Babel

Four vastly different lives are all connected when a single gunshot hits a woman on a tour bus in Morocco. The end result is the revelation of the complexity of humanity and the struggles we face that make everyone in the world more familiar than we realize. In Morocco, a struggling married couple is on vacation trying to work out their differences. Meanwhile, a Moroccan herder buys a rifle for his sons so they can keep the jackals away from his herd. A girl in Japan dealing with rejection, the death of her mother, the emotional distance of her father, her own self-consciousness, and a physical disability, deals with modern life in Tokyo, Japan. Then, on the opposite side of the world, a nanny takes the two children she watches to her son's wedding in Mexico, only to come into trouble on the return trip. In the end these four stories fit together to make a power statement about miscommunication and the interconnectivity of the lives of humans.

I had several judgments in my mind before I even watched this movie. I was expecting an amazing movie due to the Oscar it won, along with 22 other awards. On the other hand, I had several people warned me about the strong political statement that this film portrayed and how the four stories result in slight confusion. As for here, I'm just give you my opinion of this film, free from any personal views on the world. I will go ahead and say that I enjoyed the movie. My favorite thing about this film is the music and the characters. The score in this movie is amazing, hence the Oscar. Each story had it's own unique sound that made a huge emotional impact. There was no singular, mainstream, genre to the music. For example, the Moroccan story had classic Moroccan music that sounded as if villagers came into the studio and played themselves. As for the characters, they were amazing. The faces of each character, whether it be the stars or the stand-ins, were so real. You could see every wrinkle, every dark circle under they eye, every imperfection on the face (yes, even Brad Pitt has some serious crows feet). The attention to imperfection made it almost as if you were watching a documentary. Never once did I notice the acting, which is a good thing, every character was believable. One more thing that caught my eye was the heavy use of a handheld. There were no super fancy camera tricks or special effects. Almost every shot attempted to catch the exact point of view of someone. So if director Alejandro González Iñárritu wanted the viewer to see the action from the eyes of the tourist behind the crowd, that's where the camera was. Each scene was carefully thought out in order to get the experience of multiple characters.

What most people want to know is how I feel about the political voice. I'm not going to voice that opinion, but I will say it is refreshing to see a movie that departs from the mainstream. No matter what my political view may be, I respect the writer and director for taking a chance on a touchy subject, and I believe that they were very successful in the end.

Celluliod Dreams Are Coming True

On The LOT, executive-produced by Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg, gives aspiring filmmakers from around the world the chance to earn a $1-million development deal at DreamWorks. After a global search and over 12,000 submissions, a group of talented filmmakers have been selected from the applicants. These finalists have been brought to Hollywood, where they have been divided into teams and begun the journey toward their "big break." This reality-competition series features undiscovered filmmakers who will compete to win the support of the show's viewers, as their fate will be decided by a weekly audience vote. ON THE LOT will regularly air on Mondays and Tuesdays, with a one-hour "Film Premiere" episode (a live audience views and critiques their films), followed the next night by a half-hour "Box Office" results show (one director will be cut). Every week, these hopeful filmmakers will produce short films from a chosen genre, running the gamut from comedies to thrillers, dramas to romance, action to horror. They'll have access to the best resources the industry has to offer -- professional writers, cast and crew, and maybe even Hollywood celebrities. Judges for the "Audition Rounds" included actress/author/screenwriter Carrie Fisher ("Star Wars," "Postcards From the Edge") and directors/producers Brett Ratner ("Rush Hour 3," "X-Men 3"), Garry Marshall ("Georgia Rule," "Pretty Woman") and Jon Avnet ("Fried Green Tomatoes", "Risky Business"). More well-respected guest judges will appear as the show progresses, such as directors who are experts in the week's featured genre. But the filmmakers will ultimately be judged by the public. This is pretty much an American Idolish type show, only in the fact that there are judges/experts but the fate of the filmmakers is in the hands of the views.

I heard about this show around Christmas and knew that it was something I was going to have to watch. I'm not the biggest TV watcher outside of my 2 favorite shows so making the choice to sit in front of the boob tube for and hour proved how excited I was to see the premier of On The LOT. I'm going to go ahead and be honest, this is going to be one show this summer that will get in the way of any of my Monday and Tuesday night scheduling. Five minutes into the show I was already screening phone calls. Maybe it's the desire I myself have to make movies all my life, but I literally felt sick to my stomach nervous for these guys as they went through their first challenge, which was to pitch a film to the judges based on a premise given to them at the beginning of the show. It's so cool to see so many personalities and filming styles in one place being forced to work together and collaborate. That alone should make for some good reality TV drama, but that isn't what I'm looking forward to. It is going to be amazing to watch what these filmmakers come up with under the intense pressure of knowing some of Hollywood's most talented directors are going to be watching their personal work. I know I'd probably piddle all over myself from the excitement and nervousness.

Anyway, I was going to write a review on The Untouchables, but this show turned out to be pretty amazing. So if you love film then I recommend checking this show out, I think you won't be disappointed. Also check out the website (www.thelot.com), it's pretty cool as well. There is a place to submit you own films, watch films of the day and daily blogs! One more random thing, Verizon is a sponsor for this show and has some pretty great commercials that I believe depict a comedic view the chaos that will one day be my household and my attempts to not settle for a typical home video.
Who knows maybe one day Shea or I will be on the show battling it out for an office at DreamWorks.

Pan's Labyrinth

The time finally came for me to watch Pan's Labyrinth. My last semester of college left me busy from dawn to midnight and also scraping the bottom of the money bucket. Unfortunately, those two things quickly forced me to limit myself to the essentials of life: food, bills and school. I shouldn't make excuses to my lack of movie watching over the past few months, but I feel like I need to explain why I hadn't seen this amazing movie yet. The good news is, that time of my life is over and I have crossed off one more movie off of my list of 23 I need to see from the past few months On to the movie...

Spain, 1944. Officially, the Civil War has been over for five years, but a small group of rebels fight on in the northern mountains of Navarra. 10-year-old Ofelia moves to Navarra with her pregnant and sick mother Carmen, to become acquainted with her new stepfather, Captain Vidal, a Fascist officer under orders to rid the territory of rebels. Ofelia, who is fascinated by fairy tales, discovers an overgrown, tumbledown labyrinth behind the mill. In the heart of the labyrinth she meets Pan, an ancient satyr who claims to know her true identity and her secret destiny. But first, she must complete three tasks before the moon grows full. And no one must know: not her ailing mother, or her new friend, Mercedes. Both Ofelia and the rebels have to battle hardship and cruelty in order to gain their freedom.

This is a classic story of good vs. evil, bravery and truth, love and sacrifice. The lives of each character is filled with a struggle and fight for something they believe to be truth, their place in carrying out the truth, and the dedication and passion each have to make sure the truth wins in the end. It's a story about the power of an idea in action. Not only is the story amazing, but the visual aspect blew my mind. I've read several articles on the making of this movie and watched a couple clips, they do not do this film, in it's entirety, justice. It's was beautiful, every piece of it. For those who have seen it I know this sounds strange because of some of the graphic violence, but even these scenes had a coloring and lighting to them that made them seem magical. The whole film was blanketed in rich golds, blues, greens and reds. The textures in the setting were limitless and unique. Several times my jaw literally dropped in amazment. It took everything in me to keep from saying "wow" and "incrdible" at times. I didn't want to disturb those around me.

I wish I could find the right words to say about this film, but it has left me speechless. You just have to see it to understand. The best way to describe it is breathtaking.

Agenda

Besides graduating and moving, not much is going on in my life. I'm beginning to slowly realize that maybe the things I find absolutely the best entertainment in life aren't really that interesting to the normal person. Below is a list of the upcoming events that I will be writing on in the near future:
1. Review of The Untouchables
2. First day of work with NASCAR Images
3. Two weeks of freedom that will be filled with random goodness including, but not limited to, Lake Norman, painting, writing, reading what I want, chillin with Carissa and her wonderful daughter, maybe dying my hair
4. Unpacking. This seems mundane, but if you know me and my lack of cordination and the dialogue that usually happens between my mother and I, you can understand that there WILL be several good stories that come out of this
5. Graduation money to be spent on some pretty amazing climbing gear and other goodness

Leaving the Pack

Well, all the boxes have been packed, the good byes have been said, my quaint Raleigh home is empty, my diploma has been placed in a cherry wood frame, my cap and gown are safely folded up with my tassel and Cum Laude sash, and I've made it to my new home. It's strange how quickly all this comes and passes when for 17 years I've been waiting for what seemed like forever to finally be done with the headache that is school. Now that it's here, I can't help but feel an array of emotions, the most familiar of these being sadness. Four years of my life have been in Raleigh where I learned to be an adult and trained for the day that is, well, today. A wave of relief and joy comes over me when I think that I will no longer spend an all nighter studying for a test or writing a paper, or arguing with a professor to get that extra .4 points or praying to get into that one class that I need to graduate on time or sweet talking the guy at the gym to let me in without my ID or spending my summer savings on books. On the other hand, it troubles me to think that I will never have that random 3:30am run to Cookout for a milkshake, watch people trip in the brickyard when it rains, take a nap in my favorite spot in the Court of the Carolinas, drink a Blue Moon before class over at Mitch's Tavern, camp out for NCSU vs. UNC basketball tickets, or take the 1-40 sign in the middle of the night because we don't have enough money to play a prank.
Raleigh has treated me well these past few years and I am a different person now than when I came. I'm excited to move forward to my new home in Charlotte with a new job and what will soon be new friends. All my life I've had my life planned out, where I would go to school, what I will do over the summers, what my Monday-Friday will look like, who I will hang out with. I guess it's the spontaneous side of me that's grown over the years, but I love not knowing what life holds for me from now on out. Maybe it's because I love adventure, maybe it's because the stresses of "real" life haven't gotten to me yet, or maybe, most likely, I know that God has blessed me more than I can understand in the past and I know he's faithful to continue to bless me on this new journey. Either way I'm excited. The sadness of leaving the familiar is still fresh on my heart, but the desire for a new adventure is growing stronger and stronger.
I'll keep you posted on my adventure.