jangan sampai anda telat menjemput si cewek virgo ketika anda sudah memutuskan untuk berkencan pertama kalinya, berpakaianlah yang keren,modis dan trendy ini akan membuat cewek virgo tambah terpikat dengan anda, cewek virgo suka dengan pria yang profesional paling tidak anda harus punya gelar D3, dengan gelar S1 itu jauh lebih baik asalkan jangan S74 itu metromini jurusan pasar minggu - blok M... hehehe, 

Cewek virgo orangnya sedikit pemalu akan tetapi ini bukanlah halangan anda melainkan ini adalah tantangan anda, dia akan jauh lebih berani jika anda mampu mengajaknya jalan beberapa kali, dia juga orangnya sangat rapih jika anda berpenampilan berantakan maka ia bisa menjadi jauh dengan anda sebab dia bukan tipe cewek ke ibuan yang selalu menasehati anaknya, jika anda ingin mendapatkan cewek Virgo jangan pernah berhenti mencoba, anda harus sabar sebab memang agak sulit mendapatkan cewek dengan tipe zodiak ini
Berusahalah untuk menjadi teman baiknya terlebih dahulu, jangan main asal tembak meski sudah jalan beberapa kali, untuk cewek virgo kualitas di dalam diri cowok adalah hal yang terpenting, dia sangat ambisius tipe wanita karir yang hebat, jika anda beruntung mendapatkanya maka ia akan sangat setia terhadap anda

Christmas time is here

Merry merry, happy happy.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Just in time for Christmas, the right goes and picks on some sweet little bears

The bears fold.

Via Think Progress:

Until recently, the Build-A-Bearville website (part of the Build-A-Bear Workshop) featured online videos telling children about manmade global warming and the dangers it holds for the North Pole. In the videos, little animals learn about the problem and teach Santa Claus about it. The right wing has been outraged over the antics of these bears and penguins. One conservative called for a boycott of Build-A-Bear, and another said the the videos amount to “indoctrination.” In response to this right-wing pressure, Build-A-Bear has taken down the educational videos.


The scientific consensus remains as strong as ever that manmade global warming is real. In the past, conservatives have also attacked the popular movie “Wall-E,” saying that it was filled with “leftist propaganda” and taught children that “human beings are bad for planet earth.”

Yes!

Say what you will about Lady Gaga, but if she's making the inside of the Reverend Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church's heads explode...then damnit, she works for me.

Vacation Vixen: Jodie Foster

Just in case being home for the holidays is making you live through your awkward stage again, please know that circa 1984 Jodie sympathizes. Deeply.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Cool Canadian Questions

Kal plays turnabout:

1. Who would you change places with in this world if you could?


This is a trickier question than it may appear. 'Cause first I was thinking of a musician like Vince Guaraldi in the 1960s (in other words, a really good piano player).



Or one of Jack Benny's writers during the late 1940s. This is probably my second-favorite decade after, of course, the '80s.

This brings up the possibility of my being a sequencer/synthesizer programmer in 1985...
...However, I digress.

Then I thought maybe this should be somebody in the world today.

And then I further went on to think: Change places? So this isn't just about whose life I'd wish to step into, it's about who I'd wish my life upon. Which means that I could choose a crazy asshole like Inhofe, but do I really want to be the Republican Senator from Oklahoma? I think not.

Or I could just be cute and say "Summer Glau's boyfriend," but that sort of thing is going to come up in the next question...


2. With the love you show for all the ladies, who would you most like to be attached to on a daily basis.


What an odd way to phrase it. Presumably you mean, of all the lovely ladies who populate my blogs past and present, who would I most like to have a real relationship with if I could?

Well, it would have to be somebody who is of a similar frame of mind to me politically. Carville and Matalin aside, I just don't think mixed-party-marriages work.

Sexy goes without saying.

And it would be cool if she was an artist, too, only maybe I wouldn't want her to be another writer (we're terribly untrustworthy).

She should be bright.

She should like at least some of the same movies I like (the Saws, though again it would be nice, would not be a deal breaker).

Oh, and she should be gay-friendly and have a good sense of humor.

Put 'em together and what have you got?


...Anne Hathaway.

What were the odds?


3. What would you design as a saw trap for you most hated enemy. Who would that enemy be and why so specific at death?



Forgive me, I feel a Saw-geek moment coming on. The work of Jigsaw is not to design traps for hated enemies, it's to give people who were wasting their lives a test to see how much they value that life, and what price they will pay to keep it.

It's to help people detach from the negative emotions that are keeping them from advancing. The aim is not death, but a newly-cherished life, and the most vengeful thing about a good Jigsaw trap is that it rubs your nose in the flaws of your own life or perspective.

That said...I did come up with a trap on the Saw board I read, last month, that I kinda love. It's a variation on this test in VI:

In the second test, Jigsaw's puppet informs William that he must choose to save either his file clerk or secretary, named Allen and Addy (Shawn Ahmed and Janelle Hutchison) respectively, and let the other die. In the end, William chooses to save Addy, and Allen is hanged by a barbed wire noose when his platform retracts.


In my variant, the test subject is one of those "I'm not a bigot, BUT," or "I don't hate (minority X), BUT" types. In other words: Someone who is a hateful bigot but won't admit it.

He or she must choose to save either a straight, white criminal (let's say it's something REAL hard to forgive, like a child molester) or a successful, law-abiding member of the minority group they despise.

4. What moment in your life, knowing what you do now would you most like to redo? and why?


Ah...I'm afraid I have to choose not to answer this. I do have an answer, and a few people know what it is (and actually, there's an element of a previous answer which relates to it), but it's not something I really want to get into here on a public blog and all.

5. Who would you most like to have lunch with that is living today? What would you ask them?


Who?

Shannon Marie Woodward and Liza Weil.

What would I ask them?

"You wanna read a script?"

“I could've been someone,” “Well, so could anyone!"

For a lot of people this is their favorite Christmas song ever. I don't say it's mine...but it's definitely up there.

My Questions

Calvin o'th Canadian Cave answered them.

That's the problem, Senator.

Via Think Progress:

Senate Republicans have agreed to end their filibuster of health care reform “early Christmas Eve morning, allowing for a vote on the package at 8 a.m.” Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) told the Oklahoman that “the vast majority” of Senate Republicans supported ending the filibuster in order to go home for the holiday. “We’ve had all the fun we’re going to have” debating the bill, said Inhofe.


The people who are suffering and dying from something you have the power to end weren't having any fun. You crazy asshole.

Gotta love that title.



The movie looks like it has a 50/50 chance, it could either rule, or it could totally suck. Still, you gotta love that title.

Oh, Christ, Facebook is a scary thing.

So, yeah, I'm finally on Facebook as one or two of you know. I'm in a group for graduates of my high school, and a guy I knew has gone to the trouble of posting pages from our yearbooks. Prepare yourselves...

This is 1986, and the last time for many years to come that my hair would be that small.

See? (1987)

Vacation Vixen: Grace Park & Tricia Helfer

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This picture presents one of life’s great chicken or egg conundrums: Who has the better view, Grace or Tricia?

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

I love Terry Gilliam movies, this is a recording

Fresh Air on NPR interviews Gilliam.

(note: For some reason, the player lists the time as about 45 minutes, but it's really more like 20)

Traurige neue Welle/Elektroweihnachtslied

Vacation Vixen: Ellen Page

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I can’t roll my tongue. It’s one of my great disappointments in life.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Oooooooooooooooooh....

Ok. Let's say you were a woman desperate to get away from the fact of your aging. Let's say you were Madonna, Nicole Kidman, Meg Ryan, or I don't know, just for the sake of argument...Demi Moore. Yeah, that's it: Let's say you were Demi Moore.

And let's further say that your face and/or body had been botoxed and chopped up so much, that underneath it all you probably look like the remnants of a Jigsaw trap. All purely hypothetical of course.

And let us go on to say that your desperation extends to having your image Photoshopped to within an inch of its life when you appear on a major magazine cover. Now suppose someone were to notice this, and comment on same, publicly.

You protest. Your lawyers send a letter. Well, before you do either of those things or anything like them...you should make damn sure there aren't certain photos in existence. Photos that would make it obvious to an idiot that for this cover, they put your head (and possibly your limbs) onto another woman's body (a younger woman, it goes without saying).

I'm just saying if you ever find yourself in that situation, you know.

Vacation Vixen: Rosario Dawson

Being on vacation means I can sit here and think about Rosario’s skin all day long. In other news, being on vacation rocks.

[Follow my vacation loafing @dorothysnarker]

Sunday, December 20, 2009

I want to be interviewed

So I'm reviving a meme from a couple of years ago. Here's looking at the rules, sweetheart:

Do YOU want to be interviewed?

Interview rules:
1. Leave me a comment saying "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the
questions.
3. You will update your blog with a post containing your the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview
someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them [me] five questions.

My Top 10 Contemporary American Films

(a very biased list)

About a month and a half ago Jeopardygirl--who thinks I don't have symbols of childhood innocence--made an entry to her blog, of her Top 10 Contemporary Canadian Films (she's Canadian). I thought I should come up with an American version.

I made a rough list or two, but never got around to actually writing the post until about a week ago when I wanted to try to write something, started this and have been hoping to finish it up.

First of all, you may notice, I have played it a bit fast and loose with what constitutes an "American" film, which is my wont. For the record, my rule of thumb was: At least 50% of the financing had to have come from America.

(That is why Fellowship of the Ring is on the list, representing the whole Rings trilogy--the second two were split three ways between New Zealand, the US, and Germany.)

Jeopardygirl defined "contemporary" as within the past 20 years, my list cuts it down to between 10 and 15 (not for any particular reason, it just worked out like that).

If you've been reading this blog long I don't think many of my choices will surprise you, insofar as to what movies I like. But I hope I've said more a few or more new things about why I like them. You be the judge.

(You'll also notice there are no numbered rankings. This is deliberate)

Hellboy.

There have been a lot of great comic-book films these past years--Spider-Man 2, Iron Man. But in my heart I think this is the best.

Unlike the rest of the illustrations in this post, this isn't an image from the film:
Photobucket
But come on--how adorable is that?

Maybe it doesn't hurt that it's the one whose comics I was least familiar with.

It's a story about faith (despite the name) and imagination.

I didn't like the Golden Army sequel as much as most critics (neither did most moviegoers), because I felt it failed to build on the possibilities of the first.

Good Night. And, Good Luck.


good night and good luck
Originally uploaded by
Ginalan


Exquistely shot through with historical context.

Lost in La Mancha. Really representing all Terry Gilliam movies of the past 10 years including Tideland, and probably Doctor Parnassus once I see it.

See, here I have a problem. I'll get to it in a minute.

If I'm talking about movies, I have to talk about Terry Gilliam. He is my favorite director, what else do you want to know?

Like the makers of the Lord of the Rings films, Gilliam knows how to have size without sacrificing acting--or writing.

According to every report I've seen, he respects writers and their role in creating his movies.

I have always assumed that coming up with five writers and performers as contentious as his Python workmates had something to do with this.

Getting back to my "problem," with including any of his recent films on this list, it is simply this: Although he was born and raised in America, he emigrated to Great Britain in the '60s and has lived there ever since.

(A few years ago he even became a British citizen, giving up his US citizenship. I think George W. Bush was the last straw).

Even so, by that rule of mine (50% financing), some of his films from the '70s through '90s might count as American. But the last one that did was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, in 1998. Since then his movies have been heavily or wholly financed outside of the States.

(And to me, that's not one of his better films. It's not bad--I put Terry Gilliam movies in the category of things where there is no such thing as bad, there's good and there's better, but there's no bad. This was not one of his better films.)

So, taking all of the above into account, how can I rationalize putting Tideland, or any of his movies, on a list of top contemporary, American films?

Like this.

A continuing theme of Gilliam's movies has been his response to growing up in America in the '40s, '50s and '60s. He was driven to create fantastic worlds in response to the catastrophe he saw in the ordinary world around him.

It's why it's so incredibly fitting that his attempt to film a story of the man who tilts at windmills, as we see in the Lost in La Mancha documentary, should've been the one to fall apart on him like Humpty Dumpty.

Gilliam, I believe, wanted to escape into "fairy tales," but he also knew that could never totally work, and so he left himself notes in most of them. (When he forgot, or tried to, he made The Brothers Grimm, which is also merely a "good" film.)

Tideland, no matter how "twisted" it was proclaimed by some--ok, most--idiots at the time of its release, was a love letter to childhood innocence. Where exactly was Gilliam an innocent child?

My point being: No matter where he lives, where he pays taxes, or where the money to make his films comes from, Terry Gilliam's eyes are American.

And I couldn't be prouder.

Now...

You knew we'd get here sooner or later:

Saw; including all sequels.

PhotobucketI am a fairly unabashed lover of most things Saw, because at their best they've asked more of their writers, actors and audience than any other comparable series.

They did this (among other ways) by giving their central character John Kramer, sometimes known as Jigsaw, just that: Actual character. As opposed to, say, the vicious dog on two legs that is Jason Vorhees.

What's weird is, by the filmmakers own admission, a lot of that has been luck. Actors like Shawnee Smith and Tobin Bell, who have become important to the series (in Bell's case, damn near indispensible--he plays John Kramer), were cast before anybody had any idea what would be asked of them in the sequels.

These movies, when they're written by writers and played by actors who take their work and their craft seriously, have actually let us see the effect that the Jigsaw character has on others.

Some of this is arguably for good, most of it for evil, but they let us see it--and they let him see, and be affected by that as well.

For these and other reasons, at their best, the sequels have actually built on each other rather than just turning into bloodier and bloodier rehashes. Even the least of them.

Although, this--along with a lot of what I've praised above-did start to slip a little by Saw IV. And a lot in Saw V, which is the least creatively succesful film in the series to date (good start, good ending, one good scene in the middle--whooooole lotta filler).

VI was a much better, even choice in many ways, film; as I've noted previously, it received the best reviews since the original. Still, I'm not exactly sorry to say that word is next years Saw VII will be the end.

BTW...this is another place where you could question the status of these movies as "American" films. Saw was created by a couple of Australians, and after the first movie (which filmed in LA), all the sequels have been filmed and co-financed in Canada.

(until VI, which actually split its money between four countries...which might explain why VII was fast-tracked: Less risk, to more financers...plus the fact that no film in the series has been unprofitable)

Moving on (I heard those of you who said, "Thank god...")

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Okay. I granted up front, including this as a contemporary American film is arguable--roughly half of the stars are from England or Australia, the director and co-writers are from New Zealand, where it was also shot.

But, it was co-financed with American money. And come on, what was I going to do, leave it out?


This is a movie that schooled Lucas--or should have--on how to make an epic without sacrificing storytelling. (I've regained much of my interest in Lucas' contemporary films-the prequel trilogy-thanks to seeing them again through my nephew's eyes. But, you'll notice that none appear in this list.)

I gotta give Fellowship mad props.

Now I want to talk about my two "animation directors of the decade-plus," Brad Bird and Andrew Stanton. Bird made The Iron Giant, Ratatouille and The Incredibles. I like The Incredibles and love Ratatouille, but Iron Giant is better than either of them.

It's a film about which I always tell people: If you read comic books when you were 10...you're gonna cry when you reach the end of this movie.

Andrew Stanton made Finding Nemo and Wall-E (as well as co-writing the Toy Story films and Monsters, Inc).
Nemo is still, for me, the high-water mark (tee hee) against which all other are judged, and Wall-E made confident strides in animated storytelling whilst (and at the same time) never, ever losing heart.

(Strange to say, I didn't realize until just when I was writing this draft of this long-in-the-works post how much the broad strokes of Stanton's Wall-E resembles Bird's The Iron Giant, another fun movie about a robot, with heart.)

As I say, I liked both The Incredibles and Ratatouille when I first saw them in the theater, but on subsuquent viewings I've cooled on The Incredibles while my affection for Ratatouille has only grown.

It's some kind of genius.

Animation is one of the few things in which I actually have a lot of national pride. I feel the best animated cartoons are and have always been made right here in America.

For the past 10-15 years or more, all the best American animated cartoons with but one exception have been made at Pixar.

As for that exception, it was Iron Giant (good guess) and Pixar themselves liked it and Bird's other work enough to bring him over to work there. It's top of the list; I consider it the last great "2D" animated film. (I hear good things about Princess & the Frog, but I haven't seen it)



Gone Baby Gone

For the love of god, see this movie.

It is the story of one man's struggle to do what he thinks is right, within a moral nightmare, and it is a good fucking movie about people, including us, who have lost their way.

I hate to think people didn't see it because Ben Affleck directed it.

He made a heartbreaking film that's at least as good as Mystic River and even better (yes, better) than The Departed.

Sideways.

I think Sideways is a good movie despite (because of?) the fact that it is at times a very uncomfortable film for me to watch. It's uncomfortable because, like Paul Giamatti in the movie, I like to close my eyes to reality.

My standard line, tho, is that it could've been made for me: I'm a frustrated writer who's been in love with Virginia Madsen since 1985.

And she's wonderful in it.

As an aside: Madsen is one of I don't know how many actresses, but it can't be more than a few, to succesfully "graduate" from the sexpot roles she was doing 20 years ago.

Not that she's not still hot (look down). Actually, she should be a role model in how to use things like Botox sensibly.

But in the mid-'90s, you could've been forgiven for thinking she was going to have-well, the career that Sharon Stone's had in the past decade....

I haven't seen Avatar, so I can't say whether or not I agree with this review of it

However, it does speak to several suspicions I have that are why I haven't seen it, and at the moment, have no plans to.
Avatar plunges into the Uncanny (Unimaginative) Valley


Let's dispense with the story, the characters and the dialog. Cameron certainly does...
The CGI canvas is larger, but there's little you haven't already seen in better Cameron movies.

How sad.

The actress Brittany Murphy has passed away unexpectedly at the way-too-young age of 32.

I can't claim to have seen all her films or to have liked all of those that I did, but she could be charming and beautiful, and she had legs that went all the way up to her neck. I'm very sorry for her family, friends and fans.

Attn: Corey Klemow

This clip is of the Bee Gees. It is not, I repeat, not Marvin Gaye. I know how you get them confused.



Bee Gees or Marvin, though, it's pretty great.

Friday, December 18, 2009

I wish.

David Axelrod And Howard Dean To Duke It Out On Meet The Press

Who is Dr. Parnassus?

Most if not all of you know by now how much I love Terry Gilliam movies. I've actually been working on a post for about a week on "My Top 10 Contemporary American Films," where I was confronted with a couple of depressing facts:

Not only was his most recent film, Tideland, ridiculously underrated, but his movies haven't had US financing since the 1990s. Don't even get me started--Twilight and Robert Zemickis' latest trip to Uncanny Valley make 7 million, and Terry Gilliam's films can't get financed?)

But, anyway, CNN has a piece on the making of Gilliam's new film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, with a lovely, emotional interview with the director and writer.

If you follow that link there's a shortened video version of the interview with shots from the film, as well as the longer text. If you love his films as much as I do you have to watch/read them both, but I thought I'd offer you these snippets (not included in the video).

CNN: Who is Dr. Parnassus?

Terry Gilliam: ...he's there to enlighten the world nobody's paying attention to.


Now I have to go around and tell the world to treat my child kindly. Learn to love it.


I'm depressed most of the time. Despair is a whole different animal.


I'm pretty good at making films, and if I wasn't making films, what should I do? I think the film is beautiful and I think it's wonderful.


It's a combination of a lot of people responding to tragedy and not letting the tragedy win.

Like, duh.

Remember a little over a week ago when I posted a quote on the insurance companies--

Did you know that in the Far East, people pay their doctors when they're healthy. When they're sick, they don't have to pay. So basically, they end up paying for what they want, not what they don't want. We've got it all ass-backwards, here. These politicians, they say the same thing, over and over and over again. Healthcare decisions should be made by doctors and their patients, not by the government. Oh, now I know they're not made by doctors and their patients or the government. They're made by the fuckin' insurance companies.

--and asked you if you knew where it was from?

The answer was, of course...




Honestly, I thought one or two of you would've gotten this on sheer probability...

As a special added bonus, here's the scene from which the quote was taken.

(No gore, just a good dose of drama).

Final, clinching proof that Canada has better air and water than we do

Per Think Progress, an Ontario hospital, for reasons I can only assume had something to do with the much-vaunted Canadian sense of humor, had been going to pay $200,000 to Sarah Palin for a fundraising speech.

"Had been" being the operative words. See, when word got out that a hospital evidently in need of funds would be paying (again, $200, 000! In Canadian money!) a mud-slinging, conservative know-nothing...the good residents of Hamilton rose up as one and said, in so many words,

"My ass you will!"

Meanwhile, here in the US, too many newspapers and television continue to take her seriously, and some people seem serious when they opine that she should run for the highest office in the land.

Oh, Canada.

My (and My Friends’) Decade Crushes

Well, kittens, another decade is almost in the books. My mind can’t quite wrap around the fact that it’s been 10 years since everyone was convinced the world would grind to a halt with Y2K. Heck, I bet some poor misguided souls are still working through their stockpiles of pork and beans. As with any milestone year, one tends to reflect. I’ll be on vacation through the end of the year (don’t worry, I’ll be posting Vacation Vixens to tide you over). But before I left I wanted to give you My Decade Crushes. Now, these aren’t just pretty ladies – granted, many are in very, very pretty indeed. But these are the entertainers and entertainment that personified everything I loved about these past ten years. They, quite simply, made my decade.

The aughts (now there’s a term I’m happy to say goodbye to) have been a decade of change, discovery and growth for me. I started this blog. I stopped getting a healthy amount of sleep. And I met and befriended a bunch of wonderful, generous and ridiculously talented ladies. Given the magnitude of this occasion, I thought I’d bring a couple along with me. My good friends, fellow AfterEllen.com bloggers and all-around amazing gals StuntDouble and The Linster were gracious enough to share their decade crushes with us as well. So please enjoy, and feel share your Decade Crushes with us as well. There’s a lot of crush-worthy material to cover in 10 years, we need all the help we can get.

StuntDouble

1. J.K. Rowling: I spent most of the last decade reading Harry Potter, standing in line at midnight to buy Harry Potter, standing in line at midnight to watch Harry Potter, and proselytizing my faith in Harry Potter to anyone who would listen. But mostly my faith was in J.K. Rowling. She changed the color of the world. She's a magic-maker.

2. Harry Potter movies: Harry Potter movies are a different kind of magic than Harry Potter books. What the Potter franchise has managed to do in keeping an entire cast and crew of Britain's finest together for eight movies is unprecedented. Every actor that participated in the franchise seemed destined to become a witch or wizard. Alan Rickman as Snape? Dame Maggie Smith as Professor McGonogall? Emma Thompson as Professor Trelawney? Inspired, all of it.

[Lots of empty space, because I don't think anything deserves a place near Potter on a best of the decade list.]

3. Friends: The second half of Friends happened in this decade, and in it we got The One Where Everyone Finds Out (Phoebe: "My eyes! My eyes!"), The One in Vegas (Rachel: "Hello, Vegas? We need some more alcohol, and also some more beers."), The One with Rachel's Big Kiss (Melissa: "I don’t hear coconuts banging together. I don’t ... picture your face when I make love to my boyfriend. Anyway, I gotta go."), and so much more. I've watched every episode at least ten times, except the finale. That one made me cry too much.

4. Pixar: Lots of people think Pixar's magic is in the animation; I think their magic is in the way they've learned how to tell a perfect story.

5. The West Wing: There were times during the Bush Administration when the only thing keeping me from actually losing my mind was watching The West Wing, and pretending that President Bartlet was the actual president of America.

6. Arrested Development: The only lingering problem I have with Arrested Development is that every time I dream about Portia de Rossi, Ron Howard narrates.

7. The Daily Show: The Daily Show was the beginning of something revolutionary. It's not fake news. It's legitimate, actual news that cuts through the bullshit and mocks the most deserving. Jon Stewart is a champion of gay rights because he's a champion of logic.

8. Josh Schwartz: Here are the things Josh Schwartz is responsible for: The O.C., Gossip Girl, Chuck, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, Band of Horses, Stars, Iron and Wine, The Walkmen and The Killers (just to name a few). Clear channel was buying and homogenizing radio when Schwartz had the idea to save the music. He did. And he gave us Blair Waldorf.

9. John Mayer: It seems like I fall in love every time a new John Mayer album comes out. Causation or coincidence? Not sure, but it means he makes the list.

10. Pirates of the Caribbean movies: Captain ... Captain Jack Sparrow. (Oh, and um, Elizabeth ... Elizabeth Swann.)


The Linster

1. The L Word: I have loved and hated the L Word, often at the same time. But having a show about "us" was amazing and affirming.

2. Ellen DeGeneres: An out lesbian with a successful talk show is remarkable. And as time goes on, Ellen gets more and more vocal about LGBT issues -- and the world still loves her. Now most everyone in the country "knows a lesbian." That makes voting against us difficult. Portia is like icing on a lesbian cake. And lesbian cake is damn tasty.

3. Televised women's basketball: WNBA parity and Title IX resulted more national broadcasts of women's pro and college basketball. I can almost always find a game on TV now -- and women's basketball is one of my favorite things in life.

4. Snarky news: The Daily Show changed the way we got our news by presenting its absurd side, even while getting the facts correct. Now politicians line up to be put on the spot by Stewart and Colbert. TDS paved the way for Rachel Maddow, who can undercut a newsmaker with the cock of an eyebrow and refuses to back down on what she knows to be true. Watching news used to be a chore for me; now I look forward to it. And I'm better informed on what's going on in the world than I ever have been.

5. West Wing: WW was just great television. Right after 9/11, the show tossed its season opener to shoot a new episode, knowing the impact it would have. The show occasionally got preachy, but it set the stage for some of the best dramas in TV history. And it totally stands up to repeat watching. (Not to mention that Allison Janney was on every week.)

6. Cable dramas: The number of well drawn, well acted sequential dramas on cable during this decade is amazing -- and I loved most all of them. The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Big Love, The Shield, Damages, Dexter and many more. I love shows that give me the "I can't wait to see what happens next" feeling at the end of every episode. Some, like Six Feet Under, can sustain it for the entire run of the show. (And the series finale of Six Feet Under might have been the best episode of TV ever.)

7. Pixar, especially Finding Nemo, WALL-E and Up: Now, learning that a movie is animated does not mean it's kid fare. Plus, the writing and design are so good that I see something new every time I watch.

8. Tina Fey, in all her glory: She wrote and acted in so many things that I love that I won't even try to name them. As Palin, she totally changed the election, IMO, just by being so true to Palin that nobody could dismiss it. Tina is a genius. Her adorableness is a bonus.

9. Hillary Clinton: Corny as it sounds, Hillary was like a lighthouse for women, leading us to trust our own power. She was brilliant, graceful and, yes, beautiful throughout the election, losing her cool from time to time but refusing to apologize for being who she is. I still wish she were president, although she probably has accomplished more as Secretary of State than she could've as Commander in Chief. In any case, she served as proof to every little girl in the country that women truly are equal in every way to men. And in many cases, superior.

10. Dorothy Snarker: This isn't really a suck-up, because Ms. Snarker represents a whole network of brilliant and funny women I've met through the Internet, many of whom have become good friends. The Web is marvelous and terrifying all at once, but I honestly can't remember how I got along without it. And I am quite grateful to discover that the world has plenty of people, especially lesbians, who are as weird and pop-culture-obsessed as I am. And, of course, our Dorothy is the best of the best.
[Editor’s Note: I in no way paid her to say that. Though, hypothetically, do you prefer large or small bills, Linster?]


Dorothy Snarker

1. Tina Fey: Please, you knew this was coming. Tina is everything I love in a woman: smart, funny, beautiful, self-deprecating, goofy, hard-working and a big nerd in high school. Never leave us, Tina Fey. The world would be a less bright place without you – and I mean that both in the light source and big brain senses.

2. The L Word: As much and as loudly and as justifiably we yelled about everything that was wrong with this show, I am still undeniably grateful it existed in the first place. We sometimes forget how important it is to have our lives – even much more glitzy, glamorous versions of our lives – reflected back to us. This show reminded us, and then there were also a lot of hot chicks kissing.

3. Ellen DeGeneres: Who would have guessed that this charming lady with the funny last name would become America’s most beloved daytime talk show host. (Note: Oprah is revered, not necessarily beloved – don’t crush me Oprah.) She is everyone’s lesbian next door with the smoking hot wife. Now that’s progress.

4. Pixar: Nothing soothed our inner child this decade better than Pixar. When we were blue, they reminded us to just keep swimming. When we felt lonely, they reminded us that it only took a moment to be loved a whole life long. And when we didn’t know what we were searching for, they reminded us squirrel!

5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Granted, this started in the 1997, but I didn’t really start to watch in earnest until early 2000. This show informed so much of what I still want from my TV today: zippy dialogue, gratuitous pop culture references, pathos, snarkiness, vampires, lesbians and girls in leather pants kicking ass. Also, she saved the world – a lot.

6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Some movies are like a gift left on your pillow on a day that isn’t anywhere near your birthday. It’s completely unexpected. It seems a little weird. It has you confused at first. But when you open it, the contents fill you with such joy you know you’ll remember it forever.

7. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Let’s face it, most of the 00s were spent with an idiot for president and Dr. Evil for vice president. These were not the best of political times. Without Jon, I don’t think most liberals – or just sane people – would have made it through those eight years. He was an oasis of clarity and chuckles. If we can’t laugh we’ll cry has never been more true. And he will forever be the perfect definition of irony: A comedy new anchor who becomes the most trusted newsman in America. Walter Cronkite might not have approved, but I’ll sure bet he laughed.

8. David Sedaris: Whenever I need to be reminded how much harder I have to work at this writing thing, I just crack open any Sedaris book and laugh out loud (the real kind, not the damn acronym). Wickedly smart, painfully observant and just funny as fucking hell, Sedaris writes what I love to read. Also, unexpected bonus, reading his books helps tone the abs – all that deep belly laughing, you know.

9. Lost in Translation: If you want to fall back in love with the art and craft of movie making, pop in this movie. You might also fall in love with Scarlett Johansson and/or Tokyo, too. Just a warning.

10. Meryl Streep: It seems almost a crime to put Meryl at No. 10. But it’s just that her resume is so long, it’s hard to pick a decade where she shouldn’t be on everyone’s list. Though, one could argue that the 00s were one of her best and for sure her most commercially successful. Her talent goes unparalleled, but what is really remarkable is that at 60 she is still playing the romantic lead in major motion pictures. I’ll never stop swooning over you, Meryl. Ever.

Though, kittens – and I say this without irony or cynicism or snark – to be perfectly honest, you all made my decade. Thank you, as always and unendingly, for coming back day after day. Thanks for reading and commenting and sharing your opinions and arguments and pieces of your lives. You’ve made me think and laugh and feel just a little less alone on this big hunk of rock hurtling itself around the sun. Happy decade, all.