Cahiers du cinema

All is well in the land of the long white cloud.  I turned in my project to good reviews, which was nice.  I celebrated that evening by couch potato-ing it up in front of the telly- Futurama, Two and a Half Men, Scrubs, Lost, and Chuck.  Is was quite an excellent way to decompress after all that work.

telly

I hope there's something wicked on the telly! It better not be a bunch of adverts!!!1

Unfortunately, I'm back at it tomorrow.  After a relaxing weekend of showing my friend Barbara around the Wellington area (and touring the NZ  Parliament- awesome), I hit the computers tomorrow for some solid hours of editing time.  No worries, though.  This is what I do.  Wait to the last possible moment, then use that built up pressure to pump out an awesome product.

Ok, so maybe not the best approach.  It'd probably be better to have finished two weeks ago, email to friends and peers, get reviews, revise, resend, wash, rinse, repeat.  But I needed some downtime after that last project.  Plus, I already have all the filming done.  Tomorrow I'll do the editing into the final 3-5 minute video.  After that I just have a few small concepts and storyboards to write up for Wednesday, then I am free from due dates for two weeks!  A chance to chill, catch up on some of my own creative work, and even get ahead on some future school projects.  Not to mention my birthday on Thursday.  It should be a truly fabulous week.  

And now, I leave you with some movie reviews.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

So it's no Dark Knight or Iron Man, but it's a fun and explosive ride.  I enjoyed it because it didn't try to be more than it was.  It knew it was a snap crackle and pop blockbuster and hyped it up the whole time.  (I just said 'it' six times in two sentences)  However, some things did disappoint.  Poor animation, bad acting, and unconvincing sets left me outside the X-Men universe more than once.  But the second half of the film seemed to improve upon the mistakes of the first.  This won't be a DVD buy, nor am I entirely sure it was worth the 13.50 I paid for it, but if you're into an action bomb with no thought provoking strings attached (and quite a few familiar faces), this will give you what you want.  If nothing else, Hugh Jackman is a case study in the structure of the male body.  ;)

OFFICIAL TOPH RATING**:  Rent (for the X-Men marathon)

The Boat That Rocked

I think I need to start by saying that I was extremely excited about this when I first saw its trailer.  Then, as I sometimes do, I let the reviews get me down.  It apparently was  only occasionally funny and entirely too self-absorbed.  But I went with some friends anyways and, let me tell you Ladies and Gents, I was not disappointed.  I laughed for most of the movie.  It didn't have anything great to say or some long-lasting message to imprint.  Unless, of course, solid fun is a great message.  Or Damn The Man (but who really wants to hear that anymore).  I just got the feeling that I was hanging around with some of my best friends that I've known forever, having a good time.  Good for great laughs and packed to the brim with the who's who of today's pop movie scene, The Boat that Rocked is a welcome break amidst the annual HiFi BigMama-Gonna-Blow-Yo-Brains-Out blockbuster season.  Just don't expect to see Oscar winking at this one.

OFFICIAL TOPH RATING: Bargain Bin

**Here's how the OFFICIAL TOPH RATING system works.  I like to base what I thought about a movie on whether or not I think I'll buy it on DVD when it hits shelves.  It has become a good way for me to manifest my ideas on a film for others to understand.  For example, 

"What'd you think of The Departed?" 

"Shoot cuz, I'm buying that movie right when it comes out."  

While this system is far from flawless (I actually didn't know what I thought about the Departed the first time I saw it--now it's one of my all time favorites) it gets the point across fairly well.  Here's the scale:

Cry- Cry because the movie is so bad.

Nah- Not for me.  Won't be seeing this again unless someone really wants me to.

Rent- I'd rent it again.

Bargain bin- Might have to wait it out, but just don't need it at full price.

Preorder- Knocked me out cold.  I need this film.

My other internal rating system (which has nothing to do with the aforementioned OFFICIAL TOPH RATING) is lasting impression.  Maybe I enjoyed a film initially, but after a few weeks nothing's left of it inside.  If it doesn't make an impression then it couldn't have been that good.  I want my liking for a movie to grow with time, not the opposite.  That's how I know I really liked something I saw.  That's what happened with The Departed.  At first it freaked me out and I walked out of the theatre thinking I didn't really like it.  But after only a week or two I needed to see it again.  Now, even after nine viewings, it still gets better every time.

Can I get an Amen?