The Beckhams Are in Los Angeles

Who Cares? America hates soccer and still get confused when Europeans call it football. It is an exciting sport...sure. But it's only exciting every 4 years when the World Cup is on for three weeks. Yes, they are beautiful and wealthy and extremely arrogant, so I guess it's only fitting that they're here. But is it really necessary for us to give them that much attention. Surely, Paris Hilton is off doing cocaine (when she says she has never done drugs...does anyone believe that?) or Lindsay Lohan is also pretending to be a "good girl" (probably to distract people from how bad her new movie looks). I guess it's just a rough patch for celebrity gossip.

Live Free or Die Hard

It's hard to imagine 50 year old Bruce Willis still playing John McClaine of NYPD. But it was a lot of fun to see him try. It was a good movie and, like the old episodes of "24" and last year's "MI:3," a exciting and entertaining. Despite all this, the movie was disappointing because it's not a "Die Hard" movie. If anyone who loves the original will remember, John McClaine is confined to one building and is only one man with the odds against him at nearly impossible. To see him get out of that mess alone is what "Die Hard" is all about. Unfortunately, in this movie, he moves all over the place from Washington to Baltimore to Jersey to fight a cyber-terrorist bent on destroying the world. This is not a "Die Hard" movie, but more like a James Bond film. Nonetheless, thank you to the bootleggers who provided a decent quality DVD that was aired on the local channel.

Tonight is "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" on Channel 4.

Bootleggers

I've always been a fan of movies, but being on this stupid island has robbed me of the opportunity to watch the summer plethora of films, including "Transformers" and "Live Free or Die Hard." When someone introduced me to the website, movieforumz.com, I was deeply excited at the chance to finally watch these films in DVD quality, thinking someone leaked DVD screeners and posted those on the net. When I checked the website to watch "Ocean's 13," I got a Chinese version with Chinese subtitles taken off a videocamera. Sadly, I was very disappointed.
In the new age of digital technology shouldn't even bootleggers be armed with HDTV cameras and an appropriate microphone system. Can't they go to a screening when there will only be 2-3 people when the chance of someone walking in the front of the camera will be kept to a minimum? Also, if I wanted a laugh track, I'd watch a sitcom. So hearing someone laugh when Seth Rogen calls "Munich" one of his favorite films is not the movie experience I wanted. Should I complain? I guess if you've been to the Arclight, there is no other movie experience like it.

Nobody Reads My Blog

I haven't written on this thing for years. Probably because I'm in medical school and barely have time to talk to my own girlfriend than write on a blog that no one ever reads. I had a golden age of Bloggers just a year ago. I wrote on it everyday, people posted comments, and In-N-Out of Hemet was on it's way to the Pantheon of great blogs. But now, after not writing in it for over 5 months, people have moved on to cooler blogs that talk about everything from great Pho restaurants to why Britney Spears hasn't had a new CD. In reality, no one cares, but it's just nice to have something to read while at work and in front of a computer.

The iPhone

It's funny to see people wait outside for days to buy a phone worth $500 before you start to wonder, "How do these people actually have $500 to buy this phone?" Regardless, I can sympathize with what they're trying to buy. The iPhone is an amazing product. After watching the demo on the Apple website, I really think it's a revolutionary machine. But this also makes me wonder...When will the second generation iPhone come out? or the Mini iPhone? or the shuffle iPhone? Apple has always been on the cutting edge, but for someone with a second generation iPod that still works, why would I spend another $400 for a new one? Don't wait for days to get the iPhone when you can wait for a few months and buy an iPhone without a line, with better features, and probably a cheaper price tag. It boggles my mind sometimes...By the way, I just bought a new Macintosh Powerbook, 80 gB video iPod, and am on the wait list for the iPhone.

The OC Season 4

It's a good show in retrospect. I remember when this show was so hot. All the girls loved Seth's geeky comic-loving personality while the guys were heads over heels with Mischa Barton. (I was always more of a Rachel Bilson fan) But the show slowly lost and audience. People say that it lost its mamba because it was moving away from what it was good about...beaches, surf, and good looking people. But these people are wrong because the show was never about that. It was a soap opera in primetime that goes down so easy like a good Patron shot. I've had an opportunity to watch the show's final season and I really liked what they were doing. It's sad not to have the show and have something so easy to watch, especially when Lost (disappointing till the end) and 24 was such a mess this season. I'm going to miss Summer and Seth, Ryan and all the Cohens. It's a good show in retrospect that I'm sad to see go away.

Arcade Fire

Even though I'm far away from civilization and located in a place with #1 songs like "Helicopter" and "Tourbus," I managed to download the new Arcade Fire album. I absolutely love it and continuously listen to it when I study, run outside, or sitting alone in my darkened room due to the numerous blackouts. It's not so much the lyrics (although they are very intuitive and captivating). It's the sound. It's so new and unusual, mixing organs, bells, and whatever they can get their hands on. It's absolutly engaging and I can't wait to see them live again. If you think the album sounds good on a CD player (does anyone remember this antiquated form?) or an MP3, the live tracks will blow your mind. Check out this wonderful article from the New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2007/02/19/070219crmu_music_frerejones)

24 Again...

I wrote a blog earlier stating that 24 is getting better with each season. I spoke too soon. We're only at the 10th hour and 24 has already begun recycling old ideas and storylines. Blackmailing a poor woman with her son's life (Jack did that whole scene in the entire first season). How about attempting to remove the president from office via assasination? (They already blew up Air Force 1 and tried to remove David Palmer from office twice) I'm getting really sad at the prospect of seeing such a good first 4 episodes be ruined by the next 20. I do enjoy seeing James Cromwell (except does anyone believe that he looks like Kiefer Sutherland or is as tall as Kiefer is?), but other than him this season is becoming such a drag. Nonetheless, I still look forward to every Monday night.

The Best Office

When did "The Office" become the best show on television? (It isn't when 24 and Lost decided to suck it up in the past couple of weeks) But "The Office" has such a unique chemistry that works on every episode. Unlike the original UK version, "The Office" with Steve Carell has branched off and create television that is truly unlike anything else. Without a laugh track and the typical sitcom style of "Friends" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" ( I never did like that show), the writers have decided to take a new approach to the show radically different from its first few episodes. It's decided to let some cast members write episodes, moved outside the Office location, brought new actors, hired celebrity directors (Joss Whedon and Harold Ramis), and let the cast loose from its chains. It is the only show on television that I cannot live without. It always makes me smile, sometimes empathize, and realize the future of Comedic television lies in their hands.

Dixie Chicks Still Suck!

Let me preface this by stating my hate of the Dixie Chicks before any of their Bush tirades.

With that said, i still hate the Dixie Chicks and by giving them the Best Album grammy, the Recording Academy has just prolonged their careers four years longer than it needed to be. I like the album. It's very toned-down and much better than the country albums of Rascall Flats and Tobey Keith and Tim McGraw (when you write songs about BBQ stains on your white t-shirt, you're asking to be made fun of). And much of the album's strengths is because of producer Rick Rubin and not the Dixie Chicks themselves. But it's not the album, it's their whole, "I'm better than you" attitude. Natalie Maines trotted up on the stage, quoted Nelson from the Simpsons, and rubbed it in our faces that they won the grammy. Do you think the album would have won if they hadn't spoken out and be ostracized from their country music audience? Absolutely not!

Highlight What?

I don’t understand what people highlight sometimes. You get a range of people who use the highlighter for different reasons. Some people normally have one highlighter: the basic neon yellow. Then you have the highlighter fanatics, carrying their different highlighters of different colors and sizes. I can understand two colors, but five is pretty unbelievable. Is hot magenta really necessary? But most of the time, it’s not how many highlighters that people have that irks me. It’s what people highlight. Sometimes you highlight an interesting phrase or important keyword. But if it’s in bold, why do you need to highlight it? Show some restraint! The highlighter is to highlight. What’s the point of highlighting the entire book? Is it to show that everything is important? Or is it because highlighting makes it look pretty? Either way, it annoys me.

Snubbed by the Academy...not really!!!

After the Academy Award nominations are announced, there are always a lot of complaints of "being snubbed." Well, the truth is that those that were snubbed weren't good enough. Not to say that the product isn't good (as we'll see that the academy will still recognize those aspects of the movie that were good). In the case of "Dreamgirls," the movie just isn't the best thing in the world, but there are aspects of it which are good. Jennifer Hudson (whose over-the-top performance isn't that spectacular when compared to Eddie Murphy) and all the artistic aspects are recognized. Although I was a bit surprised by Sascha Baron Cohen not getting nominated, the film was nominated for Best Original Screenplay.

If you're not buying my reasoning here, I guess you can think of the Academy as a bunch of racist Jews. Which will explain why "Dreamgirls" did not get nominated for Best Picture? And will also explain why Cohen didn't get nominated for his anti-semitic Borat. Solution: Get the NAACP involved!!!!!

24

24 is probably the best show on television (minus the year when Lost had its first season). But there is a caveat to that statement. 24 is the best show for 12-13 episodes. In these episodes, you get the drama and all the thrilling moments. After those episodes, it recycles itself (from past seasons), wastes time (Kim gets caught in a lion trap), and becomes pretty unbelievable (does Jack ever eat anything?). With all that said, I do have to say that the writers are getting better every year with this past season opener being probably the best ever. It's season 6 and by this time, Jack should be around 65 years old. Yet, he still is following the president, shooting down his own people, and wearing those tight shirts.

Rain on an Island

Being on an island is a good and bad thing in film/television. For instance, in "Lost," rain comes and goes, but mostly, during intense and thrilling moments, the rain just keeps coming. It beams off Mathew Fox as he's wrestling the stranger or falls down Naveen Andrews as he's holding a dead Shannon. After living on an island for almost a week, I can say that rain just comes down.

In "Pirates of the Caribbean," which was filmed in Dominica the island I'm staying in now, rain comes down I believe only once in the beginning before the wedding. I really didn't like that movie so I don't truly remember or even care, enough to tell you that island life in Hollywood is pretty much like everything else: not real.

Borat Lawsuit

Most people who have seen the movie love "Borat." It's especially funny for most of us in the West Coast, who laugh at the bigots and racists that reside in the south. I recently read that the fraternity boys in the very funny motor-home scene are suing the creators of Borat for allegedly getting them drunk and recording their obscene gestures. This is absolutely ridiculous. Even if the producers did give offer them more alcohol, those boys already believed that "slavery is a good thing" before the producers met them. If you had given me some alcohol (two or three shots would take care of it), I would not be calling for the reinstatement of slavery, mock Jews (Mel Gibson), or look like an idiot for my mugshot (Nick Nolte and Michael Jackson sans alcohol). Once again, it's people trying to capitalize on the popularity of a genius like Baron Cohen.

A Letter to Michael Richards

Oh Michael. What have you gotten yourself into? Wasn't Mel Gibson's tirade over Jews enough? You just had to offend the black community. Oh Vanilla Face. Now when people look at Kramer, they'll see a racist. When people look at your role in "Problem Child," they'll see a racist. When people look at your role in "The Michael Richards Show," they'll see...wait no one watched that show and probably don't even remember you ever made it. Lastly, the "I have black friends excuse" is not a good excuse. The only excuse is and forever will be "I am black" so I can make fun of black people. Just ask the Tsegas.

Veronica Mars

This is a good show. Actually, this is a great show. I'm a big fan of "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer," and this show is much much better. It's funny, cute, adult, and intelligent. I just finished watching Season 1 and can't wait to start Season 2. Also, I've finally realized that watching television on DVD is the best way to go. No commercials and no waiting for a week (or months in the case of Lost).

Crazy Things People Do #1

Often, especially in crowded areas like Bruinwalk, the Airport, and big malls, I look at every person that passes me. I often dedicate a good stare and probably 2 seconds longer than I have to in order to get a really good look at their face. Why do people do this? I have no idea. I doubt that you'll ever see anyone you know, but I guess it's just nice to people watch. Sometimes, I would just plug in the Ipod and stay on my course, but that rarely happens. I know I probably won't see Heidi Klum or Brad Pitt but I will occassionally get a Steve Guttenberg, A.J. from the Backstreet Boys, or, if I'm lucky, Wayne Brady. But I know that I don't have to look at these people, many of whom I don't know. However, sometimes, when it is someone that I know and I don't want to talk to, I put my head down or pretend I'm in the zone, look forward, and pass them without a glance. It's sad, but we all do it. It's just a crazy thing we do.

TWO Many Sequels

When looking around Blockbuster yesterday, I noticed a strange title, "Save the Last Dance 2." The film didn't have Julia Stiles or "that black guy" in the movie so I was intrigued to know the premise of the film. Basically, the story goes that a white girl learns more about herself through an unlikely relationship. This sounds extremely familiar to the first movie. There's nothing really further to explore in the mythology of "Save the Last Dance." So why make this movie????

Does anyone actually want to watch this? After looking more around the store, I saw more and more sequels of movies that do not need to be made. Wild Things 2 and 3, Skulls 2, Cruel Intentions 2, Prince and Me 2, Bring it On 2 and 3, Phenomenon 2, and the list goes on. Don't even get me started on Disney Films. Lion King 1 1/2. What is 1 1/2? Is there a small simba getting into trouble with little timon and little pumba singinga child's rendition of "Hakuna Matata"?

The Roller Skate

Although the first recorded use of roller skates was in 1743, the inventor remains a mystery. Those skates were in-line skates similar to the Rollerblades we know today. It wasn't until James Plimpton in 1863 decided to create the classic "quad" roller skate with 2 pairs of wheels set side by side to give more traction and control to the skate.

To James Plimpton I say: "Thank you!" Thank you James Plimpton for creating an invention that has served no benefit to mankind aside from broken ankles and the crap movie "Roll-Bounce." Thank you James Plimpton for causing me so much pain and making me look like an idiot in front of hundreds of black people and Michelle Trachtenberg. In the middle of the Civil War, wasn't there anything better to do than think of a way to improve roller-skates? Couldn't you have, I don't know, dedicated your time to fighting slavery?

Happy B-Day Helen!